In Washington State, close to 100,000 people have Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is the loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning for at least six months. The most common symptom is short-term memory loss, or forgetting what has happened minutes to days before. Poor judgment, difficulty with language, and a change in personality are other symptoms which may be present. Usually striking older persons, Alzheimer's disease can attack in the middle years as well.
Victims suffer a slowly declining ability to remember and loss of intellectual abilities.
Physical disability follows as the disease progresses. The disease was first described in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer, a German neurologist whose middle-aged patient developed memory problems, then severe dementia, and died at age 51. Much about the disease remains a mystery today. There currently is no known cause or cure. Senility is a less preferred term for dementia, as it implies that confusion in an older person is a normal part of aging.