alzheimer's disease

Alz·hei·mer's disease   (älts'hī-mərz, ālts'-, ôlts'-, ôlz'-)    n.  A disease marked by the loss of cognitive ability, generally over a period of 10 to 15 years, and associated with the development of abnormal tissues and protein deposits in the cerebral cortex. [After Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915), German neurologist.]

Alzheimer's disease [(ahlts-heye-muhrz, alts-heye-muhrz, awlts-heye-muhrz)]

A disease in which mental capacity decreases because of the breakdown of brain cells.

Note: Alzheimer's disease is a major cause of loss of intellectual function in middle-aged and elderly people.

Alzheimer''s disease 

Main Entry: Alz·hei·mer's disease
Pronunciation: 'älts-"hI-m&rz-, 'olts-, 'alts-, 'alz-
Variant: also Alzheimer disease /-m&r/
Function: noun
: a degenerative brain disease of unknown cause that is the most common form of dementia, that usually starts in late middle age or in old age as a memory lossfor recent events spreading to memories for more distant events and progressing over the course of five to ten years to a profound intellectual decline characterized by dementia and personalhelplessness, and that is marked histologically by the degeneration of brain neurons especially in the cerebral cortex and by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles and plaques containing beta-amyloid—abbreviation AD; called also Alzheimer's; —compare PRESENILE DEMENTIA
Alzheimer,Alois (1864–1915) German neurologist. Alzheimer was noted for his work in the pathology of the nervous system. The majority of his medical contributions centered on neurohistology.Alzheimer published papers on topics that include acute alcoholic delirium, schizophrenia, epilepsy, syphilitic meningomyelitis and encephalitis, gliosis, Huntington's disease, and hysterical bulbarparalysis. In 1894 he published a noteworthy description of arteriosclerotic atrophy of the brain. With Franz Nissl he produced Histologic and Histopathologic Studies of the Cerebral Cortex(1904–08), a six-volume encyclopedia that described normal and abnormal structures in the central nervous system. In 1907 he published his classic description of presenile dementia. The diseasewas later named in his honor by the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin.

Alzheimer's disease Alz·hei·mer's disease (älts'hī-mərz, ālts'-, ôlts'-)
n.
A degenerative disease of the brain, characterized by clumps of neurofibrils and microscopic brain lesions and by confusion, disorientation, memory failure, and speech disturbances, and resulting in progressive loss of mental capacity.

Alzheimer's disease   (äls'hī-mərz)  Pronunciation Key  A progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, commonly affecting the elderly, and associated with the development of amyloid plaques in the cerebral cortex. It is characterized by confusion, disorientation, memory failure, speech disturbances, and eventual dementia. The cause is unknown. Alzheimer's disease is named for its identifier, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915).