In recent years, research has demonstrated a connection between insulin resistance and the deterioration of neuronal function in the brain. This brain/insulin connection has created the clinical research term “Type 3 Diabetes,” the newest name for Alzheimer’s Disease. I wondered how we got the name Alzheimer’s for this malady. Who would want their name attached to something that sends goosebumps up your body at the mention of it? Here is the original Alzheimer’s story.

Auguste Deter’s Story

In the 1890s, Germany’s Auguste Deter, then 50 years old, began to lose her memory, her sense of time, and her sense of self. Because of her paranoid delusions, trance-like states, and screaming episodes, she was confined to Frankfurt’s Irrenschloss, known as “Castle of the Insane,” in 1901. Mrs. Deter was not only bewildered most of the time, but she was keenly aware of her predicament.

“I have lost myself,” summed up her situation. Yet, some of Deter’s responses were perfectly logical. When asked, “Where is your bed?” Auguste replied, “Where it should be.”  

Who Named This Ailment?

Unlike Lou Gehrig’s disease, named for its most famous fatality, or Lyme Disease, named for the Connecticut towns where it gained recognition, most of our eponymous diseases create Wikipedia entries for the doctors and researchers who’ve studied them but leave the sufferers in obscurity. A.D., or Alzheimer’s Disease, is named for the doctor.

Alois Alzheimer

While working at the Frankfurt Institution for the Mentally Ill and Epileptics, Dr. Alois Alzheimer documented Auguste Deter’s mental deterioration as she consciously struggled to understand what was taking place in her mind. Following her death in 1906, Dr. Alzheimer continued to study her medical records and also examined her brain.  

In Auguste Deter’s brain, Alzheimer found two physical abnormalities that today characterize the condition. He discovered senile plaques, which are clumps of beta-amyloid protein in cells that block normal transmission between neurons, those many-fingered hands that reach across the mind to connect our snippets of knowledge. Barriers form around the brain’s cells, which block the transference of messages. He also found lesions that formed inside the brain cells, killing neurons from within. These are called neurofibrillary tangles. This discovery and subsequent research demonstrate that the disease damages neurons on two fronts, both from within and without.  

Learning and Memory

Further research reveals that the disease impacts numerous types of neurotransmitters. Glutamate transmitters affect learning and memory. Recent additions to the family are often lost to an Alzheimer’s patient who no longer can learn new names or catalog new information. Healthcare workers and assisted living workers must introduce themselves every day, like living through “50 First Dates” without the happy ending.

When Dr. Alzheimer asked, “What is your name?” she replied, “Auguste.” When asked for her family name, she replied, “Auguste.” When asked her husband’s name, the lady replied, “Auguste.”

Who’s In Control?

Noradrenaline transmitters distort responsiveness, fear, and aggression. Stress, brought on by fear and paranoia, can cause a sufferer to become combative with family members or healthcare workers, making it difficult to care for their needs or even be around them. Auguste Deter came to believe friends and strangers alike were attempting to kill her. Sometimes, it’s easy to get frustrated or angry with ill-behaved seniors who have dementia, but their brains are controlling their actions, not the other way around.  

Alzheimer Moods

Serotonin transmitters impact mood, body temperature, the cardiovascular system, appetite, social behavior, and sleep patterns. People with Alzheimer’s may struggle to stay warm despite wearing many layers of clothing. They may lose the ability to enjoy favorite foods. Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) dysfunction can cause increased apathy and anxiety. Moods may change quickly from states of hopelessness to states of extreme frustration and are often compounded by an inability to communicate as the brain and body no longer work together.

Here and Now

When asked where she was at that moment, August Deter replied, “Here and everywhere, here and now, you must not think badly of me.” So maybe A.D. stands for Auguste Deter after all.