Dr. Noa Bergman explains what causes Alzheimer's, is there a way to prevent the disease, and how to treat someone who is already ill (Walla system!)
A 19-year-old man from China has become the youngest patient in the world to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, according to a new case report published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
The patient experienced memory loss and concentration problems at school for two years, and doctors who examined him concluded that he fits the diagnostic criteria for the disease, which usually occurs in people over 65 years of age.
The patient's family in this case had no history of Alzheimer's, and there were no signs during his childhood that he might be at particular risk for neurological disease.
However, the case report describes in great detail the effect it began to have on him and his memory difficulties in the year before he was diagnosed.
"He was unable to remember events that happened just one day ago, or where his personal belongings were. He also had difficulty reading and responding. He was unable to remember whether he had eaten or not, he was unable to complete his education and had to drop out of high school, even though he had above academic performance The average before he began experiencing significant cognitive decline two years earlier," it said.
Early Alzheimer's disease, which occurs in people under the age of 65, accounts for about 5-10 percent of all cases.
In the youngest patients - with symptoms starting before the age of 30 - the cause is almost always a genetic mutation.
Is this a mutation that causes the disease at a young age?
Illustration of a brain (Photo: ShutterStock)
The medical team already knew that it was unlikely that a hereditary mutation would be the cause here, because no one else in the patient's family suffered from dementia.
Researchers performed a complete genome sequence, and confirmed that there is no evidence of any genetic mutation that could explain the patient's symptoms at such a young age.
Additional diagnostic tests were also performed.
Cognitive tests, in which the patient had to listen and repeat a series of words after a short or long delay, revealed that his memory was "significantly impaired".
Brain imaging showed changes in the hippocampus and temporal lobe, and samples of the patient's cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) had elevated levels of biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease.
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One thing the tests didn't find, however, was the typical plaque buildup of amyloid beta protein and tau protein tangles—which are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers claim that the patient's age may have protected him from the accumulation of pathological proteins: "Since the patient was very young, it is possible that his rapid metabolism stopped the production of amyloid beta, resulting in less amyloid deposition in the brain," they wrote.
A challenging question concerning the future
The medical team decided that the patient was too young to undergo a brain biopsy, due to the invasive nature of the procedure and the risk of serious side effects.
And since it was not possible to perform this test, the authors write that it will be necessary to monitor the patient in order to map the progression of the disease in the long term.
As the authors of the study wrote in a statement to the South China Morning Post, "Investigating the mystery of young people with Alzheimer's disease may become one of the most challenging scientific questions of the future."
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