Chinese researchers name them the youngest person diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
What is special about the case is that there is no family history.
Munich - According to the German Alzheimer Society, around 1.8 million people in Germany are currently living with dementia.
Most of them are affected by Alzheimer's disease.
As a result of demographic changes, the number of people suffering from dementia is constantly increasing.
Depending on how the age structure of the population develops, the number of people with dementia over the age of 65 will increase to between 2.4 and 2.8 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer's Society.
19-year-old diagnosed with Alzheimer's: First symptoms appeared at 17
Alzheimer's affects people over 60 in particular.
It was only recently announced that 67-year-old actor Bruce Willis suffers from dementia.
But even very young people can contract it, as a contribution from the
South China Morning Post
shows.
Accordingly, Beijing scientists report in the "Journal of Alzheimer's Disease" according to their own information about the youngest person in the world who was probably diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
According to the researchers, the 19-year-old patient shows the characteristic signs of Alzheimer's disease.
These include memory loss, concentration and reading difficulties.
The first symptoms appeared two years before he visited the doctors at Capital Medical University in Beijing, at the age of 17.
These eventually got so bad that he had to drop out of high school.
Lowering the risk of Alzheimer's: Which ten foods protect the brain
Lowering the risk of Alzheimer's: Which ten foods protect the brain
19-year-old diagnosed with Alzheimer's: Affected person has no family history
The unusual thing about the case is that there is no family history.
Because previously, a gene mutation was found in people under the age of 30 who were diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
According to the Beijing researchers, the youngest known person to have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease was a 21-year-old with such a gene mutation.
Overall, only five to ten percent of people with Alzheimer's disease are under 65.
Dementia and Alzheimer's: what's the difference?
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and a previously incurable brain disease in which nerve cells die.
In general usage, the terms Alzheimer's and dementia are often used interchangeably.
However, Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, accounting for around 60 percent.
Dementia encompasses a number of diseases that affect the brain.
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