19-year-old diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in China

A 19-year-old man in China has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the youngest case of the condition ever reported. south china morning post,

According to researchers at Beijing’s Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, the man’s memory deteriorated rapidly over a two-year period. It had reached such a level that he was unable to remember recent events or the locations of his belongings. The patient showed signs of Alzheimer’s disease, such as memory loss and hippocampal atrophy, which are considered early signs of the disease. The SCMP said that his illness forced him to leave high school early and made him slow at reading and responding.

The researchers’ study was later published in peer-reviewed Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease On January 31, 2023. “The study proposes a new focus on early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Discovering the secrets of young people with Alzheimer’s disease may become one of the most challenging scientific questions of the future,” the authors said in the paper.

According to the authors, almost all Alzheimer’s patients under the age of 30 have pathological gene mutations. The youngest person ever diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease was a 21-year-old who also had the gene mutation.

“This is the youngest case reported to date meeting the diagnostic criteria for probable Alzheimer’s disease without a recognized genetic mutation,” the authors said in the study.

Read also: Nose picking may put you at risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, study says

In addition, the authors also noted that the teen’s results were abnormal on a widely used auditory verbal learning test, which assessed immediate recall, short-delay free recall, long-delay free recall, and long-delay recognition. Did. All of these suggested that his memory was very poor.

The rare case is also prompting researchers to reconsider the “nature” of dementia, according to George Perry, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. “This case calls attention to the heterogeneous nature of dementia that can involve people at any age. Finding a 19-year-old man (with possible Alzheimer’s disease) suggests this problem can range from early middle age (current concept) to early adulthood.” increases,” concluded Mr. Perry.