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Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease is a slowly progressive, degenerative brain disorder that results in abnormal brain function and death. Dr. Alois Alzheimer described the disease in the neurological autopsy on the brain of a 56-year-old woman who died several years after a progressive mental deterioration marked by increasing confusion and memory loss. He noticed an odd disorganization of the nerve cells in her cerebral cortex. The cells were bunched up like a rope tied in knots. He named the strange nerve bundles neurofibrillary tangles. He also noted an unexpected accumulation of cellular debris around the affected nerves. Alzheimer’s disease is a disorder marked by a gradual decline in brain function that gets worse with time. It was assumed that this change was a normal part of aging that was once called senility. The condition can develop as young as 40, but the disease is most common in people over the age of 65. Alzheimer’s di