Alzheimer’s surprises again. This is the first such case

Alzheimer’s disease it affects up to 5% of people over 65 in Europe, and the risk of its occurrence increases with age. Most cases of its occurrence are not related to genetic conditions, so one may get the false impression that it only affects seniors. Unfortunately, a case observed in China proved that the disease can even affect minors.

A 19-year-old from China with Alzheimer’s disease

In 2023 neurologists from Capital Medical University in Beijing they investigated the case of a 19-year-old who diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, making him the youngest person to be affected by it. Worse still, the first symptoms of memory problems appeared when the patient was only 17 years old, and cognitive losses only worsened over time.

Imaging of the patient’s brain showed hippocampus shrinkage that is, the area responsible for memory, and the cerebrospinal fluid showed common markers of Alzheimer’s disease. Cases of the disease have been previously reported in people under 30 years of age, but these were the most common genetically burdened individualswhose parents, grandparents or other family members suffered from this disease (Family Alzheimer’s Disease). The lower the age of the patient, the higher the chance that the disease is inherited. In the case of the boy from China, no such relationship was found.

Cases like the one in China are something of a mystery. No one in the 19-year-old’s family had Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, making it difficult to classify her as FAD. At the same time, the teenager did not suffer from any other diseases, infections or head injuries that could explain his sudden cognitive decline. Two years before being referred to the memory clinic, the teenage patient began having trouble concentrating in class. Reading also became difficult and his short-term memory deteriorated. He often had no memory of the previous day’s events and was constantly losing his things.

The cognitive decline turned out to be so severe that the man was unable to complete high school. Research showed that his immediate memory was up to 87% worse than that of healthy peers.