Neurologists from China have diagnosed a 19-year-old with Alzheimer's disease, which makes him by far the youngest person to have this condition, as reported first by ScienceAlert on Thursday, Feb. 16.
BERLIN, GERMANY - JULY 01: Specialist physician in neurology Oliver Fasold gestures in front of the electronic patient file (Elektronische Patientenakte ePA) on July 1, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. The electronic patient file is a new element in health care, that shall digitally collate patient data previously stored in various locations like doctors offices and hospitals.
Rare Alzheimer's Case
Around the age of 17, the teen started to lose his memory, and the cognitive impairment got worse over time.
Imaging of his brain revealed memory-related hippocampal shrinkage, and his cerebrospinal fluid suggested usual indicators of Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's disease is generally thought of as a condition that mainly affects the elderly, despite the fact that early-onset cases of the disease, which include patients under the age of 65, can account for up to 10% of all diagnoses.
Pathological gene mutations can explain Alzheimer's in nearly all patients under 30 years old, classifying them as having familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD). When a young person is diagnosed, it is likely caused by a defective gene that they have.
But this new case has perplexed the neurologists from the Capital Medical University in Beijing. Even though they conducted a genome-wide search, they were still unable to identify any of the typical mutations responsible for the early onset of memory loss.
"Far More Complex"
The youngest Alzheimer's patient up until this point was 21 years old. They have the PSEN1 gene mutation, which leads to the accumulation of aberrant proteins in the brain and the formation of toxic plaques, which is a frequent symptom of Alzheimer's.
It was difficult to diagnose the 19-year-old as having FAD because none of his family members had a history of Alzheimer's or dementia, and he also did not have any other illnesses, infections, or head injuries that could have caused his cognitive loss.
In comparison to peers his same age, his full-scale memory score was 82 percent lower and his immediate memory score was 87 percent lower as well.
"The patient had very early-onset AD with no clear pathogenic mutations, which suggests that its pathogenesis still needs to be explored," the team wrote in their paper.
This rare case demonstrates that Alzheimer's disease is far more complex than previously believed and manifests itself through a variety of pathways with variable outcomes.
According to the neurologists who detailed the patient's case, future research on cases of memory loss should concentrate on early-onset cases to understand the complexities of this disease.
The study was detailed in length in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
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