Alzheimer’s disease

a common form of dementia, believed to be caused by changes in the brain, usually beginning in late middle age, characterized by memory lapses, confusion, emotional instability, and progressive loss of mental ability.
noun
a disorder of the brain resulting in a progressive decline in intellectual and physical abilities and eventual dementia Often shortened to Alzheimer’s

(senium præcox), 1912, title of article by S.C. Fuller published in “Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases;” named for German neurologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915). The name was not common before 1970s; shortened form Alzheimer’s first recorded 1954. The surname is from the place name Alzheim, literally “Old Hamlet.”

Alzheimer’s disease Alz·hei·mer’s disease (älts’hī-mərz, ālts’-, ôlts’-)
n.
A degenerative disease of the brain, characterized by clumps of neurofibrils and microscopic brain lesions and by confusion, disorientation, memory failure, and speech disturbances, and resulting in progressive loss of mental capacity.
Alzheimer’s disease
(äls’hī-mərz)
A progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, commonly affecting the elderly, and associated with the development of amyloid plaques in the cerebral cortex. It is characterized by confusion, disorientation, memory failure, speech disturbances, and eventual dementia. The cause is unknown. Alzheimer’s disease is named for its identifier, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915).
Alzheimer’s disease [(ahlts-heye-muhrz, alts-heye-muhrz, awlts-heye-muhrz)]

A disease in which mental capacity decreases because of the breakdown of brain cells.

Note: Alzheimer’s disease is a major cause of loss of intellectual function in middle-aged and elderly people.