Abstract
As life expectancy continues to increase, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has become much more prevalent and as yet there is no cure. This has given rise to the situation Tithonus faced in Greek mythology of living longer but not staying young. In this article, the authors explore this phenomenon while reviewing some notable people and AD.
References
1.
Kraepelin E. Psychiatrie.
Ein Lehrbuch für Studierende und Aertze . Vol 2. Leipzig : Verlag von Johann Ambrosius Barth Pub ; 1910 .
2.
Herbert LE
,
Scherr PA
,
Bienias JL
, et al. Alzheimer’s disease in the US population . Arch Neurol . 2003 ;60 (8 ):119 -1122 .
3.
Martin R
, ed. Bulfinch’s Mythology . New York : HarperCollins ; 1991 .
4.
Cashford J.
, tran. The Homeric Hymns . London : Penguin Books ; 2003 .
5.
Nuland S.
The Doctors’ Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignác Semmelweis . New York : Atlas Books;
2003 .
6.
Alzheimer A.
Über eine eigenartige Erkrankung der Hirnrinde . Allgem Z. Psychiatr Psych-Gerich Med . 1907 ;64 (1 -2 ):146 -148 .
7.
Maurer K.
,
Maurer U.
Alzheimer: The Life of a Physician and the Career of a Disease . New York : Columbia University Press ; 1998 .
8.
Lewey FH
Alosi Alzheimer . In:
Haymaker W
,
Schiller F
, eds. The Founders of Neurology . 2 nd ed. Springfield, IL : Charles C. Thomas Pub ; 1953 .
9.
Pimlott B.
Harold Wilson . London : Penguin Books ; 1999 .
10.
Oestreich JR
For Rudolf Bing at 88, Operatic Drama Lingers . The New York Times , March 11, 1990 .
11.
Grove L.
Barry Goldwater’s Left Turn . Washington Post , July 28, 1994 .
12.
Barnes B.
Barry Goldwater
, GOP Hero, Dies . Washington Post , May 30, 1998 .
13.
Gordon M.
In Poignant Public Letter, Reagan Reveals That He Has Alzheimer’s . The New York Times , November 6, 1994 .
14.
Swift J.
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World . London : Benjamine Motte ; 1726 .
15.
Bewley T.
The health of Jonathan Swift . J R Soc Med . 1998 ;91 (11 ):602 -605 .