Alzheimer’s disease is a permanent, advancing brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. Finally, even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living become near impossible. Alzheimer’s commonly first appears after age 60. Alzheimer’s disease is the most frequent cause of dementia among older men and women. Alzheimer’s is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer found changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms were memory loss, language problems, and behavior problems. After her death, he examined her brain and found abnormal clumps, now called amyloid plaques, and tangled bundles of fibers, now called neurofibrillary tangles. These plaques and tangles in the brain are two of the principal features of Alzheimer’s disease. The third is the loss of contacts between neurons in the brain. While treatment can help manage symptoms in some people, currently there is no known cure for this devastating disease.