Brain Science Podcast 68 is an interview with Dr. Peter Whitehouse, co-author (with Daniel George) ofThe Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis.  Alzheimer's Disease originally referred to a relatively rare form of premature dementia, but in recent decades the diagnosis has been expanded to include patients of all ages. This change is not based on science, and in this interview we talk about why being labeled with with Alzheimer's may be doing older patients more harm than good.

Dr. Whitehouse is one of the pioneering researchers in this field, but advocates devoting resources to helping elders with with a wide range of age-related brain changes.  This interview should be of interest to physicians, scientists, as well as patients and their families.  I will be posting a supplemental interview with Daniel George, the co-author of The Myth of Alzheimer's later this month.  (Learn more at http://booksandideas.com)

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References:

• The Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis, by Peter J. Whitehouse, Daniel George.

• Dementia Reconsidered: the Person Comes First, by Tom Kitwood.

• Self, Senility, and Alzheimer's Disease in Modern America: A History, by Jesse F. Ballenger.

Links:

• Peter Whitehouse, MD: neurologist at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.

• The Myth of Alzheimer's website (includes a discussion forum).

• The Intergenerational School in Cleveland, OH.

• Tom Kitwood: pioneered the "person-centered" approach to dementia.

• Dr. Alois Alzheimer: described  several cases of premature dementia (around 1901) that seemed to be associated with distinctive brain changes (discovered during autopsy).

• Emil Kraepelin: a contemporary and adversary of Sigmund Freud who introduced the term "Alzheimer's Disease" in his influencial textbook Psychiatry (1910).

• Robert Butler, MD: the first director of the National Institute on Aging.

• Drapetomania: an alleged mental illness invented in 1851 that supposedly caused slaves to run away.  As Dr. Whitehouse observed during his interview, "diseases are not discovered by doctors, they are invented."

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