--- title: Alzheimer's Disease History: Who Was Dr. Alois Alzheimer? description: The disease for which he's known was given its name on July 15, 1910 canonical: https://time.com/3954151/alois-alzheimer-disease/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-15T15:00:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:37.082Z article:section: History og:title: This is How Alzheimer's Disease Got Its Name 105 Years Ago og:description: It was coined on July 15, 1910 og:url: https://time.com/3954151/alois-alzheimer-disease/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1325bd4325484885/69885a755f570f9b49b1c65d/alzheimer.jpeg?branch=production&width=489&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 489 og:image:height: 275 og:image:alt: Alois Alzheimer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This is How Alzheimer's Disease Got Its Name 105 Years Ago twitter:description: It was coined on July 15, 1910 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1325bd4325484885/69885a755f570f9b49b1c65d/alzheimer.jpeg?branch=production&width=489&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This is How Alzheimer's Disease Got Its Name > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life [Watch (HLS stream): The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/orlnwhNb.m3u8) (7:08)  _Published 2014-05-23. Here's how the people of Ikaria, Greece reach old age_  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 15, 2015 3:00 PM UTC  An undated portrait of Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neurologist An undated portrait of Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neurologist Apic / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 15, 2015 3:00 PM UTC It was on this day, July 15, in 1910 that the second volume of the German book _General Psychiatry_ was published. Though the book was written by eminent psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, it ended up preserving the name of a different doctor: it was the first time that a type of dementia was described as “Alzheimer’s disease.” The name was in honor of Alois Alzheimer, another German psychiatrist, who in 1906 identified the cases of dementia described by Kraepelin. The pair were quite familiar with each others’ work. As recounted in Konrad and Ulrike Maurer’s _Alzheimer: The Life of a Physician and the Career of a Disease_, Kreapelin worked closely with Alzheimer, who even filled in for the former at work when he was busy writing _General Psychiatry_. Alzheimer had originally been Kraepelin’s research assistant in the medical school in Munich, and it was there that he was able to create a lab dedicated to research in brain science. As TIME described in a 1983 article about the disease’s prevalence, Dr. Alzheimer had noticed that the brain of one of his patients—known as Auguste D—looked different from other brains: --- > “” --- Alzheimer died in 1951. **_Read the full story from 1983, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Slow, Steady and Heartbreaking](http://time.com/vault/issue/1983-07-11/page/78/) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ]. Ikaria is a very unique island. The people are not what you would find in other places, they have a different lifestyle, a different way of looking at life. We might seem like we're not getting things done, or we might be moving slowly, but we just move at our own pace and things do get done in the end. Being Ikaria is an identity unto itself. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ] People wanna live long, it's natural. Life is a gift, and people want to enjoy it. [ MUSIC ] Unfortunately, you know, Athens is not a carrier. Athens is a big city, people are crowded, crowding alone is a major stress. It's difficult to live there, connected life. There is a lot of obesity, there is a lot of anxiety. We've started already to be seeing the results of stress. In Ikaria they're not crowded, they have the water right next to them. Just the environment where they live, it's better. [ FOREIGN ] [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ FOREIGN ]. It's the people of Ikaria that make the difference, the people are really for Ikaria. In Ikaria, it's cultural, it's an epicurean culture, they avoid stress, or cope well with it. When they cannot avoid it, they seek small pleasures. They live the day as it comes. So, somehow naturally, they're doing things that we should all be doing. [ FOREIGN ]. I got money from my uncle Giannis. He said to me, come with me for work, for one week and I will give you money, I said, okay. I went first three days, and then I said, I, I quit, I cannot do it anymore. I was waking up at 6 o'clock and working until, four, five and he was saying, come on, let's go, let's go until night. [ FOREIGN ]. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. In the documentaries they show only old people, they don't show nothing else, old people and the nature. They don't show the young people, what are they doing in their lives, you know? [ NOISE ]. I don't think that I would live so many years as them because, with the live that we are doing now it's, it's bad because we drink alcohol so much. We don't sleep good. [ NOISE ] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. I'm looking forward to the people of Ikaria being able to come together, and work for the good of their island. And I'm also looking forward to the next generation, to see how they turn out and where they're going to be in 20 years time. I think it's gonna be a very interesting journey. We like the tradition of Ikaria, the history, the music, the culture, everything. We like it, and we trying, I think, my generation is trying to keep it, you know, not lose it. What I learn a lot from the older people is their sense of continuity, their strong sense of family, their strong sense of, my children have grown. I've seen my grandchildren, my life is complete, I'm fulfilled. They're not looking for new things. They're enjoying the things that they have in the moments they have. They're not looking for the next one, and the next one before they've actually enjoyed the present one. 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