Alzheimer’s was ‘exceptionally’ rare among ancient Greeks and Romans, study suggests

It’s possible that elderly people in ancient Greece and Rome did not have serious memory issues like many older people do today.

Surprisingly few references to cognitive impairment in the elderly were found in a number of classical texts on human health written between the eighth and third centuries A.D., according to researchers in California.

Scientists studying aging at the University of Southern California’s Caleb Finch and California State University’s Stanley Burstein speculate that over 2,000 years ago, growing old might have been a very uncommon cause of severe memory loss.

It’s also not true that the ancient Greeks and Romans did not live to be extremely old.

Even though the average life expectancy was less than half of what it is today before the Common Era, 35 was hardly ever regarded as “old” in those days. According to estimates, the median age of death in ancient Greece was closer to 70, indicating that half of the population lived even longer. The renowned Greek physician Hippocrates, who is regarded as the “father of medicine,” is thought to have passed away in his 80s or 90s.

Age is currently considered the single biggest risk factor for dementia, as one-third of adults over 85 suffer from the illness. The amount of

In the modern world, memory loss is a common sign of aging, but it may not have always been the case. Finch and Burstein discovered that the medical writings of Hippocrates, his later adherents, and even Aristotle made no reference to memory loss in antiquity.

Age was linked to various physical decline symptoms in Greek texts from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, such as deafness, vertigo, insomnia, blindness, and digestive issues. However, the small amount of available literature suggests that severe memory problems are not a major issue.

Finch and Burstein state, “We found no equivalent to modern case reports of [Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias].”

“None of these ancient accounts of cognitive loss can be considered clinical data in the modern sense.”

The historical review’s findings imply that the dementia epidemic that is currently plaguing many countries worldwide may very well be a byproduct of contemporary living. In fact, recent research has connected the most prevalent subtype of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, to a number of common modern ailments, including poor diet, air pollution, heart problems, and impoverished urban areas.

Finch and Burstein, however, discovered evidence that “mental decline was recognized” but “considered exceptional” in ancient times.

They claim that very few writings from the eras of Aristotle and Hippocrates discuss signs of early or mid-stage Alzheimer’s disease, leaving out significant impairments in speech, memory, or reasoning.

It is possible that memory loss was still a rare sign of aging as late as the middle of the first century BCE because even the Roman statesman Cicero left it out of his writings on the “four evils” of old age.

The first historical texts that Finch and Burstein came across that discussed severe age-related memory loss were those written in the first century B.C. Pliny the Elder, who passed away in 79 A.D., documented the first instance of advanced case. He told the story of a well-known orator and senator in Rome who, as he grew older, lost memory of his own name.

Greek physician Galen, who served as the Roman emperor’s personal physician in the second century, described survivors of two plagues who seemed unable to recognize their friends or themselves.

At the time, lead exposure from cooking appliances and the plumbing system was pervasive in imperial Rome, and air pollution was also a major problem.

According to Finch and Burstein, these variables may have increased the population’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease and caused odd signs of aging that were not usually observed in the past.

It is impossible to conclude why severe dementia symptoms are more prevalent in Imperial Roman records than in Greek ones without additional information.

The idea that environmental factors may have a greater influence on cognitive decline than aging is supported by the fact that there are societies of people living today with dementia rates of less than one percent.

Compared to people in the United States or Europe, the modern Tsimané and Moseten people of Bolivia’s Amazon region have an 80% lower incidence of dementia. Their way of life is centered on traditional farming and foraging practices rather than urbanization or industrialization, and their brains appear to age differently than those of people in other parts of the world.

In order to determine the exact timing and cause of the emergence of severe memory loss in the elderly, Finch and Burstein are now advocating for a “broader investigation” into the history of dementia in ancient and pre-modern times.