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Jan. 14 - The Existence Of Alzheimer's As A 'Disease' Challenged By International Brain Aging Expert

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine professor of neurology, Peter Whitehouse, MD, PhD, challenges conventional wisdom and assumptions of brain aging in his new book, "The Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Disease." In his provocative and ground-breaking new book, Dr. Whitehouse questions current approaches to Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis and treatment and brings a new understanding to everything we thought we knew about brain aging.

According to the founder of the University Memory and Aging Center at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, "AD cannot be biologically or clinically differentiated from normal aging. There is no one profile of AD that is consistent from person to person," says Dr. Whitehouse. "Alzheimer's is a heterogeneous process because it reflects the different way people's brains age over their lifetimes." The book claims AD represents our culture's attempt to make sense of a natural process of brain aging that we cannot control; all the biological hallmarks of AD are also the hallmarks of normal, albeit severe, forms of brain aging.

Based on twenty-five years as a clinician and educator caring for persons with aging associated cognitive challenges and on his experience as the co-founder (with his wife Catherine) of an internationally recognized and nationally awarding wining intergenerational school affiliated with Case Western Reserve, Dr. Whitehouse shares his experiences and accumulated wisdom about ageing well.

The term "Alzheimer's disease" generates fear, paranoia, angst, and stigmatization while evoking powerful social and emotional images. For the millions of people diagnosed with AD and their families, this book will help them understand why what they have been told may be incomplete, even wrong; why the treatment they are probably being given is inadequate; and most importantly, how they can get the help they need.

"The Myth of Alzheimer's" encourages readers to think about brain aging not as a disease, but as a lifelong process fraught with challenges which will change society's whole approach to aging and add quality to our later years and to the lives of those we love.

Source: Case Western Reserve University

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