 Pear Press presents, Do I Have Alzheimer's? Written and read by John Medina. Quote, Soon there will be two kinds of people in the world, persons that have Alzheimer's and persons that know someone that has Alzheimer's, attributed to Dr. Mehmet Oz. Another quote, We'll be friends until we're old and senile, then we'll be new friends. Anonymous. Augusta Dieter was clearly troubled. At night she dragged her bedsheets around the mental institution where she spent her last years screaming at no one for hours on end. Though she was a frail woman she could be physically assaultive, a danger to those around her. She was also mentally confused, emotionally disorganized, one interview recorded with and by her doctor began like this. What is your name? The clinician asked. Augusta was the reply. What is your husband's name? She hesitated a second. Uh, Augusta, I think. Your husband, the physician repeated. Ah, my husband, she repeated, not understanding the question. The doctor continued. Where do you live? This question surprised her. Oh, you have been to our place? She exclaimed. Are you married? The doctor asked. Dieter was hesitant, blurting out, oh, I'm so confused. She sensed something was amiss at one point declaring, you must not think badly of me. The physician continued probing. Where are you at the moment? She responded rather incoherently as if hearing another question. We will live there, is all she said. Dieter was actually in Frankfurt, Germany, interred as a mentally ill patient at the psychiatric facility. The interviewer, however, was no ordinary doctor. His name was Dr. Olois Alzheimer. He was taking notes on the very first person ever diagnosed with a disease that would eventually bear his name. Augusta Dieter died in 1906, and Alzheimer was allowed to examine her brain in detail, one piece at a time. He found what was to become Alzheimer's famous cellular signature, the odd fibrils and even otter plaques marbling Dieter's brain like the fat of a rib-eye steak. This damage was invoked to explain her mental condition at the time called presenile dementia. It's a condition that causes terror to this day. Am I getting Alzheimer's? Is one of the most anxious questions any senior can ask. Your brain turns into your own personal gestapo, questioning every slip of the tongue, interrogating every lost cell phone experience, feeling tortured each time a familiar person's name is forgotten. The question drives patients, clinicians and researchers alike. Sample complete. Ready to continue?