A 19-year-old Chinese boy has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Sciences et Avenir reported on Monday. This would be the youngest patient with this syndrome in the world. His case was detailed in an article in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Diseases. Beyond his age, his diagnosis was indeed also difficult to establish.
The majority of people with Alzheimer’s disease see this syndrome occur from the age of 65. In France, 33,000 people would however have developed the disease younger, including 5,000 diagnosed before their 60s.
A unique case
According to Professor Bruno Dubois, neurologist at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, some “young” cases can even occur around the age of 40, “which is always much older than the case of this 19-year-old Chinese”. he noted with Sciences et Avenir.
For the young man, the symptoms appeared in adolescence, with memory loss and difficulty concentrating. Then, gradually, the difficulties got worse, until he lost his ability to read and remember recent events. He was eventually taken to hospital in Beijing.
A complex and uncertain diagnosis
There, the doctors carried out several tests. In particular, it appeared that the man did not carry the APOE4 gene, which is considered today as the most important genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, it carries the APOE3 gene. In addition, the patient does not have the APP, PSEN1 and PSEN2 genes, associated with a hereditary form of the disease. No family history could be found.
To establish their diagnosis, the doctors thus relied on various tests, then on a clinical examination including a PET-scan and an analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid. However, if the PET-Scan came back negative, the analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid confirmed the presence of tau protein, which is the cause of neurodegeneration. The case of this Chinese patient will therefore be the subject of many more in-depth analyzes in the years to come.