Letter: In Brief

Sir: I read with amusement Miles Kington's further selection of Albanian proverbs (26 November). I am a "nobody" who can remember who Alzheimer was. Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915) was a German neuro-pathologist who, in 1907, documented the first case of Alzheimer's disease. She was a woman of 51 who had died after suffering from dementia. Initially Alzheimer's name was given to the "pre-senile" form of dementia, but today the term covers the full age range. OK Miles? Don't forget!

ELIZABETH SHIPWAY

Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear