Alzheimer's Was Rare Thousands of Years Ago

Older people in ancient Greece and Rome may not have experienced severe memory problems like many who are aging today.

Researchers in California have combed through a slew of classical texts on human health written between the 8th century BCE and 3rd century CE, and found surprisingly few references to cognitive impairment in older folk.

According to Caleb Finch, who studies the mechanisms of aging at the University of Southern California, and historian Stanley Burstein from California State University, severe memory loss may have been an extremely rare outcome of growing old more than 2,000 years ago.   READ MORE...