Auguste Deter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Auguste Deter
Born	Johanna Auguste Caroline Hochmann (1850-05-16)16 May 1850 Kassel, Electorate of Hesse
Died	8 April 1906(1906-04-08) (aged 55) Frankfurt, German Empire
Nationality	German
Known for	First diagnosis of Alzheimer's
Spouse(s)	Carl August Wilhelm Deter ​ (m. 1873)​

Auguste Deter (born May 16, 1850 – died April 8, 1906) was a German woman. She is famous for being the first person ever diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This important diagnosis was made by Dr. Alois Alzheimer.

Auguste Deter's Early Life

Auguste was born in Kassel, Hesse-Kassel, Germany, on May 16, 1850. She grew up in a working-class family. Auguste had three brothers and sisters. Her father, Johannes Hohmann, passed away when she was young.

Even though her family was not rich, Auguste received a good education. She went to school in Kassel. Some people think she might have been a student of Dr. Alois Alzheimer's grandfather, Johann. He was a schoolmaster in Kassel when Auguste was a student. Auguste could not go to college. This was because of the social rules and her family's money situation.

Auguste's Career and Marriage

At age 14, Auguste started working full-time. She was an assistant seamstress. She kept this job until she got married. On May 1, 1873, when she was 23, she married Carl August Wilhelm Deter.

In 1888, Carl began working as a railway clerk. After their marriage, Auguste moved to Frankfurt, Germany. There, she became a full-time housewife. Carl said their marriage was "happy and harmonious." Auguste and Carl had one daughter named Thekla.

Auguste became sick in the spring of 1901. She was 50 years old at the time. Later that year, in November, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She lived there for the rest of her life. Auguste and Carl were married for 33 years. She passed away on April 8, 1906, at age 55. This was just five weeks before her 56th birthday.

How Auguste's Illness Began

In the late 1890s, Auguste started to lose her memory very quickly. She began showing signs of dementia. These signs included memory loss, delusions (believing things that are not true), and sometimes being in a temporary vegetative state.

Changes in Behavior

By March 1901, Auguste's behavior became hard to manage. She started ignoring her housework. She would purposely hide things and forgot how to cook. She also had trouble sleeping. Sometimes, she would drag sheets outside and scream for hours at night. She became very paranoid. She thought her neighbors and strangers wanted to harm her.

Carl, her husband, worked on the railway. He could not take care of her properly. A local doctor told him to admit her to a mental hospital. So, on November 25, 1901, she was admitted to a mental institution. It was called the Institution for the Mentally Ill and for Epileptics [de] in Frankfurt. There, Dr. Alois Alzheimer examined her.

Dr. Alzheimer's Care

Carl visited Auguste whenever he could. However, he found it hard to pay for her care. It would have been cheaper for him to stay at work. Because of money problems, Carl kept trying to move Auguste to a cheaper facility. This would mean she would no longer be under Dr. Alzheimer's care.

Dr. Alzheimer did not want this to happen. He offered Carl a deal. Auguste could stay and receive care for free. In return, Dr. Alzheimer would get her medical records and her brain after she passed away. Carl agreed to this and signed the papers.

Auguste's Treatment and Study

Dr. Alzheimer asked Auguste many questions. Then he would ask them again to see if she remembered. He asked her to write her name. She tried, but she would forget the rest. She would repeat, "I have lost myself." He even put her in an isolation room for a while. When she was let out, she would scream, "I will not be cut. I do not cut myself."

Over many years, her dementia became much worse. She would often just mutter to herself. She died on April 8, 1906.

Modern Research on Auguste's Case

More than 100 years later, scientists looked at her case again. They used modern medical tools. Scientists from Gießen and Sydney found a genetic cause for her disease. They published their findings in The Lancet Neurology journal. They found a mutation (a change) in the PSEN1 gene. This mutation affects how a certain protein works. It is known to cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

However, other scientists could not find the same results in 2014. A newer paper said Auguste's DNA did not show this specific mutation. It is thought that Auguste's daughter, Thekla, would have had a 50% chance of getting the PSEN1 gene. This would mean she might develop Alzheimer's. But there is no information about Thekla ever getting the illness.

Dr. Alzheimer's Observations

Dr. Alzheimer realized Auguste had no sense of time or place. She could barely remember details about her life. Her answers often made no sense and were not related to the questions. Her moods changed quickly. She would go from feeling anxious to being suspicious, withdrawn, or whiny.

They could not let her walk around the hospital freely. She would bother other patients, who would then sometimes hurt her. Dr. Alzheimer had seen patients with severe mental decline before. But those patients were usually in their seventies. Auguste was much younger, which made her case very interesting to him. For weeks, he kept asking her questions and writing down her answers. She often said, "Oh, God!" and "I have lost myself, so to say." She seemed to know she was helpless. Dr. Alzheimer called it the "Disease of Forgetfulness."

Auguste's Death and Legacy

In 1902, Dr. Alzheimer left the "Irrenschloss" (Castle of the Insane). This was the nickname for the institution. He moved to Munich for a new job. But he often called Frankfurt to check on Auguste's condition. On April 9, 1906, Dr. Alzheimer got a call that Auguste Deter had died.

He asked for her medical records and her brain to be sent to him. Her records showed that her condition had gotten much worse in her last years. She died from complications related to her illness. With help from Italian doctors Gaetano Perusini and Francesco Bonfiglio, Dr. Alzheimer carefully studied her brain. They found senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. These are now known as the main signs of Alzheimer's disease. If Auguste were alive today, doctors would diagnose her with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Rediscovery of Medical Records

In 1996, Dr. Konrad Maurer and his team found Auguste Deter's medical records again. In these documents, Dr. Alzheimer had written down his examination of her. He included her answers to his questions:

• "What is your name?"

  "Auguste."

• "Family name?"

  "Auguste."

• "What is your husband's name?" - she hesitates, finally answers:

  "I believe ... Auguste."

• "Your husband?"

  "Oh, my husband."

• "How old are you?"

  "Fifty-one."

• "Where do you live?"

  "Oh, you have been to our place."

• "Are you married?"

  "Oh, I am so confused."

• "Where are you right now?"

  "Here and everywhere, here and now, you must not think badly of me."

• "Where are you at the moment?"

  "We will live there."

• "Where is your bed?"

  "Where should it be?"

Around midday, Frau Auguste D. ate pork and cauliflower.

• "What are you eating?"

  "Spinach." (She was chewing meat.)

• "What are you eating now?"

  "First I eat potatoes and then horseradish."

• "Write a '5'." [German: fünf]

  She writes: "A woman" [Frau]

• "Write an '8'." [acht]

  She writes: "Auguse" (while she is writing she repeatedly says, "I have lost myself, so to say.")

See also

In Spanish: Auguste Deter para niños