Gaby
A new study by U.S. researchers finds that the disease that destroys memory, speech, and thinking was surprisingly rare in Ancient Greece and Rome.
The team argues dementia may be a modern ailment because ancient Greek and Roman medical texts rarely mention severe memory loss.
The team, led by gerontologist Professor Caleb Finch at the University of Southern California, published their findings. They contend dementia is a disease of modern humans and a consequence of contemporary lifestyles.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed written evidence dating back 2,000 to 2,500 years, from the eras of Aristotle, Galen, and Cicero.
What the Researchers Discovered
Ancient Greeks acknowledged that aging often brought memory problems—what today we’d call mild cognitive impairment. But the texts contain no descriptions of the severe memory, speech, and thinking problems typical of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias that affect millions today.
The team thoroughly examined the surviving medical works of Hippocrates and his followers. Those texts often mentioned ailments in old age—deafness, dizziness, and digestive problems—but not memory loss.
A century later in Ancient Rome, a few such references appear. Galen noted that by age 80 some people had difficulty learning new things. Pliny the Elder reported that the senator and orator Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus once forgot his own name. Cicero wrote that “senile folly… is characteristic of irresponsible old people, but not all old people.”
Professor Finch said, “The ancient Greeks had very, very few pieces of evidence, but we found them—references to something akin to mild cognitive impairment… Among the Romans, we discovered at least four statements indicating rare cases of advanced dementia.”
Finch argues that analyzing these and other facts supports the idea that dementia and Alzheimer’s are products of modern life.
Why Are There So Few References?
Previous teams studying ancient tombstones suggested the average lifespan of ancient Romans and Greeks did not exceed 30 to 35 years. Dementia, however, rarely appears before about age 60, which suggests the disease—caused by age-related abnormal protein buildup around brain cells—could not have been as prevalent in ancient times as it is today.
Some historians dispute those low-life-expectancy estimates. They point to records showing, for example, that candidates for certain political offices had to be at least 40, and to accounts of individuals who lived to 100, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Finch suggested that as Roman cities grew, environmental pollution increased, which could have harmed cognitive function across the population.
Roman aristocrats also used lead in everyday items such as kitchen utensils and plumbing pipes. Historians note that people sometimes added lead acetate to wine to sweeten it, unintentionally poisoning themselves with a potent neurotoxin.
To support their findings, Finch’s team referenced research on the Tsimane, an indigenous group in the Bolivian Amazon. Like ancient Greeks and Romans, the Tsimane live a pre-industrial lifestyle and remain very physically active. So it may not be surprising that dementia is extremely rare among them.
An international team led by Professor Margaret Gatz at the University of Southern California found that only about 1 percent of elderly Tsimane have dementia.
By comparison, about 11 percent of U.S. residents aged 65 and older have the condition.
Professor Finch said, “This indicates that the environment is a huge determining factor in the risk of dementia.”
The study’s results were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
