The symptoms are dramatic enough: the initial forgetting of small things such as house keys and dates, followed by deepening confusion, hostility and depression. Then the long, slow slide back into childlike dependence, until the victim can no longer sit up, speak or go to the toilet. Yet even then, when family and friends have suffered the heartbreaking deterioration of a loved one, it is still impossible to name the slow killer with absolute certainty. Only after the patient has died and an autopsy is done can the core of the brain be examined for the telltale dead nerve cells and...
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