Dementia in ancient Greece and Rome.

Abstract

We respond to the commentary by Ballenger et al. While appreciating "our provocative article", they called for "a more rigorous historical approach…". In fact, we documented from known texts how ancient physicians recognized memory loss in the elderly, Solon to Galen, who gave stereotypical descriptions of the negative aspects of old age in historical sequence. Texts from the Roman era with references to elderly memory loss did not have any earlier Greek counterpart, suggesting historically novel environmental and lifestyle factors in dementia that are associated with the modern dementia epidemic. Our initial inquiry, while historically rigorous, warrants further discussion.