The pathological protein

"In the space of 12 months, Stephen Churchill lost his focus, his memory, then most of his speech, then even the ability to dress, feed, and clean himself. He developed an excessive fear of water and sharp objects and refused to bathe or shave. And before long, with his unsteady gait and his tendency to fall, he spent his days slumped in a wheelchair or confined to a bed. To the staff of the nursing home where Stephen lived, the relentless decline was depressingly familiar - it had all the earmarks of Alzheimer's disease. But something in the picture did not fit. The patient, when he died,…