Forgetfulness vs. Dementia
How many advertisements for supplements to aid memory loss have you seen lately? Popular supplements for memory enhancement seem to dominate television, websites, and other media. Are companies capitalizing on the aging population, have there really been significant breakthroughs in memory enhancement, or is it something else? Also, do you really need a supplement or are your lapses in memory considered normal?
First, the good news. If you find yourself making lists, setting reminders on your phone, and putting notes on everything, what you are experiencing is unlikely to be early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Using reminders to help you remember is normal.
Here is something to keep in mind: if you are more worried about your memory loss than your loved ones are, what you are noticing is not likely to be signs of a memory disease. In the office, I am more concerned when my patient’s adult son or daughter pulls me into the hall to discuss changes they have noticed in mom or dad’s memory than I am when my adult patient complains that they aren’t feeling as sharp as they once did.
Unfortunately, our ability to think peaks at age 30 and it’s all downhill from there. The ability to sustain attention, the speed of thinking, multitasking, holding information and word-finding all slowly decline with age. Researchers can even see structural changes associated with normal aging in the areas of the brain associated with laying down or storing memory when viewing brain images. This area of the brain is called the hippocampus. Actually, there are two hippocampi, one on each side of the brain, and damage to the hippocampi can have severe consequences. For example, people who have suffered traumatic brain injury to the hippocampi from accidental injury can not only lose their memories of the accident but also lose all memory for several weeks until they heal.
As if normal aging were not bad enough, there are so many other things that can worsen your memory. These are just a few of the most common negative influences on memory: insufficient sleep, depression, stress and anxiety, alcohol intake, underactive thyroid, vitamin deficiency, and medication (both prescription and over the counter). Thankfully, most of these causes of memory loss are reversible with treatment.
