INeurologist Dr. Daniel Lesli sees 10 patients daily, and at least half of him asks him the same question: Is the brain who suffer from a natural part of aging turns? Or should they worry?
“People have absolute horror to lose their memory and think that they are losing themselves,” says Leslie, who works for Remo Health, a virtual dementia company. “They do not know what is normal, what is a sign of something bad, and what can be reversed.”
Just like every other organ in the body, the brain changes with your age. Sometimes, microscopic memory problems – such as not remembering where you were parked in Costco – is a big problem. “Part of normal aging is to pay less attention to the details, and more attention to patterns and dynamics,” says Leslie. “It may become more difficult to reach things quickly,” like names and some words.
When intermittent troubles become a regular event, however, other memory problems appear – such as the repetition of the lost questions or dates – it’s time to evaluate. If you are not sure, ask the husband, friend or adult child, Dr. Zaldy S. Tan, director of the memory and aging program at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Do a conversation: “Did you notice me to repeat anything or ask the same questions? Have you noticed that I made a mistake often? He says: “Because we are not necessarily the best judge in our memory – we do not remember what we forget.”
If you decide to make an appointment, it helps to prepare. Do not tell your doctor that you forget, as Tan recommends; Everyone has a great moment sometimes, regardless of their age. Record your memory problems in a magazine you take to the visit. In this way, “you can be specific about what you forget, the number of times it happens, and how you follow these things.”
We have asked brain health experts to share signs that it is time to take memory problems seriously.
You have a problem with familiar tasks
Young people often like multiple tasks, jump between text messages, watch Tiktok videos and cooking dinner. This is completely implemented, because their brains are more plastic – able to change and adapt easily – more than the elderly, and their attention tends to be more powerful, says Tan. Once you reach middle age, your ability to pay attention to decline; In addition, you may have a lot to have a lot on your plate. This means that one day, when you eat breakfast, you may empty how to use a roasted oven. “It is more like a lot of balls in the air,” he says. “I used to be able to reconcile five balls, and now I am only able to reconcile four. Guess what? The fifth is toast, which is burned.”
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However, if you are not multi -task, you cannot suddenly remember how to use the washing machine, or you forgot to turn off the fireplace again and cause a small fire, this is more concerned. “If you are dispersed, I would like to say,” hey, you may have to pay more attention to what you are doing, “says Tan.
You miss your usual obligations
If you start dropping the ball on the routine or activities you did for a while, there may be something more dangerous than normal aging. For example, one of Tan’s patients picked up her grandchildren from school for years, but they forgot to do so one day. “I think she thought it was Saturday, not Friday,” he recalls. “In itself, not like,” oh, you have dementia. “But it is definitely something worth referring to.”
He adds that it depends on anxiety on your foundation. For some people, forgetting one is so important that at least it calls at least mentioning the primary care doctor. However, others may realize that they were especially tense or busy when this happened, and they may not need to take it seriously until it becomes a pattern.
Your personality or mood changes
numerous Symptoms that are not related to memory It is associated with early Alzheimer’s and dementia, including irritation, depression, anxiety and indifference. “You can see some of these changes that start years before confirming the diagnosis of dementia,” says Dr. Gary Small, head of psychiatry at the Hakksak University Medical Center. “People tend to think about this as a cognitive disease, but it is also a behavioral disease.”
You are in an important luggage in place
If you are walking in the door and talking on the phone – while making a line to the refrigerator for a snack – you can adjust your keys and forget exactly where you put it. This is because you were multiple tasks, says Tan. He adds: He adds, if this happens frequently, which depends on everything on your foundation line. Some people are naturally scattered, while others are very organized, so if they suddenly start losing things, this is a red sign.
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Tan always asks patients: Did you forget something important? For example, you may have left your credit card in your wedding restaurant or ring. He says that the habit of misunderstanding these types of items, which people usually dictate closely, are more concerned than forgetting the place where your keys were thrown. Once it occurs several times, or enough, causing a real headache in your life, give it with your doctor.
Some questions are repeated
Some people are famous for telling the same stories over and over again – and in these cases, it may be more than just a personal (sometimes disturbing feature). However, one of the most common complaints that Tan hears is that people ask the same questions or repeat the same stories – usually comes from their husband, friend or adult child. “They will say,” my mother continues to repeat the same questions, or tell me the same stories. ” To believe that they did not pay attention, this raises anxiety. ”
It is lost in familiar places
The following trends depend on the spatial visual memory. Tan explains: “To get to the grocery store, I know that I should go to the right here, then I left there, then there is a pharmacy in the corner, when I make a sharp left.” When people begin to lose in familiar places, this is usually because their spatial visual memory is affected. Provided that you pay close attention to the place where you lead, “This is a red sign, unless a place changes a lot,” he says.
Your parents have developed Alzheimer’s disease at the same age
The age of symptoms tends to be consistent within families. If your mother developed dementia in 85 years, and sometimes you make your keys in the early sixties of the last century, you are likely to suffer from regular aging, says Small. If she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 62, on the other hand, there are more reasons for taking the jacket points seriously.
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Over the years, Small dealt with many people who suffer from mild momentum, and many are relatively stable with interventions such as lifestyle and medicines. “There is a lot of decline to discover,” says Small. “But you can do a lot to keep your mind healthy, and even if you have a diagnosis of early dementia or mild cognitive weakness, this is not a reason for escaping. It is really a reason for pre -eminence.”