What’s Normal and What’s Not?
Many people over the age of 50 (and maybe even younger) experience mild forgetfulness.
Although these are a wake-up call to pay attention to your brain and memory, if the forgetfulness includes:
• Forgetting parts of an experience
• Forgetting where you park the car
• Forgetting events from the distant past
• Forgetting a person’s name, but remembering it later
Then, your memory loss is mild and would be regarded in the ‘normal’ range. It’s worrying though and, in the view of Dr. Allison Lamont, the Memory Doctor, “it’s time to take stock of your lifestyle and memory habits. Memory can be enhanced at this stage.” Read more…
Shocking headline UK, 2008
I don’t know about you but I had not given a nanosecond’s thought to dementia – in fact, I wasn’t even certain what dementia was, exactly. Something to do with being demented or crazy, maybe …..
So I wasn’t exactly ready for being told that some of the odd things my mother was doing were actually the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, a kind of dementia.
Like she was thinking it was night time and putting herself to bed in the afternoon. Or forgetting that she had just had lunch and wondering when lunch would be ready …. that sort of thing. What’s really scary, though, is that I’ve caught myself out being a bit forgetful as well and I’m just a baby-boomer. So, being anxious to make sure that I wasn’t on a fast-track to dementia, myself, I’ve done some research. Read more…
Can sugar make you forgetful? Slow your brain? A recent study suggests sugar sabotages learning and memory. Whilst we are familiar with the ‘too much sugar causes obesity’ message, little attention has been paid to its impact on mental health. This is changing.
New Zealanders consume a whopping 57.5 kg of sugar a year[1], more than double the intake recommended by the World Health Organisation. That’s about half a cup a day. Imagine pouring half a cup of sugar into a pile every day, for 365 days! You would have a sugar mountain.
So, what’s the link between sugar and memory? Read more…
MOMENTS of forgetfulness are among those small blows to self-esteem that can lead people to worry about declining intelligence or impending dementia. Those moments of dreadful realisation that you have forgotten an important appointment, the pungent smell of burning reminds you of the vegetables you put on to cook two hours ago? Or worrying in a meeting whether you turned off the heater or locked the door? Read more…
Never forget again!
Most people want to know how to improve their brain. Trouble is, most want improvement without actually having to do anything! And they want it NOW.
Well, there are some quick fixes that you can do today – and there are hints about some ways of doing things that will give you longer term improvement. No-one has to accept forgetfulness as a way of life, particularly if you are entering your 50’s and 60’s. Read more…
In 2009, the oldest of the baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, turned 63 years old. So what’s ahead for boomers?
Confident and independent lifestyles.
Read more…
Many people over the age of 50 (and maybe even younger) experience mild forgetfulness.
