Forgetfulness in seniors

How to improve your memory? When to worry about memory? What medications cause memory loss? Chronic alcoholism can seriously impair mental abilities. Alcohol can also cause memory loss by interacting with medications.

Vitamin B-deficiency.

Forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging. As people get older , changes occur in all parts of the body, including the brain. Every individual have a natural tendency to forget. This is not memory loss.

It is simply a matter of the stored information not being important enough or frequently recalled and is not ‘prioritized’ in memory recollection. To some extent there is minor memory loss in the senior years as a result of aging. However, normal forgetfulness is often caused by lack of focus and it never progresses into serious territory.

Talk with your healthcare provider if you or someone close to you notices that your memory is worsening. If memory lapses are bugging you, it’s worth a conversation with your doctor to see if any reversible causes are at the root of the problem.

But forgetting the name of a family member or what those keys are used for is a sign of more serious problems. In fact, older folks are actually better than their younger peers at some memory-related tasks,. Severe dehydration can cause confusion, drowsiness , memory loss, and other symptoms that look like dementia. It’s important to stay hydrated (aim for 6-drinks per day).

Be particularly vigilant if you take diuretics or laxatives or suffer from diabetes, high blood sugar, or diarrhea. Dementia can be caused by Alzheimer’s disease or other age-related problems such as stroke or Parkinson’s disease. Read and share this infographic to learn whether forgetfulness is a normal part of aging. Serious memory problems make it hard to do everyday things like driving and shopping.

Look for opportunities to get together with loved ones, friends and others — especially if you live alone. Often diseases that appear during old age and cause progressive damage to the brain contribute to the loss of memory. Normal age-related forgetfulness. Age-related forgetfulness is the naturally occurs in many people after age 50.

Transient global amnesia is a sudden loss of memory. Sudden onset of memory loss in the elderly: Comorbid Symptoms. Confusion or inability to recall short or long term memories. Often a symptom of a more serious medical condition.

For many people in middle age or older, simple acts of forgetfulness like these are scary because they raise the specter of Alzheimer's disease. But Alzheimer’s is not the only health issue that can lead to forgetfulness, which is often treatable if you know the cause, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. Memory Loss and Older Adults. There are warning signs and symptoms.

Schedule an appointment with your doctor.