FORGETTING NOT ALWAYS A SIGN OF DEMENTIA
About 40 per cent of us experience memory loss after 65. It pays to know the difference between ordinary forgetfulness and something worse
A friend and I meet for coffee. Her mother has dementia, as did mine, and we share the fear of developing that illness. So we are both keenly aware of how well our memory is working. Memory loss is often an early sign.
I find myself fretting every time somebody says, “Remember when …” and I don’t. But memory loss is also normal as we age and a rusty memory does not necessarily mean we are about to be tipped into the abyss that is Alzheimer’s disease.
Many memory experts say we do not need to remember everything, anyway. To do so would be an unnecessary drain on our brain which, as it is, demands 25 per cent of our body’s fuel daily.
Charan Ranganath, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis in the United States and author of Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters, says that the most common question he is asked as a memory researcher is ‘Why am I so forgetful?’
Ranganath says there is a vast difference between forgetting and “Forgetting”; note the capital F. One speaks to ordinary, everyday, normal forgetting; whereas the capital F speaks to something that could be much more problematic.
But how can you tell the difference?
Richard Restak, a clinical professor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine at George Washington University and author of How to Prevent Dementia: An Expert’s Guide to Long-Term Brain Health, describes a situation that serves to illustrate this.
You exit the shopping centre and momentarily forget where you have parked your car. Do not panic. That is not unusual. Scenario two: you exit the mall and cannot recall what you were doing there in the first place, or how you got there. That is Forgetting (with a capital F).
Restak, 82, is unperturbed about his memory, which he says is probably less sharp than it was once.
Not being able to easily, quickly retrieve the name of an acquaintance you have not seen or spoken to in a while – and Restak has acknowledged he would probably struggle to do that – is a completely normal part of getting older.
The Alzheimer’s Association in the United States says that about 40 per cent of us will experience some degree of memory loss after the age of 65. But reassuringly, the association says that for the most part, this loss is so mild that it does not interrupt our lives. Consider Restak, who is still working despite his advanced age.
The World Health Organization estimates that after 60 years of age, 5 per cent to 8 per cent of us will develop some sort of dementia.
Lots of things make us forgetful, Ranganath says, especially in today’s fast-paced digital world.
“The biggest culprit in our everyday life is multitasking. We don’t remember things often because we were never there in the first place. We were checking our phones, being distracted by noises on the street and so forth, and all these things really degrade our capability to remember,” Ranganath says.
Our memory is not a static box of files where we archive everything, he says. It is much more fluid than that.
Stuff comes and goes all the time, and the more recent or most pressing or most novel take precedence. It is why we might forget to meet a friend for lunch when we are rushing to meet a work deadline.
Stress also plays a part in memory. Some stress is good for us and can help sharpen memory – just as exercise improves muscle – but excessive stress is bad for memory.
“When we are under stress, we often have trouble forming new memories,” Ranganath says.
As we get older, we tend to get less sleep, which has a twopronged effect: fatigue can lead to forgetfulness, and a good night’s sleep helps us consolidate memories, as if tidying that archive up.
It is one of the reasons Restak advocates napping – he has trained himself to nap for exactly half an hour – which studies show can help compensate for a poor night’s sleep.
Afternoon naps between 1pm and 4pm that last from 30 to 90 minutes, he writes, have been shown to increase the speed of recall.
So if you battle with insomnia, a siesta can help to boost memory performance because better rested, you will be better able to remember.
Ranganath says that the key to memory is using our memories well. He refers to them as “the driving force behind life-changing decisions, from what career to pursue and where to live, to what causes you believe in, even how you raise your children and what sort of people you want around you”.
Restak’s tips to save your memory
• Restak advocates giving up alcohol before the age of 70. Over 65, you have fewer neurons than when you were young. Do not risk them. “Alcohol is a very, very weak neurotoxin – it’s not good for nerve cells.”
• Do not ignore hearing or vision problems. They will quickly affect your life and isolate you. Isolation – whether social or intellectual – is bad for your brain.
• Read fiction. It is more demanding than non-fiction, as it often requires you to follow a narrative arc and a cast of characters.
• Find something that “viscerally interests you”, then indulge it as a “magnificent obsession”, Restak says. If it interests you, you will want to keep learning about it – and learning keeps the mind sharp.
• Novelty is crucial for the brain. Doing new things is a way to form new neural networks in the brain and exercise the ones that exist. It could be a new language, a musical instrument, a sport, or a skill – even experimenting with new recipes or places.
This is the 36th instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.
When we are under stress, we often have trouble forming memories CHARAN RANGANATH, PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR