It’s natural to feel nervous when you forget something, knowing that Alzheimer’s disease now affects 5.3 million Americans.  But a memory slip doesn’t always mean the worst. According to KPHO, the following five situations point toward normal, age-related memory loss.

1. Lapses Don’t Interfere With Everyday Life

   Slowed recall of information from time to time is normal — erverybody forgets stuff.  What’s not normal is when memory impairment interferes with your ability to get through the day.

2. You See an Improvement After ‘Brain Training’

   Dementia is not a problem of retrieving old memories so much as it is is an inability to form new ones. If you can still learn new things, you’re still forming new memories.

3. You’ve Just Started A New Medication

   Drug side effects are one of the more common causes of memory trouble.

4. Nobody Else Seems To Notice Anything’s Amiss

   Usually, there’s a lot of family friction around the kind of memory loss that predates a diagnosis — arguments over who neglected to do something, missed appointments, or forgotten messages.

5. You’re Forgetful When Stressed, Sleep Deprived or Multitasking

   A stressed brain is not the same thing as a demented brain.

KPHO December 9, 2010

Pass on a good thing!

Your Personal Trainer

Eric Bravo

Whittier Ca.