Coping with Age-related Memory Loss

Mild memory loss is extremely common as we age, affecting more than 40 per cent of people older than 60. This ‘forgetfulness over 40’ isn’t to be confused with Alzheimer’s – for every person who develops dementia, there are thought to be at least another eight whose memory problems are severe enough to affect the quality of their lives. While ageing can be a factor, however, other things can cause your memory to let you down, including stress, depression, illness and some prescription medications. This book describes how to deal with memory loss. Age-related memory loss is basically fourfold and has the following main causes: multiple small strokes; alcoholism; early dementia (which includes, but is not exclusively Alzheimer’s); and, the natural memory problems that come with normal ageing. The treatments include specific measures for each type of memory loss plus ways and means of improving the memory whatever the cause. These could be: lifestyle – exercise, diet, sleep, social contact; memory-boosting tactics and tricks (notebooks, post-it stickers etc); and, drug treatments depending on underlying pathology e.g. anti-hypertensives have proved effective, halving the frequency of dementia in the elderly.