BOOST YOUR MEMORY

Saturday, 2 April 2011

12. Memory Illnesses - What are Alzheimer’s and Dementia?

Dementia and Alzheimer’s

Mother Nature has a way of making sure we know when we’re growing old. As a person ages, symptoms of old age slowly appear, both physiological and psychological.

Physical symptoms of old age include loss of hearing, slowness of movement, the onset of arthritis like stiffness of joints and muscles, blurring of sight, impairment of taste, loss of teeth, erectile dysfunction, dryness of skin, etc.

Though the physical aspect of old age is an important issue and needs to be addressed, an even larger concern should be placed in the psychological state of elderly people. It is in this area that people in their old age suffer the most, significantly affecting their families, loved ones, and close friends.

In old age, mental issues are the most pronounced. It is mostly caused by the environment, the way the person had been living in his younger years, as well as genetics. One of the most observed mental disorders seen among the elderly is dementia.

Dementia is defined as a gradual degradation in cognitive function beyond the cycle of normal aging. The signs of dementia include differentiation in personality or behavior, degradation in memory, attention, comprehension and expression of language, and resolution of problems, among a few.

Symptoms can be characterized as curable and incurable. Usually, dementia symptoms are complicated by the onset of other effects such as delusions, delirium, depression, and other mental disorders.

To properly diagnose its symptoms, dementia is subjected to rigorous testing developed over the years to detect and classify a patient’s mental illness. These tests are the ABMTS or Abbreviated Mental Test Score and the MMSE or Mini Mental State Examination. Coupled with other physical and mental tests, psychiatrists make the final decision on a patient through looking at the overall clinical picture of his mental state.

The most common form of dementia found in the elderly is Alzheimer’s disease. This mental illness primarily affects the memory of the elderly. As the disease progresses, its symptoms will include the loss of language comprehension, coordination, recognition and problem solving abilities.

Complicating Alzheimer’s will also see the inclusion of behavioral changes like anger, violence, denial, total passivity, depression and such.

Biologically, Alzheimer’s disease is found to be caused by the rapid decrease or neurons to the brain which results in atrophy. The causes have been primarily genetic in nature and there has been no known cure for it, although progress on delaying its onset has been marginally successful.

Attempts at total prevention of Alzheimer’s disease have so far been elusive. There is no proven way to detect the mental disorder before its onset, which makes it difficult. DNA testing is possible but expensive to execute. The common denominator for its appearance in the elderly has always been age.

To increase the possibility of prevention, studies have shown that people who use their minds more often have a less likelihood of contracting the disease compared to others who do not.

The game of chess stood out as the greatest method of prevention compared to solving crossword puzzles and dancing.

Furthermore, other studies have shown that activities that prevent the onset of cardiac arrest and stroke made great progress in finding less occurrences of Alzheimer’s in patients. Special mention has to be given to the subject of dancing.

Dancing has been found in another study to have made very significant strides on making Alzheimer’s less likely to occur in the elderly due to the requirement of dance to integrate coordination of the mind and body.

Consumption of vitamins C and E has also been seen to affect Alzheimer’s prevention greatly. Studies show it has an 80% chance of preventing Alzheimer’s onset only if the dosage was at least 400 IU for vitamin E and 500 IU of vitamin C per day. This is much less than the daily dose offered by multivitamins in the market today.

Vitamins E and C must be taken in tandem to be effective. Consumption of vitamin E only slightly improves the chance of prevention while a large dose of vitamin C only has no effect. Vitamin E in large doses also poses a health risk to patients due to its ability to be active in the presence of free radicals. The presence of vitamin C, an antioxidant, makes the dosage safe to use.

Lifestyle changes that prevent the appearance of Alzheimer’s disease include quitting smoking, weight reduction, and insulin regulation.

13. Who Gets Memory Illnesses?

Memory: Fragile and priceless

A person’s last bastion of privacy is the privacy of his own mind. Take away all the freedom a person has and lock him up. Put that person under surveillance round the clock, and you’ll still have no idea what he is thinking.

That person may be thinking about home, or his loved ones, or the people who put him in chains. Thanks to his memories.

Memory is the ability of an individual to store, maintain and retrieve information from the mind. There are different types of memory: sensory, short-term and long-term memory.

Sensory memory is the initial moment or situation that is felt. This memory is then immediately placed into short-term memory. Short-term memory is characterized as volatile. The duration by which a person will remember in short-term memory is only limited and temporary unless measures are taken to consistently introduce the memory into long-term memory.

Long-term memory is where general and historical events are stored. It is further divided into two kinds: declarative memory and procedural memory.

Declarative memory is memory that requires conscious effort to retrieve. Knowledge of semantics that require abstract knowledge, such as knowing what the capital of California is; and personal experience form this memory, such as remembering what it feels like to fall in love the first time.

Procedural memory is used to learn motor skills. This kind of memory takes advantage of the fact that the human body learns well only through repetition of an action.

In addition, there is a part of memory called working memory. When a mind is working on solving a complex problem and he needs to switch between calculations, the area where other data is stored is called working memory.

Memory has three stages: store, retain and retrieve. Any impairment to any one of the three stages caused the victim to have memory problems.

But memory loss strikes anybody at any age. It can be caused by a wide variety of external and internal factors.

- Age is the most well-known cause of memory loss. Old age causes the brain to produce less of the neurons that maintain memory. The elderly may have difficulty in recall or learning but this is not a problem unless mental disorders are the cause.

- Dementia. As a person ages, his ability to retain memories is seen to erode and even fade away. This is even more pronounced in patients that contract mental disorders such as dementia.

The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. This mental illness has struck mostly people in their old age and is characterized by a gradual decline in memory as well as other functions such as learning, comprehending, communication, and such.

- Trauma involving the head. Studies show that accidents involving head trauma plays a part in the future loss of memory for its victims.

- Cardiac arrest. People with a history of heart attacks have a likelihood of contracting a memory illness in their advanced years. This may be caused by the inability of the heart to circulate blood throughout the body, which may cause the brain to have amyloid deposits.

- Stroke. Stroke victims also have a likelihood of a mental disorder in their old age as it affects the body’s ability to filter toxins out of the body.

- Smoking. People who smoke have twice as many chances of memory loss due to the increase in production of free radicals in the body. Smoke inhalation also impedes the body’s ability to combat other diseases and increases the likelihood of cancer.

- Alcoholism. People who excessively drink alcohol also stand a large chance of memory loss due to the same reasons above as smoking. Alcohol puts a large strain on the liver.

- Tumors. Growing tumors can cause pressure on parts of the brain, which bring about amnesia. Surgery usually can fix this problem, easing the pressure.

- Drug abuse. Chemical substance abuse has been well-documented in creating memory loss with its abusers in their advanced years, among other problems.

- Encephalitis. Illnesses transferred though bodily fluids can cause an infection to the brain that leaves them in a weakened state as the body battles to get rid of the infection. The most common form of encephalitis is Herpes simplex.

14. How Is Alzheimer Treated?

Fighting Alzheimer’s Unstoppable March

Of the many kinds of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is the most commonly found mental disorder in the elderly. Person’s aged over 65 have the most observed occurrence of the disease.

It is a mental disorder that is initially characterized by the gradual and significant loss of memory and progresses in its degradation to include the person’s ability to reason, make judgments, learn, communicate and comprehend.

The loss of mental functions caused by Alzheimer’s will prevent the patient to function properly and will require treatment and care until the end of their days.

Usually Alzheimer’s disease is complicated by delusions, delirium, and other signs of dementia. Physiologically, the appearance of Alzheimer’s is significant in people with diabetes, cardiac arrest and stroke, but even this mental disorder appears in people with no such medical history. People who do not use their minds more often also have a high chance of developing Alzheimer’s in old age.

Biologically, under a microscope, genetic markers that show the possibility of Alzheimer’s in a patient is the loss of neurons with an marked inability or decreased ability to replenish the supply. This causes loss of memory.

Furthermore, there will be signs of amyloid plaque and neurofibrillary tangles present. Debate rages on regarding where Alzheimer’s disease takes root in a human being. Currently, two schools of thought have stood out in the field of this type of research among scientists.

First is the belief that an abnormality in the tau protein is the causes of imbalance. Second is the school that believes that the presence of amyloid deposits has something to do with Alzheimer’s.

Recent studies have found more evidence in favor of the amyloid deposit theory with the research showing that the inability to transport beta amyloids out of the brain causes plaque buildup, increasing the likelihood of Alzheimer’s. However, there is still no definite suspect on the cause of Alzheimer’s.

Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is still ongoing. There is no cure as of this writing. Various methods have been devised to slow down its progress though.

The following substances have been found to make a significant contribution to the disease’s regulation or the patient’s comfort.

1. Antioxidants. The presence of large amounts of free radicals in the body increases the risk of Alzheimer’s. Daily consumption of vitamins E and C together has shown to contribute to the disorder’s prevention.

Daily consumption must meet or exceed 400 IU of vitamin E and 500 IU of vitamin C. Anything less, or the vitamins are taken individually, makes it ineffective.

2. Sleep medication. Knowledge that one has Alzheimer’s usually creates conditions of stress and anxiety to patients. It is not uncommon for patients to react with extreme anger, anxiety, and worse worry, causing insomnia.

Psychiatrists would usually recommend that patients who get depressed or extremely worried at night ingest sleep medication for the good of the patient’s overall health.

3. Cholinesterase inhibitors. Patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s have been known to have little of the chemical acetylcholine, which sends messages to the brain. This affects the patient’s memory and attention functions.

Cholinesterase inhibitors prevent the chemical acetylcholinesterase from breaking down what little acetylcholine is produced in the brain, improving the patient’s attention and memory levels.

4. Memantine. The chemical glutamate is a substance in the brain that acts on receptor cells called NMDA. Excessive stimulation of the NMDA receptors is bad for the general health of the brain.

The application of memantine blocks the receptors from receiving glutamate and has been successful with patients experiencing moderate to severe Alzheimer’s.

5. Antipsychotics. These substances help control the patient’s bouts of mania, anger, fear, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, etc. However, there have been observed side effects.

6. Antidepressants. These substances are recommended for patients experiencing the extreme lows of depression and despair. Side effects have also been observed.

Ultimately, the old adage of an ounce of prevention being better than a pound of cure is an advice worth more than its weight in gold.

Studies have shown that people with active mental and physical lifestyles have been found with a significantly less likelihood of Alzheimer’s. Chess, crosswords, and dancing, among most activities studied, are recommended.

Prevention of heart diseases, stroke risk, abstinence from smoking, management of stress, the ability to cope with life, and living a balanced life is also recommended.

15. What Else Can YOU Do To Improve Your Memory?

Feed Your Brain!

It’s so easy for us to write a note or a list to remind us of things that we have to do but what about the things we can’t take note of ? Like the great homily we’d like to share with our friends, or the funny thing that happened at work, or even the irritating waiter at the restaurant you had lunch in.

Wouldn’t you like to recount these stories to your friends as if they were there themselves? But how can we share these stories to our friends if we can’t remember the sequence of events, the characters and the lines?

Imagine saying: “Oh, she said something funny but I just can’t remember what?!” Does that sound like something you’d say? If it does, then you need to start feeding your brain!

Improving memory and the ability to organize your thoughts can be thought of as a force multiplier. Memory is the ability of the brain to store, retain, and retrieve sensation and information. When one learns, it is thanks to memory that we don’t have to relearn it day after day.

When you have a good memory, you spend less time figuring out things and have a system of keeping it all in the head. You become more efficient and effective at any task, thus improving quality of life.

As a person ages, it is believed that the ability to refresh the supply of neurons to the brain is diminished. This has the effect of memory loss. This can be preventive by taking up an actively physical and mental lifestyle.

Activities such as chess, dancing, and martial arts prevent the loss of memory partly due to activities’ requirements of mental and physical coordination.

Accidents, personal lifestyle, upbringing, invasive surgery, trauma, genetics, the environment, society and training all play a part in the memory capacity of the individual. Mental disorders that affect memory loss are known as dementia.

The most common form of dementia among the elderly is Alzheimer’s disease. This mental disorder is currently incurable and is characterized by the progressive onset of memory loss as well as other symptoms like loss of attention, learning, communication and problem-solving functions.

Feeding your brain will improve your memory. And it’s as easy as one, two, three…

One: Feed your brain, literally. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables sharpens the brain and improves memory. Some good brain boosters are blueberries, strawberries and spinach. They are rich in antioxidants that help protect the brain cells and prevent the formation of blood clots.

Blood clots can slow down the neuron’s response to chemical messengers this equals to slow memory. Start taking foods that have plenty of beta-carotene, vitamin C, folic acid, iron, zinc and B12 to help preserve memory.

Two: Mental gym. Exercise your brain by not using pen and paper, start memorizing your grocery list, learn the lyrics to your favorite song, or try reciting the multiplication table out loud. These little mental exercises help improve memory.

The Mnemonics that we discussed before are recommended as an aid to memory. As much as possible, the brain needs a pattern it can grasp to remember information by association. Try as much as possible to create visual and auditory cues as well to train yourself to remember.

Three: Focus. Concentrate. Stop multi-tasking and start focusing. How can we remember anything if we start to take everything in all at once? You and your brain can only do so much.

Slow down and start paying attention. Focus on the person you are talking to, concentrate on the article your reading, and you’ll start remembering what you’ve heard and read.

Four: Repetition means retention. Learned a new word lately? Try repeating it out loud three to four times. Been introduced to someone? Try using his or her name (as many times as possible) immediately after the introduction, repeating a word or a name helps us commit it to memory.