Understanding Memory Loss

Misplacing your glasses, not recalling someone’s name, or forgetting to pick up the dry cleaning after a stressful day at work, is a common occurrence and can happen to anyone. People can be forgetful, but if it starts to happen more frequently than there may be a deeper rooted problem than just stress or being overworked.
Memory deterioration has little to do with age, but rather with brain damage or malnutrition of the brain. A lack of nutrients, such as B vitamins and amino acids may influence brain function, as well as a blood flow containing high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, elements which will reduce the amount of blood and nutrients reaching the brain.
Malnourishment affects our ability to remember and process information, while overexposure to toxins, such as alcohol and drugs, may cause distressing conditions like blackouts and memory lapses. Memory loss can be caused by diseases and medical conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, Brain Tumors, Depression, a Stroke, Epilepsy, Dementia, Encephalitis and Meningitis.
There are several degrees of memory loss, each with their own set of symptoms, with forgetfulness and poor memory being the least distressing. Short-term memory loss can be rather annoying and is characterized by not remembering events that happened recently. Victims of short-term memory loss, or similar types of forgetfulness can cope by keeping lists and detailed calendars, maintaining routines, such as keeping keys always in the same place, repeat people’s names often when socializing, exercise their brain with simple mind games, or run the alphabet in their head to help them think. It may be enough to "hear" the first letter of a word to jog their memory.
Temporary memory loss or amnesia is an abnormal degree of forgetfulness and/or inability to recall the past due to either organic (disease) or functional causes (physical trauma). This type of memory loss may have a sudden or gradual onset, and may be temporary, lasting only a few hours, or remain permanently.
Dementia describes a group of symptoms and is mostly defined as a loss of mental skills that affects daily life. It can cause problems with thinking, communicating and planning, and will get worse over time. This makes it hard for the victim to take care of him or herself. Dementia can originate when brain cells are destroyed after a traumatic head injury, a stroke, a brain tumor or an onset of diseases such as Alzheimer's and may in some cases be hereditary.
Although our normal aging process can result in learning difficulties and retaining new information, normal aging itself is usually not a source of significant memory loss. Not remembering a word can happen to all of us and mind glitches are normal. In due time, the missing words will resurface. As frustrating as it may be at the time it happens, it is not a serious problem unless it starts to interfere with daily living. You should consult your family doctor, if you have trouble remembering how to do things you've done many times before, cannot get to places you always go to, or no longer can understand instructions, like following a recipe. It may be harmless, but only your doctor will be able to tell.

By: Irida Sangemino