Coping with normal and abnormal age-related memory problems

We all experience sort of forgetfulness in our lives like misplacing keys, be blanked on an acquaintance’s name, forget passwords, etc. While we are young we don’t really think about these lapses and ignore by saying you need to eat more almonds, but as we grow old, it becomes quite thoughtful. Although aging comes with certain brain changes, major memory problems are not one of them. For that matter it is pretty important to know the difference between normal age- related forgetfulness and symptoms that may be a sign of a developing degenerative issue.

Lack of memory and forgetfulness is commonly observed among elderly people. For example you start telling about an incident happened recently when you realize you can’t remember the location or names of people. Even after you travel to a place daily, you forget the directions to your home. You often find yourself blank in the middle of your kitchen or in your house, wondering what you went in there for.

However, memory lapses can be frustrating, but most of the time they aren’t cause for concern. Age-related memory changes are not the same thing as dementia. Our brain is capable of producing new brain cells at any change, so considerable memory loss is not an expected result of aging. But your lifestyle, health habits and daily activities have a huge impact to the health of your brain. To treat normal memory loss you should have a healthy lifestyle such as getting enough sleep, avoid smoking, stay social and walk whenever possible.

However if your memory loss affect your ability to function, it may be a sign of dementia.

The primary difference between age-related memory loss and dementia is that the former isn’t disabling. Dementia is marked by a constant, disabling decline in two or more intellectual abilities such as memory, language, judgment, and abstract thinking.

When memory loss becomes so pervasive and severe that it disrupts your work, hobbies, social activities, and family relationships, you may be experiencing the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease, or another disorder that causes dementia, or a condition that mimics dementia.

Additionally, Alzheimer is the severe version of dementia. It is a kind of progressive neurodegenerative disorder associated with the gradual loss of cognitive functions such as thinking, memory, reasoning and behavioral skills. The Alzheimer Disease initially affects its victim subtly with the preliminary symptoms being disorientation and memory loss, but in later stages the disease can progress to an extent of complete dependency on others for the basic activities of daily living.

Currently there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Although drugs are available that can help with some of the symptoms temporarily, there are no drugs that delay or halt the loss of neurons. Over the last two decades extensive research and drug development efforts have identified potential new drugs but unfortunately large clinical trials with these substances have failed, raising new questions about how the disease is represented and understood in the laboratory. New advancements in medical technology; StemCell Therapy have widened the scope and made an available relief to Alzheimer’s severity.  The stem cell therapy approach mainly focuses on delivering the sufficient number of Adult Autologous Stem Cells which will travel into multiple areas of the brain where the damage has occurred. These transplanted stem cells are potential to transform into new brain cells which are needed for the replacement of damaged cells. They also help in creating a micro environment that will secret some of the enzymes required for making connections to replace lost parts of the complex network.