Don't forget this

The Memory Loss of Normal Aging versus Alzheimer's Disease

After age 40, you may have noticed having greater difficulty remembering people's names or recent conversations or events. Have you wondered:

1. Is my forgetfulness just aging or am I getting Alzheimer's disease?
2. How do I tell the difference?

There are clear answers to these questions that help you understand normal and abnormal memory loss. Read on.

Question 1: Is my forgetfulness just aging or am I getting Alzheimer's disease or something similar?

With normal aging, your attention span, or working memory, declines. With Alzheimer's disease and many other conditions, a specific type of memory, called short-term memory declines early on. Following are definitions of three types of memory:

* Working memory is the scratch pad in your brain that allows you to follow a conversation, enjoy a movie, read a book, think through a thought, or finish a difficult task. If you have ever walked into a room and forgotten why you entered it, you have experienced the decline in working memory with normal aging. Working memory is controlled in the frontal part of your brain and declines with normal aging.

* Short-Term Memory stores recently learned information, such as an interesting comment you heard or an important idea you recently learned for your job. It is like a tape recorder that can replay recently learned information for about two weeks, then erases. Anything you remember for more than two weeks passes into long-term memory, which is controlled in a different brain area. Short-term memory is controlled in the temporal lobe on the side of your brain, and declines first in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

* Long-Term Memory can store your life's knowledge for as long as you live. People (and their doctors) often think that because they can remember detailed events in their past (more than two weeks ago), that they don't have Alzheimer's disease. However, Alzheimer's disease does not affect long-term memory until a much later stage of the disease.

Question 2: How do I tell the difference between memory decline due to normal aging and that due to Alzheimer's disease or something similar?

After age 50, regular memory checkups can help differentiate between normal memory loss and Alzheimer's disease or a related condition. Regular memory checkups can assure you that your memory changes are part of normal aging as well as detect problems early when they are most treatable.

Objective tests of mental abilities are used to confirm cognitive impairment as well as to help diagnose its cause. Of the cognitive functions impaired in Alzheimer's disease, short-term memory loss is one of the first. Therefore tests of short-term memory loss can identify Alzheimer's disease at its earliest stages. Your physician or a recommended neuropsychologist should also be able to conduct professional testing.