Signs of dementia or natural forgetfulness? How to tell the difference Health and luxury

YOu walks in a room and forget the reason. Someone presents himself at a party and within seconds I forgot his name. You cannot remember where the car was stopped. You put your phone in the refrigerator. You cannot remember the name of your granddaughter. Your best friend dies and continues to forget them.

Is it fatigue, distraction, or is it dementia? Most of us for a certain age, at least once in our lives, do one of the above and anxiety that we are losing our marble.

Four experts of dementia and aging give their advice on what is normal, and what raises the matter of a waste to search for medical advice.

How much forgetfulness is part of normal aging?

Scientia, Scientific Professor, says that we all have become a little slower and many of us have become more forgotten as we have age. Karen AnsiPsychologist and director of the New South Wales University Institute for Grandeen in Sydney. It also happens even when we are young and tired.

She says one of the common complaints is something “on the tip of the tongue”, but you cannot remember that, like a person’s name or movie name. Another is a temporary loss like a mobile phone or car keys. “This is what we call the normal experience in aging, having an accidental experience in the imbalance of something,” she says.

It is also normal to find it difficult to do things or take longer than they are used to. Professor Amy ProductThe neurologist and head of the Monach University of Monach University in Melbourne says that our treatment speed can slow down with age, which can be particularly frustrated and disturbing for people who are used to working at a high level. “I see many high -performance people in the clinic who enter and say:” I cannot do what I used to do, I start doing six tasks at the same time, then I do not reach sixth place. “This is completely normal.”

Should you worry if …

I always disagree with things?

“If you have forgotten from time to time where you put your keys, or wake up in the morning and find that you left the keys in the front door, this is not necessarily a source of anxiety,” says old age doctor. Assistant Professor Michael WoodwardHonorary Medical Adviser at Dementia Australia and Headelberg Reportability Hospital in Melbourne. “If this happens frequently, frequently, or severe lapses like … leaving the stove over the night, leaving the kitchen running, and things like that, it may be a little more severe.”

I forgot a word, and I mistakenly say a wrong word or call someone in the name of another person?

Problems with language can be an early warning sign, especially if your speech begins to look like a “word salad”. Dr. Desmond GrahamAstgeish Antipctica and Antipcticide, Australia Australia Care in Sydney. “If you get stuck on your words or have difficulties in blocking words or identifying words, this makes me feel anxious,” says Graham.

Woodward says that mixing the names of your children and your grandchildren is fine, “but if you constantly forget the names of three of your four grandchildren, this is a source of concern.”

I am still lost?

“One of the classic features of Alzheimer’s typical disease is the people who have already begun to be lost,” says Product. It is normal for driving to be lost in a new place, but when people have repeatedly faced moving to familiar places, it can be a warning sign.

“We call this topographical or geographical confusion, and this is a new thing because you must have these offers in your head,” she says.

I forgot the important information I was told recently?

Product says that something is equal – it is subjective, emotional – and his knowledge, and this means that we give him a lot of attention, because forgetting may be a warning sign of dementia. “If the best friend of a person dies two days ago and knew it, and you are talking to them and told them,” This person died, when the funeral is, “and they do not remember that this really happens, and this is really important.”

I repeat the same story for the same person?

Woodward says that repeating the same story within one conversation can be an early warning sign. “Even in one phone conversation she says,” Oh, by the way, I told you that John across the road had planted … “and then, after a few minutes,” By the way, did I tell you that John across the road had planted … “This is anxiety.”

I walk in a room to do something and forget what it was?

“This happens to everyone, and it can be more than attention,” says Anasti. “People with hyperactivity and attention lack have this experience through a life cycle.” This happens when you don’t focus on what you do and start something, then your mind moves to the next thing before the first thing is finished. “

What can forget?

Anasti says there are many reasons why healthy people are aware of the other hand. “Mothers with young children who were awake all night forget the place where their car is set … or they cannot find the keys to their cars, so these lapses occur from daily perception.”

Some people suffer from “brain fog” after Covid-19 infection, and forgetfulness or memory problems can also be a side effect of chemotherapy or medications to help sleep or relieve pain. Chronic stress can have a special negative effect on short -term memory.

I have always been absent. Am I more at risk?

Being a person forgetting or absent does not necessarily expose you more at risk of dementia, but it may make it difficult to capture in the early stages. “The challenge that faces moderate perception also is that people always put a moderate decrease in normal aging,” says Graham.

At the same time, people with really high performance can, but in the early stages of the most important cognitive decline, they can be more difficult to diagnose, Ansi says. She says: “They know that they refused and felt something wrong, but because they are still performing a relatively good performance in cognitive tests, they may not show any objective weakness early, which means that they may not meet clinical criteria and may not be diagnosed early like another person.”

Where should I go if you are interested?

Graham says that about one in 10 people suffer from early warning signs – the so -called moderate cognitive weakness – will come to dementia. There are many interventions that can reduce the risk of this progress, such as improving the diet and exercise, especially if captured early.

That is why all experts who talked about seeing GP or preferred to be an old age doctor and not later, especially if friends, family or colleagues also start noticing the changes.

“Even if people do not think anything, or they think they are concerned about something just a natural aging … I encourage them to go to see a doctor,” says Graham. “Ideally, if possible, it is referred to the old age doctor.”