Memory
Normal forgetfulness or a warning sign: how to tell them apart
Memory changes with age, and that is normal. What is not normal is forgetfulness starting to interfere with daily life. The difference matters, because it marks the moment to consult.
Dra. Brenda Joanna Estrada Martínez What is expected with age
Taking a few extra seconds to recall a name, walking into a room and forgetting why, or misplacing the keys and finding them later. In normal aging the information is still there: it is retrieved more slowly, but it is retrieved, especially with a cue.
It is also expected to need more concentration to learn something new, and to be distracted more easily when there is noise or hurry.
What deserves an evaluation
The key sign is not forgetting, but forgetting that affects function. Asking the same thing three times in one conversation, getting lost on a familiar route, giving up a dish they used to master, repeating a medication dose or getting confused with money.
Another frequent and less discussed sign: changes in personality. New suspicion, apathy, irritability or neglecting personal hygiene often appear before the family notices the memory problem.
Many memory lapses have a treatable cause
Before thinking of dementia, the reversible must be ruled out: hypothyroidism, vitamin B12 deficiency, depression, sleep apnea, alcohol, urinary infections and, very frequently, the effects of medications such as sleeping pills, antihistamines and some bladder drugs.
That is what the visit reviews first. Correcting one of these causes can fully restore memory performance.
Why consulting early pays off
Even when the diagnosis is dementia, knowing early allows treating symptoms, withdrawing drugs that worsen cognition, preventing crises, organizing care and making legal and family decisions while the person can still take part in them.
Dr. Brenda Joanna Estrada Martínez
Geriatrician board certified by the Mexican Council of Geriatrics. She practices in Ciudad Juárez, at the office and at home.
