CHALLENGES OF GETTING OLD  

Ever have a senior moment? These mild memory problems are often dismissed as a normal part of aging, however they may not be so harmless after all.

There are approximately 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer's, a disease that causes a slow but slippery slope in a person’s ability to think, reason and remember, is the most common type. According to the latest studies, if you have had a decline beyond the occasional misplaced car keys it could be the very earliest sign of Alzheimer's disease.

One study found that self-reported memory changes preceded broader mental decline by about six years so doctors are realizing they should pay attention. Another tied these admitted changes to evidence found on brain scans that determines dementia is in fact beginning to set in.

But don't worry about small, common memory slips say medical professionals. Forgetting someone’s name on occasion is not a cause for much concern.

Not only should you notice changes in your own memory, be aware of changes in your spouse/partner/parent.

Here are the 10 warning signs of Alzheimre’s disease:

·         Memory changes that disrupt daily life.

·         Challenges in planning or solving problems.

·         Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, work or leisure.

·         Confusion with time or place.

·         Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships.

·         New problems with words in speaking or writing.

·         Misplacing things and then losing the ability to retrace steps.

·         Decreased or poor judgment.

·         Withdrawing from work or social activities.

·         Changes in mood and personality.

We are not talking about the proverbial "senior moments," most of us have occasionally, like temporary lapses in remembering someone’s name that drive us crazy and might embarrass us. The studies are referring to real memory loss, where information you were trying to remember doesn’t come back later, even when someone reminds you about what you forgot.

A true decline is also indicated by changes in your normal daily routines; forgetting about appointments, taking your medications or other things you do on a daily basis. One woman likened it to a persistent feeling that something just wasn’t right

A new study on cognitive decline with participants who had an average age of 73 showed that those who reported changes in memory or ability to think and reason since their previous visit to the doctor were twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia within the following six to nine years.

It also appears that there is a gene that raised a risk for dementia.

There have been several studies on memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease regarding the sticky brain plaque found when brain scans were performed that tie the plaque to Alzheimer’s disease.

Some noted researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota will be soon coming out with a report that will determine which people who complain about memory loss are likely to later develop mild cognitive impairment…or pre- Alzheimer’s disease.

Related Article:  Caring for your aging parents, the challenges and rewards. Read more

Three scientific theories on this unnerving experience.

1. Telescopy. The underestimation of time. Because of telescopy, our brains recall distant events as if they occurred only yesterday.  

2. The reminiscence effect. A series of emotionally charged memory bumps in your life. Your first break-up, your first kiss, going to college, getting married, having children,  losing your loved one. As we age, we create fewer memory bumps which makes it feel like time is moving more quickly.  

3. The brain's biological clock. Found in a very special gland called the hypothalamus which is located behind the middle of your forehead. The hypothalamus also controls the release of many, youth-maintaining hormones. It sends signals to each of your 30 trillion cells, telling them that all is well or that you're stressed. The latter has an aging effect throughout your body, including your genes.

These signals influence the length of your telomeres at the end of your chromosomes. Telomeres are the caps of your DNA and are very sensitive to stress. And stress equals shorter telomeres and accelerated aging. Less stress equals increased telomere size and a longer life.

 There are three ways to change time perception, affect your biological aging clock, and lengthen your telomeres:

•Slow Down

•Meditate More:

•Pay Attention to What is Going on Around You: Go for a walk and take a look at what is around you. Smell the air, feel the breeze. When you eat, really taste your food. Be grateful and enjoy a more meaningful life full of new memory bumps.

COMING TO TERMS WITH GETTING OLD

I'm not going to lie to you. You are going to get old, if you aren't already, and it is going to come faster than you ever imagined.

At fifty, you are living your life thinking, “Yeah, I know I’ll be getting old someday,” still perhaps not really believing it, and what seems like the next day you find yourself at the doctor’s office. He’s telling you to keep taking your heart medication, and giving you a referral to make an appointment with the specialist about that hip replacement.

Getting old isn't just about more aches and pains. It takes a toll on your ego. This is the time in your life when people stop noticing you. The opposite sex doesn't make eye contact with you, looks right through you.

The less obvious signs of getting old are more concerning. When our neural connections longer to receive, process and transmit information. When it takes us longer to learn new things. When can’t think as sharply as we once did, or communicate our thoughts as easily. When we have more difficulty multi-tasking. When are easily distracted, and our reaction time is slower.

As we age, we are likely to become more forgetful, resulting in those awkward senior moments where familiar words, thoughts or names lie just out of reach. But fear not, those thoughts and memories are not lost. We just have to rummage through more drawers to find them so it might take a little more effort!

You Know You're Getting Old When...

 Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.

 Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

 Your back goes out more than you do.

 The twinkle in your eye is only the reflection of the sun on your bifocals.

 You feel like the morning after when you haven't been anywhere the night before. 

 You finally got your head together, now your body is falling apart.

 Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.

 You wake up with that morning-after feeling and you didn't do anything the night before. 

 You don't care where your wife goes, as long as you don't have to go along when you’re getting old.

 It takes twice as long to look half as good.

 Many of your co-workers were born the same year that you got your last promotion.

 People call at 9 PM and ask, "Did I wake you?"

 You can live without sex but not without glasses.

 The clothes you've put away until they come back in style... have come back in style.

 You look forward to a dull evening. 

 Your mind makes contracts your body can't keep.

 The pharmacist has become your new best friend.

 There's nothing left to learn the hard way.

 You come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity.

 You start video taping daytime game shows when you’re getting old.

 You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.

 Your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.

 You look for your glasses for half-an-hour, only to find they've been on top of your head.

 You wake up, looking like your driver's license picture.

 Happy hour is a nap.

Your ears are hairier than your head.

 You begin every other sentence with, "Nowadays..."  

 Getting old is when your wild oats turn to shredded wheat.

 You wonder how you could be over the hill when you don't remember being on top of it.

 Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot without security having to help.

 The little gray-haired lady you help across the street is your wife. 

 Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.

 Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.

 You have a party and the neighbors can’t hear the noise.

 The end of your tie no longer comes to the top of your pants.

 You gave up all your bad habits and you still don't feel good.

 Your childhood toys are now in a museum.

 You confuse having a clear conscience with having a bad memory.

 You frequently find yourself telling young people what a new car USED to cost.

 You finally know all the answers, but nobody asks your opinion.

  Your new easy chair has more options than your car.

 Your little black book only contains names ending in M.D.

 What doesn't hurt, doesn't work.   

 Your house is too big, your medicine cabinet is too small. 

 "A little action" means you don't need to take a laxative when you are getting old.

 Conversations with people 50 plus often turn into "dueling medical complaints."

 You buy a metal detector to take to the beach.

 You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.

 You realize that caution is the only thing you care to exercise.

 You don't remember being absentminded.

 You don’t have more patience; you just don't care anymore.

 Your memory is shorter and your complaining is longer.

When your kids ask how you are, you say “Old.”

 Your drugs of choice are now vitamins and laxatives.

 You learn where your prostrate is when you’re getting old.

 You read more and remember less.

 Younger women start opening doors for you.

You realize that singers, dancers on the cruise ship/theater flirt with you…because you are the oldest person there.

 You want a warmer place to live in the winter.

 Your injuries from when you were young return with a vengeance.

 You shop for health insurance the way you once shopped for a new car.

 Getting Old means  a 'late night' is now 10 pm.