It’s never too early to start monitoring and measuring cardiovascular and brain/memory functioning. It’s never too early to start a life plan to protect your heart and your brain. Recent results from the Whitehall II study indicate that cardiovascular risk profile in midlife predicts later cognitive decline. Cardiovascular risk was calculated from the Framingham General Cardiovascular Risk Profile (which you can look up online). The Framingham profile includes age, sex, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, and medications for blood pressure. The Whitehall II study was begun in 1985-1988 and recruited 10,308 civil servants in London. The participants were aged 35-55 at the time. The most recent findings were based on 3486 men and 1314 women who were free of cardiovascular disease at entry into the study and had an average age of 55. Cognitive function (i.e., […]
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Lewy Body Disease is the second most common cause of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s disease affecting over 1 million in the U.S. Dr. Frederich discovered aggregates of proteins in the brain stem that deplete a neurotransmitter known as dopamine. This causes Parkinson’s symptoms and the abnormal proteins are known as Lewy Bodies. In some persons, Lewy bodies diffuse out of the core brain structures to other areas of the brain causing diffuse Lewy body disease. Lewy Body disease is a progressive brain disorder characterized by decline in short-term memory (not as prominent as in Alzheimer’s disease), visual hallucinations (but other types of hallucinations may occur), movement disorders (e.g., slowness of movement or speaking, shuffling feet, walking stiffly, falls, blank stare), delusions (false ideas about another person such as partner having an affair), sleep disorders (e.g., movement, gesturing, speaking during sleep […]
Alzheimer’s disease is characterized, first, by a slowly progressive decline in short-term memory and, later, a decline in other brain skills. Mild cognitive impairment is characterized by a milder decline in memory and is the precursor of more severe memory loss in some. A recent study from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center was published in Archives of Neurology. The results demonstrated that by current diagnostic standards, mild cognitive impairment is preceded by a 7 year decline in short-term memory. As with any potentially progressive disorder (e.g., diabetes, cancer) treatments are more effective if started as early as possible. The Rush study consists of more than 2000 elderly individuals who had their memory and other thinking skills assessed annually since 1994 and 1997. In other words, the study treated memory like we treat medical evaluation. Most of us have annual evaluations […]
Delirium is a frequently encountered form of confusion that is very frightening to family and friends as well as to the delirious person. Delirium presents as a sudden and often severe confusion as a result of severe medical illness, medication, surgery, hospitalization, or drug or alcohol abuse. Delirium occurs in 10-20% of hospitalized adults, 30-40% of hospitalized elderly, and up to 80% of those in ICU. Delirium is especially prevalent in persons who are demented. Delirium and dementia are often confused. However, the differences are important to know. Dementia is an irreversible deterioration of mental skills and may be sudden in onset such as with stroke, head injury, or brain tumors. Dementia is more often a slow progressive decline over the course of months to years such as with Alzheimer’s disease. Delirium is sudden and reversible but may last for […]
I was on “Sound Off With Sasha” (FGCU radio) and asked how Google influences memory. In order to answer this question, I need to describe some types of memory as memory is not a unified skill but rather a large number of skills and processes. There are four basic types of memory. First, there is sensory memory which registers sound, touch, images, etc. It is very brief and cannot be trained. Second, there is working memory which briefly holds information and constantly decides what will be important and what moves on to longer storage. This is basically multitasking and is closely related to attention and works best when we are doing one thing at a time (our brains do not parallel process very well or driving while texting would not create problems). Third, is short-term memory which is not a […]
“I have Alzheimer’s disease in my family. What should I do?” The most important thing to do is to plan for good life. Keep in mind that not all memory loss is a result of Alzheimer’s disease. Not everyone with Alzheimer’s disease becomes demented and not all who become demented have Alzheimer’s disease. The genetic risk increases about 3 times that of persons without a family history – not 100% even in identical twins. Heredity is not destiny. There are several things that I suggest for those with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. I don’t have a family history but I am already implementing this plan for myself as I am in my mid 60s and I want to be proactive just in case. 1. Put advanced legal directives in place. Make sure you have a durable power of […]
“My grandfather had Alzheimer’s disease. I am having some trouble finding the words I want but my memory is ok. What are my chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease?” First, the greatest risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease is age. The prevalence for developing Alzheimer’s disease before age 60 is less than 2%. Prevalence increases to less than 15% by age 80 and about 70% by age 100 by some estimates. In short, we are all at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease if we live long enough. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (before age 65) is rare and develops between 30 and 60. In some cases, early onset is familial Alzheimer’s disease with genetic mutations on chromosomes 21, 14, and 1. In these rare cases, the inheritance is referred to as “autosomal dominant.” The offspring in the same generation have a 50/50 chance of […]
I recently received this e-mail: “Last Friday, at a dinner party, one of the guests who recently underwent bypass surgery was talking about his medical history leading up to this. He told us he had been put on Lipitor to control his cholesterol and one of the side effects he noted was that he was suffering short term memory loss. He spoke with his doctor, who told him to stop taking the Lipitor. As soon as he did this, he noted that his short term memory improved and it is now totally restored. This man is in his 50’s. My question to you is: Have you heard of such a reaction to using Lipitor? I was not aware of such a problem. I have looked up the drug and do not see any mention of such a side effect.” The […]
It’s that time of the year again. The top ten lists of the year are out to help us recall the year. It triggers both year and life review and stimulates our long term memory of where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. Seneca said it well. “It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” This of course comes with end of the year resolutions that often amount to trying to do better next year. I often remark during my talks that the most grievous memory error is “trying to remember.” Instead, plan on how you will remember. Good intentions often fall short when a well placed post-it note would serve us well. It’s the same for New Year’s resolutions. A resolution needs to be […]
I recently had a client comment on my lack of enthusiasm for using a GPS device while driving. Instead, I suggest drawing schematic routes to your destination including major landmarks. She asked why I felt this way, as she uses her GPS regularly and does fine. The answer is complex. There are so many forms of technology that clearly help us function in everyday life. Smart phones, computers, and GPS devices add convenience and help us overcome limits. But there is a downside. These aids can also make us less aware of what’s around us. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons discuss the issue in their book, The Invisible Gorilla. They describe “inattentional blindness” as the trade-off of being so good at focused attention that we see far less than we think we do. Our brains as so good at focusing […]
