You remember leaving something in the other room, and you move to get it. But when you pass through the doorway, all memory of what you went in to get vanishes, and you stand there empty handed, searching your brain.
This may last for a few seconds or a few minutes, but more often than not, you’ll eventually remember what you were looking for and where to get it.
Dr Kenneth Frumkin, author of Alzheimer’s or Aging? has a four-decades-long career as a researcher on how the brain and nervous system influence thoughts and emotions
Believe it or not, this is a good sign.
Temporarily forgotten does not mean gone, according to Dr Kenneth Frumkin, an emergency medicine specialist whose book Aging or Alzheimer’s? dives into a discussion of what is natural age-related forgetfulness or the early indication of Alzheimer’s Disease or other types of dementia.
Memory loss is a hallmark symptom of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. And while all seniors with Alzheimer’s have suffered memory loss, not every senior with memory loss has or will get the disease.
Memory loss is a common sign of the normal aging process. Cognitive decline, however, is its ‘Evil Twin.’
Cognition is the difference between ‘remembering’ and ‘knowing,’ Dr Frumkin says.
He writes: ‘As to the “Evil Twin” – when we develop cognitive failures, they may be incorrectly perceived as worsening memory, masking or delaying our recognition of cognitive decline’s more serious threats to our safety and independence.
‘It’s one thing to forget why you went to the mall (memory) and quite another to be unable to find your way home.’
Aging or Alzheimer’s? dives into a discussion of what is natural age-related forgetfulness or the early indication of Alzheimer’s Disease or other types of dementia
Cognitive decline occurs to a certain extent in everyone. Age-related cognitive decline (ARCD) refers to natural changes in abilities related to language, attention, and problem-solving, and it typically starts around age 60.
Perhaps your grandfather’s word-finding skills have decreased, but his vocabulary has stayed relatively the same, or your grandmother can no longer cook dinner while talking on the phone.
Other fairly innocuous signs of normal aging include those tip-of-the-tongue moments — when that specific word or the correct name is hard to retrieve — slower problem-solving and decision-making speed; reduced processing speed that makes routine tasks like mental math take a bit longer; less vivid memories; and trouble mastering a new skill or retaining new information.
ARCD is generally a gradual process, which makes it more manageable for the aging person, their family, and the people who will care for them.
For most people, normal aging will continue to look like Post-it notes around the house, and they will occasionally wonder, ‘Why did I come into this room again?’
But for others, notes around the house and brief memory lapses will progress to more disruptive changes, such as forgetting doctors appointments or social events, having trouble following a conversation, losing one’s train of thought, and finding it hard to follow instructions and finish tasks.
When it has become clear to person dealing with memory lapses that something is not right, or their family has gotten involved, a doctor will conduct cognitive tests such as the Mini-Mental Status Examination or the Montreal Cognitive Assessment to diagnose a person with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Mild cognitive impairment does not equate to dementia, but it also is not something to be ignored or chalked up to getting older.
And while an MCI diagnosis does not guarantee Alzheimer’s down the line, it does make it more likely.
Dr Frumkin said: ‘Following a diagnosis of MCI, all outcomes still remain possible, including improvement, transition to other forms of dementia, stable deficits that do not progress, and even a recovery to normal cognitive function.’
A study conducted in Veterans Affairs patients with MCI over an average of two and a half years found only 12 percent of cases had progressed to dementia.
The majority – 67 percent – remained unchanged, and 21 percent improved.
Dr Frumkin said in his book that ‘the “reversion rate” (from MCI to normal cognition) has been as high as 25 to 30 percent’ and is associated the lack of dementia-related biomarkers found in spinal fluid.
Without certain biomarkers – specific health points a doctor will measure to uncover concerns – an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is impossible. The most crucial among them are plaque buildup of amyloid proteins, fibrous clusters of tau proteins, and loss of brain cells.
But, biomarkers alone are not definitive predictors of Alzheimer’s onset. They indicate the presence of biological processes linked to Alzheimer’s, but the actual onset of symptoms is influenced by many factors, including genetic, environmental, and health-related aspects.
The progression of Alzheimer’s should be viewed as a spectrum, Dr Frumkin concludes, rather than be viewed as a step-by-step process from asymptomatic changes in the brain, to noticeable memory lapses, followed by mild cognitive impairment, culminating in an Alzheimer’s/dementia diagnosis.
In Aging or Alzheimer’s?, Dr Frumkin makes the case that cognitive decline as well as measurable biomarkers like proteins in the brain change gradually and continuously over time.
