MEMORY

Forgetting something Ageing or Sickness?

Memory is an important aspect of life. It can be immediate (eg, recalling phone numbers immediately), short-term (recalling events over a few days or months) and long-term (recalling events of the past).

Cognition, on the other hand, encompasses a whole lot of advanced brain functions, including language capabilities, behaviour, judgement and visual processing. Simply put, memory is just an important subset of cognition.

Causes  :

Memory is stored in different parts of the cerebral hemispheres, most critically involving a region called the hippocampus. Memory can be impaired if there is damage to any of these regions due to a head injury, stroke (brain attack), infection (encephalitis), etc. Diseases like Alzheimer's and other dementias can affect memory, in addition to impairing other cognitive functions.

Conditions that temporarily suppress brain function, including use of recreational drugs (narcotic agents) and alcohol intoxication. In our modern stressful lives, depression and anxiety can often manifest as memory impairment. Vitamin deficiencies, especially Thiamine B1 (seen in alcohol abusers), Pyridoxine B6 and Cyancobalamine B12 (common in patients on pure vegetarian diets), are some of the other reversible causes of memory impairment.

Symptoms :

Inability to remember things like where one put objects, remember names of people, phone numbers and messages given to them are a few early symptoms of short-term memory impairment. Long term memory impairment can present with inability to recall past events.

Prevention :

Avoid factors that impair memory, including recreational drugs and abuse of alcohol.

Vitamin B12 supplementation in pure vegetarians. Utilising memory by solving crossword puzzles, sudokus, etc may be helpful.

Treatment :

Treatment will be individual to the cause of the memory impairment. Some natural memory loss treatment solutions for those who want to regain their memory loss, is helpful to understand how the brain works and why certain alternative medicines work. For instance Nicotinamide is a form of vitamin B3, the lowered levels of a protein called phosphorylated tau that leads to the development of tangles, one of two brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease

Other natural memory loss remedies include Omega-3 fatty acids have shown to help stimulate brain activity, increase memory and even improve mental awareness. Where you can find these natural sources of omega-3 include nuts, seafood, fish and flaxseed.

It has been recommended that Ginkgo Biloba helps circulation and speeds along oxygen to the brain to improve memory loss. Another remedy called Huperzine A is a Chinese medicinal herb used to help against cognitive decline in elderly people who have memory disorders. Other herbs include bacopa monnieri and vinpocetine.

*Note this is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice