Evaluating Your Memory Lapses

We all have those “senior moments:” misplacing our car keys, walking into rooms and forgetting why, blanking out when we try to remember some famous actor's name. How can we tell if these periods of memory loss are just us “growing old” or early signs of something more serious, and worth having a doctor check out?

Memory lapses are common with age, but do not necessarily signal the onset of dementia. Also note that memory loss is not inevitable: your brain is capable of producing new brain cells at any age.

The most common – and perfectly normal – “senior moments” include occasionally missing an appointment, calling on grandson by another grandson's name, being easily distracted, misplacing your glasses or keys, and even forgetting what you just read or some details from a conversation you just had. Don't sweat these.

Here's the checklist of memory moments for which seeing a doctor is in order:

• Does the memory loss disrupt daily living, such as driving, balancing a checkbook, and maintaining personal hygiene?
• How often do memory lapses occur? It’s one thing to forget where you parked your car once in a while, but it’s not normal to regularly forget your assigned parking spot or to miss appointments over and over.
• What’s being forgotten? Most people have trouble remembering some details of a conversation, but forgetting whole conversations could signal a problem. Other red flags: forgetting the name of a close friend or relative, frequently repeating yourself or asking the same questions in the same conversation.
• Are there signs of confusion? Serious memory lapses may cause individuals to get lost in a familiar place or put something in an inappropriate place because they can’t remember where it goes. That is, it's one thing to misplace your car keys, it's quite another to misplace them in the blender.
• Is the memory loss getting worse? Do you feel you’re forgetting more and more over time?

Your doctor can evaluate your memory loss by taking a medical history, asking questions to test mental ability, conducting a physical and neurological examination, and performing blood and urine tests. Brain imaging – either using computerized axial tomography (CAT) scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – can help to identify strokes and tumors, which can sometimes cause memory loss.

In the mean time keep your blood pressure and cholesterol low, get regular exercise, avoid smoking and alcohol, and keep your mind busy with creative pursuits – all clinically proven ways to reduce the risk of developing memory problems.