Improving Your Memory (16 page)
Read Improving Your Memory Online
Authors: Janet Fogler
Scientists believe that whatever triggers Alzheimer’s disease begins to damage the brain years before symptoms appear.
When symptoms emerge, nerve cells that process, store, and retrieve information have already begun to degenerate and die. Scientists regard two abnormal microscopic structures called “plaques” and “tangles” as the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid plaques (AM-uh-loyd plaks) are clumps of protein fragments that accumulate outside of the brain’s nerve cells. Tangles are twisted strands of another protein that form inside brain cells. Scientists have not yet determined the exact role that plaques and tangles may play.
Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Disease
Although Alzheimer’s symptoms can vary widely, the first problem that many people notice is forgetfulness severe enough to affect performance at home, at work, or in favorite activities. Sometimes the decline in memory may be more obvious to a family member or close friend than to the affected individual. Other common symptoms include confusion, getting lost in familiar places, and difficulty with language. The Alzheimer’s Association encourages everyone who notices these symptoms in themselves or someone close to them to consult a physician.
A skilled physician can diagnose Alzheimer’s disease with 90 percent accuracy. Because there is no single test for Alzheimer’s, diagnosis usually involves a thorough medical history and physical examination as well as tests to assess memory and the overall function of the mind and nervous system. The physician may ask a family member or close friend about any noticeable change in the individual’s memory or thinking skills.
One important goal of the diagnostic workup is to determine whether symptoms may be due to a treatable condition. Depression, medication side effects, certain thyroid conditions, excess use of alcohol, and nutritional imbalances are all
potentially treatable disorders that may sometimes impair memory or other mental functions. Even if the diagnosis is Alzheimer’s, timely identification enables individuals to take an active role in treatment decisions and planning for the future.
Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia, a group of conditions that all gradually destroy brain cells and lead to progressive decline in mental function. Most diagnostic uncertainty arises from occasional difficulty distinguishing Alzheimer’s disease from one of these related disorders.
Other Causes of Dementia
Vascular dementia
results from damage caused by multiple strokes within the brain. Symptoms can be similar and can even coincide with Alzheimer’s disease and may include disorientation, confusion, and behavioral changes.
Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH)
is a rare disease caused by an obstruction in the flow of spinal fluid leading to a buildup of fluid in the brain. Symptoms include difficulty in walking, memory loss, and incontinence. NPH may be related to a history of meningitis, encephalitis, or brain injury and is occasionally correctable with surgery.
Parkinson’s disease
affects the control of muscle activity, resulting in tremors, stiffness, and speech difficulties. In late stages, dementia can occur. Parkinson’s drugs can improve steadiness and control but have no effect on mental deterioration.
Dementia with Lewy bodies
is a disorder that, although progressive, is often initially characterized by wide variations in attention and alertness. Affected individuals often experience visual hallucinations as well as muscle rigidity and tremors similar to those associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Huntington’s disease
is a fatal, progressive, hereditary disorder characterized by irregular movements of the limbs and facial muscles, a decline in thinking ability, and personality changes.
Frontotemporal dementia, also known as Pick’s disease,
is a rare brain disease that closely resembles Alzheimer’s, with personality changes and disorientation that may precede memory loss.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
is a rare ultimately fatal disorder of infectious or genetic origin that typically causes memory failure and behavioral changes. A recently identified form called “variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)” is the human disorder thought to be caused by eating meat from cattle affected by “mad cow disease” (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). Variant CJD tends to appear in much younger individuals than those affected by sporadic or inherited Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
Treating Alzheimer’s Disease
Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s and no way to stop the underlying death of brain cells. But drugs and nondrug treatments may help with both cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Two types of drugs are currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
One important part of treatment is supportive care that helps individuals and their families come to terms with the diagnosis, obtain information and advice about treatment options, and maximize quality of life through the course of the illness.
As the pace of research accelerates, scientists funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, the pharmaceutical industry,
universities, and our federal government have gained detailed understanding of the basic disease process at work in the Alzheimer brain. Experts believe that several of these processes may offer promising targets for a new generation of treatments to prevent, slow, or even reverse damage to nerve cells.
About the Alzheimer’s Association
For more than thirty years, the Alzheimer’s Association has provided reliable information, created supportive programs and services for families, increased resources for dementia research, and influenced changes in public policy. They are the world leader in Alzheimer research and support. Their goal is to create a powerful constituency of passionate Americans that places the prevention and cure of Alzheimer’s disease at the top of its agenda. To learn more, please contact them at:
Contact Center: 800-272-3900
Website:
www.alz.org
e-mail:
[email protected]
What Additional Resources Are Available?
The Alzheimer’s Association is the trusted resource for reliable information, education, referral and support to the millions of people affected by the disease, their families and caregivers, and health care professionals.
• Their 24/7 Helpline, 800-272-3900, provides information, referrals and care consultations in more than 170 languages and dialects.
• Their website,
alz.org
, provides comprehensive information about Alzheimer’s disease and how the association can help those affected.
• Their online Safety Center,
alz.org/
safety, features information, tips, and resources to assist you with safety inside and outside of the home, wandering and getting lost, and driving and dementia.
• Their support groups, conducted at hundreds of locations nationwide, provide people with Alzheimer’s and their families a confidential open forum to share concerns and receive support.
• ALZConnected (
alzconnected.org
), powered by the Alzheimer’s Association, is a social networking community that connects people living with Alzheimer’s, their caregivers, and others affected by the disease.
• Alzheimer’s Association Alzheimer’s Navigator (
alzheimersnavigator.org
) is an online assessment program that creates customized action plans while connecting the individual to local community programs, services, and resources.
• Education workshops led by trained professionals on topics such as caregiving, brain health, Alzheimer’s basics, and living with dementia, as well as a number of free e-learning courses available at
elearning.alz.org
.
• The Alzheimer’s Association Green-Field Library is the nation’s largest resource center devoted to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Material on the Alzheimer’s Association courtesy of the Alzheimer’s Association, Michigan Great Lakes Chapter and is used with permission. Copyright © 2014.
Answers to the Exercises
Recall (
page 20
) and Recognition (
page 28
)
1. Springfield
2. Judy Garland
3. Gerald Ford
4. Rudolph Giuliani
Understanding the Memory Process (
pages 29
–
30
)
When you go to the library and see a lot of colorful books on the “new books” shelf, the component of memory you are using is
sensory input.
You read through the titles and think about whether they interest you. These conscious thoughts occur in the component of memory called
working memory.
Then you find a book by a favorite author, John Grisham. You take down the book, notice how long it is, read the back cover, think it sounds familiar, and decided that you have read this book before. This process is called
encoding.
The information about the book leaves your conscious thought and goes into the component of memory called
long-term memory,
where it may be available for
retrieval
at another time. When
you get home, you notice another of Grisham’s books on your nightstand. This favorite book serves as a
cue
to remind you of the book in the library. The connection between the library book and your book at home is called
association.
How Memory Works (
page 31
)
1. F
2. F
3. T
4. T
5. T
6. T
7. F
Learning New Information (
pages 44
–
45
)
1. People who are depressed or anxious.
2. One example of a distorted thought is “I am worthless.”
3. A depressed person is less likely to be active.
4. One problem-solving strategy is to break problems into small steps.
How Memory Changes (
pages 49
–
50
)
1. T
2. F
3. T
4. T
5. T
6. T
Factors That Affect Memory (
page 89
)
1. T
2. F
3. T
4. F
5. T
6. T
7. F
8. T
9. F
10. T
1. Since you are going to the doctor, associate “west” with “wellness”—both words begin with W.
2. Associate 2008 with the fact that you were born in 1948. Or if you don’t have a convenient birthdate, you could say, “
Eight
was the
End
of my working life.”
3. Associate “Campbell” with Campbell’s soup and “Rose” with the red of the label on the soup can. It may help to visualize her face on a Campbell’s soup can.
4. Associate the name “Turner” with turning your health around. Say to yourself several times, “Turner turned my health around.”
1. Visualize a giant
hammer
hitting a
man
.
2. Imagine your car being towed with
a cord
.
3. Visualize a woman sitting in the
park
with the
sun
beating down on her shoulders.
4. Visualize
five balloons
tied to your car antenna.
5. Visualize yourself paying for a tank of gas and asking the attendant for a replacement windshield wiper.
Environmental Change (
pages 114
–
115
)
1. Put the laptop in front of the door as soon as you think about returning it.
2. Write yourself a note in big letters on the grocery bag so that when you unpack the groceries you’ll see it.
3. Put a note in your purse or gym bag. When you unpack the bag or open the purse, you will be reminded of the book. As soon as you think of it, put the book with your exercise clothes or equipment. (You might also put the responsibility
back on the person who wants the favor, and ask her to text your cell phone or call your home phone and leave a message.)
4. Put a big sign on the bathroom mirror or on the kitchen counter.
5. Change your watch or ring to the other hand.