Why Did I Forget Something So Important?

Memory Loss

People refer to memory loss by many names: forgetfulness, impaired memory, amnesia, loss of memory, and mild cognitive impairment.

By: Gillian Eadie

So there I was feeling like a complete idiot sitting in the restaurant by myself, thinking everyone was staring at me with pitying looks – sad middle aged woman who’d been stood up. It had only been about 30 minutes but it felt like hours, so I gave in and sent my friend a text to see where she was.

Next minute the Cossack tune blared from my mobile, and it was Sally.. She’d forgotten all about meeting me. She’s sorry, can’t think what happened, how could she forget, so on and so on ….

That’s a classic baby boomer in action, and if I’m honest, I’ve forgotten some things, too, of late. My memory specialist sister, Dr. Allison Lamont, tells me that there’s a heap of reasons why it might be happening, not many of them good news!

People refer to memory loss by many names: forgetfulness, impaired memory, amnesia, loss of memory, mild cognitive impairment but basically it refers to any forgetting that is out of the ordinary. And it seems that boomers are getting more and more worried about it because it’s not fun to miss appointments, forget birthdays, leave your dear friend sitting in a restaurant on her own for half an hour or forgetting to take medication. That last one could even be dangerous.

There are loads of causes of memory loss, and getting older is one of them. But boomers can push back against forgetting by consciously helping the brain to remember, so that’s a comfort for me and my friend – next time it might be her sitting alone waiting for someone who has forgotten to show up! More significant memory loss, however, occurs, when diseases are involved. There’s a whole list of those and I’ll put some of the most common of them for you at the end of this article. You’ll need to visit a doctor to be sure if you are worried that your memory loss is more serious than just standing me up for lunch.

The doctor will ask you all kinds of questions to help understand what kind of memory loss it is. Can you remember recent events? (is there impaired short-term memory?) Can you remember events from further in the past? (that’s about your long-term memory) Have you just forgotten what happened before or after a specific experience? (amnesia) Do you make up stuff to cover gaps in memory? (my elderly mother is renowned for this)

The doctor will also want to know about whether your moods affect your concentration and whether the memory loss has been getting worse over years, weeks or months. Knowing if you’ve had a head injury in the recent past, surgery that needed anesthetic, seizures or an emotionally traumatic event will also be taken into consideration. You probably know that alcohol and illegal/illicit drugs are bad news for memory, so you’d better be honest with the doctor about that.

Other symptoms might have something to do with your memory loss so knowing if you have been confused or disoriented, whether you can eat, dress, and generally look after yourself will be on the check list of questions. Of course, they’ll do all the normal things you would expect, like blood tests looking for low vitamin B12 or thyroid disease, maybe take a CT scan or MRI of the head, cognitive or psychometric tests, an EEG etc.

So, memory loss shouldn’t be taken lightly, particularly if you have other worrying symptoms.

For most boomers, though, actively challenging and training your perfectly normal brain will overcome memory loss. Why not try our free memory test and see how you do? It doesn’t replace a doctor’s visit, but it will be a start. Give It A Go!

Common Causes of More Serious Memory Loss

• Alcoholism
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Brain damage due to disease or injury
• Brain growths (caused by tumors or infection)
• Brain infections such as Lyme disease or syphilis
• Depression or emotional trauma
• Drugs such as barbiturates or benzodiazepines
• Encephalitis of any type
• General anesthetics
• Head trauma or injury
• Hysteria, often accompanied by confusion
• Illness that results in the loss of nerve cells
• Nutritional problems (vitamin deficiencies such as low vitamin B12)
• Seizures
• Stroke
• Temporal lobe brain surgery

About the Author:
Gillian Eadie founded the Brain and Memory Foundation. Gillian is an award-winning educator with more than 20 years as a principal at several prestigious private schools and is a Churchill Fellow. For more free help and personal advice on diet, exercise, brain food and improving your memory, please visit the Brain and Memory Foundation. You’ll find lots more information and tips like these in the great new book by Allison Lamont PhD and Gillian Eadie,Seven Second Memory.