Dealing with Dementia

The risk of developing dementia comes with age, but dementia is not a normal part of aging.

Memory loss is common with growing older, but it’s also the first observable symptom for millions of dementia patients.

What differentiates the normal dulling of cognitive function from brain disorders associated with dementia?

Intensity of forgetfulness, for one, according to Dr. Anton Porsteinsson of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

“Normal aging is like when your computer gets old, your operating system becomes corrupted. Processing is slower. The working memory, the RAM, constricts, so you can’t keep as many applications open,” said Porsteinsson, who leads the university’s Alzheimer’s Disease Care, Research and Education Program.

“If you have too many open, it will crash. There are bad sectors in the hard drive where you store information, you can’t find it when needed.”

For those with Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative conditions considered a form of dementia, memory creation is disrupted.

The National Institutes of Health differentiates normal aging from Alzheimer’s along the lines of intensity as well.

Normal aging means making the occasional bad decision, missing a monthly bill, misplacing car keys or overcoming a brief struggle to find the words sought when engaged in conversation.

Those suffering Alzheimer’s or vascular dementia can evolve to routinely cast bad judgment, consistently struggle to process bill payments and other daily tasks, fail to find what’s been misplaced and disengage from conversation because they can’t process the thought they wish to express.

“The memory is more of a retrieval issue, whereas with Alzheimer’s, you don’t create the memory,” Porsteinsson said.

Changes in memory as part of aging are normal, experts say.

“As we get older, what’s happening is a lot of people retire, and when you retire, you don’t use your brain that much,” said Dr. Henry Petry, director of the Freeman Center for Geriatrics in Joplin, Missouri. “I almost say your brain goes to mush, so to speak, because you’re not using it.”

So when should someone be concerned that regular memory loss could be something more serious?

Dr. Amanda Lewton, a physician at the Mercy 65 Prime+ Clinic in Joplin, offers an example: We all sometimes forget somebody’s name when we see them, she said. But forgetting how you know that person, like forgetting he or she is your neighbor or your grandchild, is a “little more concerning,” she said.

In that case, Petry and Lewton both recommend visiting your primary care physician, who can perform a basic screening for dementia or refer you to a specialist, if needed.