MANY people over the age of 60 start to have memory issues. I cannot tell you how many of my friends are reporting forgetting conversations, facts, and events that they used to remember just fine. I am seeing it when I converse with them and they don’t remember what I told them in our last conversation or in some cases even 10 minutes ago! Of course, there are some that still have an impeccable memory but I think after the age of 60 they are the exception. Me, I am scared to death of developing dimentia or Alzheimers as my mother died of it. At the end she did not know who was even visiting her or even facts from her life (she talked about being married to someone other than my father whom she was married to her whole life).

What can we do to slow down cognitive decline? First of all, I recommend getting a complete neuropsych test done and a brain MRI as a benchmark to measure decline over the coming years. Brain MRI’s will also show what white matter, if any, you have in your brain right now. According to Clevelandclinic.org, “Having cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar (from diabetes), high dietary fat intake (high cholesterol) and smoking can all increase the number of white matter spots or lesions in your brain.” There are also diseases associated with increased white matter that often strike people over 60 (Parkinson’s, MS, etc.)

What I find interesting is my friends that are experiencing memory issues do not want to investigate it. It is so easy to write off these issues as “getting old” but I do not agree that ignoring them is the best practice. Nowadays they have medicines to slow down progression of diseases like Alzheimers and even cures that are in the experimental stage. Why would you avoid being tested and therefore opening up doors to slow down your cognitive decline? I just don’t get it.

Also, here again, your brain is just another organ that will wear down over time if you don’t live a healthy lifestyle. Daniel Amen has a bestseller book called “Change Your Brain, Change You Life”. He has done extensive studies on how a healthy lifestyle effects the health of your brain. Certain foods, supplements and diets are known to lead to healthier brains. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to try to prolong our quality of life by keeping our brain healthy?

If you do have a loved one showing signs of serious cognitive impairment or dimentia be prepared to have lots of patience! Telling your loved one things that they forget 10 minutes later and having to repeat yourself many times over is a very trying experience. Seeing them having difficulties operating websites, paying bills, and remembering significant facts is very sad to watch. Belittling or getting angry at your partner for forgetting and making mistakes is not healthy for either one of you also. Be prepared to be patient and kind as your loved one starts to detiorate. Be gentle in pointing out things they are forgetting or doing wrong and encourage them to use lists, calendars, and even ask for your assistance. My husband, who is experiencing cognitive decline due to this neurodegenerative disease, has learned to let me handle on line purchases and manage our calendar because he knows he can no longer do it effectively. If patience is not your strong suit, you need to give your loved one as many tools as possible to help him function better. Share your calendar with him, provide him with daily to do lists to check with items like when to take his medicine, purchase him pill containers to store his pills by hours of the day and days of the week, show him how to set reminders on his phone. In fact, I have enlisted Alexa’s help and she reminds my husband to eat using reminders I set up with the Alexa app. Another important aide is to set up routines. It is much easier to remember to do things if they are done at the same time everyday.

So, don’t be afraid to get tested and find out what your brain health is now so you can monitor it overtime. Don’t underestimate what a healthy diet and exercise can do to extend your brain’s health. DO do activities that stretch your brain like puzzles and such. DO stay socially active because being social has been proven to improve brain health. And, lastly, if your loved one is experiencing cognitive decline, be kind and patient because it could and most likely will be you, too, one day! Old age is not for cowards!