By Carolyn Spence Cagle PhD, RNC-E
Maintaining our mental ability for a productive and functional life remains important to us despite our age. It is common with increasing age to occasionally forget things with changes in working memory, loss of focus with multitasking, or a lapse in short term memory. The key is to experience cognitive changes only occasionally and ones that do not affect speech or increase in frequency or severity. Knowing that, it is also important to identify factors that may affect your chances of developing dementia in life. Uncontrollable factors include: being over 65 years, female, and having a family history of the disease. Controllable factors, often improved by lifestyle modification, include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking, depression, severe head injury, and a poor diet lacking nutrients for brain health.
How do we tell the difference between common aging mental changes and a diagnosis of dementia, including the worst kind called Alzheimer’s disease? If you identify the following, it is time to seek medical investigation when they occur:
- Experience agitation and confusion about a place location or how you arrived at a particular place.
- Lose focus and confusion with planning an event when you could manage that before.
- Misplace numerous items and cannot track how that loss occurred.
- Forget a conversation that just occurred or with a person emotionally close to you.
- Get lost numerous times or need frequent reminders about ways to do things.
- Show an inability to finish familiar jobs that earlier in time you could seamlessly or automatically address.
- Show difficulty in speaking or writing; stop mid-sentence or cannot speak words appropriate to the situation.
- Experience a change in mood and may become aggressive, sad, easily upset, or withdrawn.
With the reality that some cognitive changes occur with aging, what behaviors can help to support your functional health? Here are some easy tips:
- Set alerts on your phone or calendar about items needing your attention; I have lived with a bound calendar most of my life to structure day’s work and keep me grounded with life projects.
- Take digital photos to recall things you need to do (e.g., grocery lists); as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
- Write things down; my husband uses his phone to make lists of daily volunteer duties.
- Prevent multi-tasking; seek to do one job at a time and do it well.
- Eat a healthy diet (focus on fruits/vegetables and omega-3 fatty acid foods); the evidence-based MIND diet supports good brain health; avoid ultra processed foods that increases cognitive decline and stroke; focus on eating dark leafy vegetables for more fiber intake to decrease gut inflammation and development of Alzheimer’s.
- Stop smoking.
- Engage in regular exercise/strength training for at least 150 minutes/week: do household chores with a focus on safety (risk of falls, e.g.).
- Remain socially active for brain resiliency and stimulation.
- Adopt behaviors for good sleep.
- Stimulate your mind: doing puzzles, reading, taking classes, trying novel things to promote brain neuroplasticity (changes in structure and function related to experience) – those help!
Best wishes to stay productive in your overall health as you add quality years to your life!
References cited:
Cecchini, C. (2022, June 2). Early signs of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Goodrx. Retrieved from: https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/Alzheimer’s-disease/early-signs-of-Alzheimer’s-dementia.
Spitznagel, E., Perrine, S. et al (2024, May-June). Dodge your biggest health risks. AARP: The Magazine, 67(3C), 42-29.
Understanding Senior Moments (April 2024). Healthy Years, 21(4), pp. 1, 7.