Dementia and Aging: Memory Symptoms Suggesting the Need for Evaluation

Memory Problems are most often the first sign of dementia and the risk of less than graceful aging.

Memory signs that may appear in your loved one or parents:

Retaining few facts in day to day life such as who they talked to, what was said in conversations and so on.
Forgetting doctor appointments, lunch dates, arrangements or promises made
Conversations are not completed due to loss of the necessary words to finish one’s sentence
Confusion on the year, holidays, recent memories

If you are questioning the memory of your loved one or yourself, ask the following questions:

Do you have difficulty remembering things that someone has recently told you?
Do you forget places where you have been?
Do you forget the things that you need to do?
Do you forget where you have placed something just the day before or even an hour ago?
Do you keep getting lost, even if it is the same route to the same place that you have been going to for years and years?
Do you find yourself forgetting what you wanted to say?
Do you just think about things, becoming upset, unable to take action or to change things?
Do you find yourself forgetting names of people you have known for years?
Is it hard to learn new things?
Do you make the same mistakes over and over?
Do you continually ask for directions to be repeated?

Realization that memory deficits may not appear until the sun goes down
This means that people tend to look better at the beginning of the day and worse at the end
Do not assume that someone is fine if you are only seeing them during the daytime hours.

¹ Fisher, B., Ed., (2006) Attention Deficit Disorder, Practical Coping Mechanisms Second Edition Informa Health Care, New York, NY.