The Willow Glen Resident Expert explains dementia vs. ordinary forgetfulness Some of the forms of memory loss are treatable, according to Alzheimer's nurse By Cecily Barnes Seated in an outdoor patio for brunch the other weekend, my stepfather, who recently suffered a stroke, pointed to my large orange juice glass and asked in all seriousness if I could please pass the "sip." After an awkward laugh, my mom stepped in. "I forget things all the time," she said. Like that handsome actor, she said, snapping her fingers in frustration, the one who played the psycho in Silence of the Lambs. "Anthony Hopkins," my boyfriend chimed in. "That's right," she said. Song names, I offered; I can never remember song names. My family isn't alone, according to Patricia Riley, an RN and gerontology specialist at Mills-Peninsula Memory and Dementia Assessment Clinic. People often have to snap their fingers to summon information the memory simply won't release without a fight. And the more birthdays a person has, the more finger-snapping they'll be doing. Last weekend at the Willow Glen Senior Center, more than 100 older adults gathered in the center's auditorium to learn the difference between the normal memory loss that accompanies aging and the dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease. "We're doing this to help people distinguish between real issues that require timely help and just basic forgetfulness," said Jill Center of the Alzheimer's Association, "because there can be some real anxiety around this." Riley asked the audience to consider two people headed to a book store--one with Alzheimer's. Both arrive at Barnes and Noble having forgotten the title of the book. Seeing it, the healthy adult would recognize the book and recall it as the one he or she intended to buy. The Alzheimer's patient would walk right past without flinching. "A normal older adult forgets, remembers that they forgot, and then remembers later," Riley said. "An Alzheimer's person forgets, forgets that they forgot, and couldn't care less five seconds later." Most memory problems, Riley explained, are linked with attention problems. "Memory is a process of recording information and recalling it later. The clearer the recording we make, the easier it is to recall later," Riley said. "If you haven't paid attention to something in the first place, it won't be there to recall." As people get older, Riley explained, their senses decrease and the brain's initial recordings of experiences are not always totally clear. Hence, older adults should be well-rested and alert when participating in situations they want to remember. "If you want to improve your memory," Riley said, "improve your senses." And don't try to remember everything, she said. "Forgetting is very important," Riley told the group. "We could not possibly remember everything that went into our brain." The other key to improving memory, Riley said, is relaxation. When people become anxious about forgetting, they become distracted, fail to observe their surroundings and thus forget even more. Riley ended by saying that memory is not a gift, but a skill that can be sharpened, learned and improved. She said classes are offered at Stanford University and other locations to assist people in sharpening this skill. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, November 25, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.