Memory loss is common among the elderly. It is one of the most incapacitating problems among their group. Although memory loss is not uncommon with them, there are reports of memory problems among young adults. Among Asian countries, it is said that the incidence of memory problems was common among urban areas.
Having a family member who has this condition is a huge predisposing factor for any individual who might have the disease. That’s why it is important to understand what memory loss is, what causes it and its different types.
Memory problems: types of memory
There are two types of memory. Short term memory is the type that has a rapid decaying system. Example of short term memory is asking about the food that a person has eaten during lunch.
On the other hand, long term memory involves events and other happenings that stayed through the mind for a long time. Example of this is when you ask a person who is the president of the United States during the year 1990.
Most common memory problems
Dementia is one of the most common causes of cognitive as well as emotional loss in the elderly.
One type of it is Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases that affect an individual’s normal daily function. It is one of the diseases that cause atrophy of one of the most important parts of the human body. Atrophy means to decrease in size. In Alzheimer’s Disease, the human brain progressively decreases in size.
Another type of memory problem is amnesia. Amnesia can manifest at different time intervals. It can present as hours or days as loss of a person’s long term memory.
Risk factors for memory problems
There is a huge list of the risk factors of memory problems. In Alzheimer’s disease, one of the proven risk factors is a family history of the said disease. There is a high possibility that a person might have the disease if he has a relative who suffers from the condition.
Head trauma is also another important risk factor on amnesia. Another significant risk factor that predisposes an individual to dementia is high cholesterol . When a person has an increased cholesterol within his blood, the tendency is for this cholesterol to build up within the blood vessels that supplies the brain.
Another risk factor is when a person has an increased blood pressure that would also predispose him to heart disease. Not only it can give a person a type of memory loss, but also it doubles his chances of having another ailment that would aggravate his problem.
As time goes by, there are a lot of people who can develop memory problems. The problem on how to stop the disease progression has still no answer. However, preventing the risk factors that contribute to memory loss as well as to heart disease is one of the first steps to prevent its incidence. On the other hand, when talking about its familial predisposition, we cannot say when they will develop the neurodegenerative problem
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