Memory loss in old age is one of the frightening, and sometimes hard-to-detect results of aging. Very often, you or your loved ones are left wondering whether these changes are normal or more serious that you need to seek your doctor’s opinion. This is stressful and uncertain particularly when you receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Age-related memory loss becomes serious when it goes beyond occasional forgetfulness. It means you have trouble remembering things such as important events (e.g., birthdays, wedding dates), information (e.g., own address), or how to perform daily tasks (e.g., dressing up). Because serious memory decline can reduce your independence and quality of life, doctors recommend nourishing your brain with certain food and supplements, as well as practising moderate physical and social activities. Some people add the best brain supplements to their diet to help improve memory and cognitive abilities.

Types of Memory

To record then recall a memory, your brain must first receive, encode, and store the information so you can retrieve it later. The general types of memory  are:

• Short-term memory: Stores information for a short time (less than a minute) like an address someone just gave you

• Working memory: Helps you remember details of your current tasks like baking a cake

• Long-term memory types: Entails memory of known facts, events, and experiences in the distant past and include:

• Episodic memory: Needed to recall past events like the food we ate for lunch the day before

• Somatic memory: Helps you recall facts, meanings of words, and sensations like expecting coldness sensation when opening the cold water tap

• Prospective memory: Helps you remember to do something in the future like going to the dry cleaner to pick up your clothes

• Procedural memory: Needed to complete a sequence of actions in a certain order like brushing your teeth

How Do We Identify Signs and Symptoms of Severe Memory Loss?

Aging and memory loss tend to go hand-in-hand for many senior citizens. The decline in memory happens mostly because the brain is no longer making enough of a special protein needed for brain cell repair and neural growth. Recognizing serious memory loss in old age can help you take the necessary steps to reduce inflammation and slow down brain cell degeneration.
Cell deterioration is commonly seen in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia that affects thinking, learning, behavior, and memory. You may notice the following signs or symptoms your family member is experiencing serious memory loss:

• Getting lost in familiar places

• Having trouble learning new information

• Calling a known object by a different name

• Confusing day and night or seasons

• Vision problems including difficulty judging distance

• Misplacing items and being unable to find them

• Poor judgment or trouble-making decisions

• Changes in behavior such as irritability, anxiety, or aggressiveness

• Forgetting known procedures such as how to perform daily tasks or tie a shoelace

• Repeating the same words or asking the same question repeatedly

These symptoms represent early signs of Alzheimer’s but may be related to other conditions such as brain trauma, or other neurological or health conditions. AD develops when amyloid plaques clump together and damage brain cells and tissue. A doctor can perform various diagnostic and memory tests to confirm or rule out the disease. These changes can happen gradually and will be getting worse as the disease progresses. The speed of memory decline varies among individuals and is dependent on several factors such as general health, genetic risks, diet and exercise habit, social activities, other chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.

What Type of Memories Does Alzheimer’s Disease Affect?

Memory loss in old age is progressive. Those affected by age-related memory loss, including Alzheimer’s patients, tend to lose their semantic memory like speaking and grammar abilities, which may occur several years prior to diagnosis.  This is followed by attention, working memory and long-term memory deficits. Symptoms may be first noticeable before AD, but often visible once the person is in the early stages of AD.  Eating healthy food or taking the best brain supplements rich in B vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, plant-based extracts can help slow down brain aging and memory loss.
Supplements made from plant ingredients, such as Inflawell™ Memory Support by Kondor Pharma, tend to be safer and more effective than synthetic drugs or non-natural supplements. The brain supplement contains Boswellia serrata (Indian Frankincense) and Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi) plant extracts, which have long been used in traditional, holistic medicine for brain health. The clinical trial conducted in patients with AD proves that Inflawell™ key active ingredient help slows down memory decline and improve brain function.

Kondor Pharma Inflawell™ Memory Support

Inflawell™ is a natural health supplement approved by Health Canada for memory support. Shop on our website or call 800-892-6981 to find out more.