9 Reasons Why People Over 40 Are Prone to Forgetfulness and How to Prevent It

In daily life, many of us have forgetfulness, but as we grow older, some people can’t help but wonder if they are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (dementia). Which situations are normal forgetfulness and which ones Is the condition a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease?

Amnesia is not necessarily dementia, but it tells us the brain is aging

Forgetfulness can happen to anyone, but if these problems occur frequently and even affect our daily life and work, then we need to pay special attention. Symptoms of forgetfulness include:

· Trouble recalling important dates or names
· Slow to process new information
· Deviations in understanding of some things, difficulty in thinking and making decisions
· Can’t remember some everyday expressions
· Decreased ability to multitask

Fortunately, in most cases, this is not a manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease, but instead provides us with warning signs of other aspects of health. First of all, this tells us that the brain may be aging. Forgetfulness is not only a reflection of memory problems, it also means that there is a problem with the overall cognition of our brain, including memory, attention, perception and thinking.

9 Reasons Why People Over 40 Are More Forgetful

There are many causes of amnesia, including the following:

1. Age

The leading cause of forgetfulness is age. People over the age of 40 are more prone to this type of amnesia. Generally speaking, our human memory is the best around the age of 20, and it begins to decline around the age of 25. The older we are, the worse our memory is. However, it is also common for people in their 20s and 30s to have problems in this area.

2. Lifestyle

Forgetfulness may also be related to people’s lifestyle. Among them, lack of sleep may lead to forgetfulness. If a person cannot sleep more than 7 hours a day on average, then there will be problems with memory. Alcohol can also affect memory, as alcohol damages the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory. Memory loss is a common presentation in patients with chronic alcoholism.

In addition, a poor diet can also have an impact on memory. High cholesterol, high-fat junk food, and processed food can all take a toll on the brain’s memory. If the food lacks vitamin B12, it is also easy to cause brain fog.

3. Mental stress

Chronic mental stress and nervousness will gradually fatigue brain cells, easily interfere with our new memory generation, and also affect our retrieval of past memories. Traumatic events that affect emotions can also impair our brain’s ability to process information for memory, attention, and decision-making.

4. Reliance on electronics and the Internet

Computers and mobile phones have brought us a lot of convenience, but due to our over-reliance on them, there have also been many memory loss problems. People don’t need to use their brains often, and rely on computers and mobile phones to record and store information. As we use it and lose it, some of our brain functions will gradually weaken, including memory loss.

5. Vaping

Smoking e-cigarettes can also affect memory. Research now finds that regular vapers, both adults and young adults, have poorer attention and memory than non-vapers of the same age. People who regularly smoke e-cigarettes are more prone to brain fog. The symptoms are that the mind seems to be muddled, and the thinking problems are not clear.

6. The effects of nervous system and other diseases

If you have serious memory loss problems, you should also consider whether you have other diseases and health problems. The first thing we think about is whether there are degenerative neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In addition, we also need to consider whether there are brain tumors, brain ischemic lesions, brain infections, etc., as well as autoimmune diseases like lupus erythematosus.

7. Liver and kidney disease

In fact, kidney disease can also cause dementia, because it can cause abnormalities in blood cells. Chinese medicine believes that “kidney governs the marrow”, which includes bone marrow and brain marrow. The kidney is the center of yin and yang in the human body, and is the “innate foundation” or the foundation of life. Kidney yin is the foundation of yin fluid in the whole body, which moistens and nourishes organs and tissues. If a person has kidney deficiency and insufficient kidney essence, his concentration and memory will also decline. In addition, people with liver disease can also develop hepatic encephalopathy, causing memory and vision problems.

8. Pregnant women

People who are pregnant also feel that they are prone to bad memory.

9. Effects of Drugs

There is one more factor that we need to prioritize—medication. When you have any symptoms that you didn’t have before, you must first think about whether it is caused by drugs. Drugs are often the culprit of new problems. Many antidepressants, antacids, anticholinergics, antispasmodics, cold and allergy medicines can cause memory problems.

There are also some friends who undergo chemotherapy because of cancer, which leads to “chemo brain”. Chemobrain means that people’s brain memory will deteriorate after chemotherapy.

These symptoms are the manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease

So which memory loss phenomenon is the performance of real Alzheimer’s disease? There are mainly the following aspects.

The first is that the recent memory loss problem is obvious and gradually aggravated. Patients will have staged unknown people. For people who are very familiar, he will sometimes know him, and sometimes he will not know him.

Second, patients are more likely to feel confused in the evening or dusk.

Third, sometimes patients will be delusional and paranoid. For example, worrying about someone stealing his money, someone trying to harm him, and so on.

Fourth, the patient’s behavior becomes very irrational and childish.

If a person over the age of 65 gradually develops the above symptoms and gets worse, he is likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

5 Ways to Improve Forgetfulness

● The first is to maintain adequate sleep. Sleep is the best medicine, you need to have regular sleep habits, it is very important to make sure you are getting quality sleep at the right time.

● Keep your brain active. The more the brain is used, the better it is, so it is necessary to keep the brain active, such as playing bridge.

● Exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet. In addition, many acupuncture points on the head are related to the brain. Shiatsu and combing the scalp are all good for the health of the brain.

● Be sure to maintain a happy mood and stay relaxed. Chinese medicine believes that people need to maintain the circulation and balance of Qi and blood. Then when people are in a calm, happy and relaxed state of mind, the circulation of Qi and blood will be sufficient, so that our brains can be fully nourished.

● The most important thing is the power of belief. With good faith, we can maintain a happy and peaceful state of mind even when we are in a low point in life. ◇

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Responsible editors: Chen Wenqi, Li Fan