A lot of people complain about their own memory. We would all like to remember better and more, and above all to be reassured that memory gaps, especially those that tend to become more frequent with the passing of age, are not the announcement of a possible dementia arriving. Although this is a very widespread phenomenon, neurologists, psychiatrists and geriatricians pay little attention to these minor memory failures, which in most cases are identified as not clinically significant. They are so-called functional forms, that is unfounded concerns, which have no direct bearing on the cognitive abilities, but which largely depend on the comparison between our real memory and the demands of an increasingly complex world.
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Signs of forgetfulness
«It happens to anyone to enter a room and forget why they are there, or to lose the thread of a conversation, or to forget the Pin of a card. They are everyday experiences – he says Jon Stone of the Center for Clinical Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, who published an article on the subject with some collaborators on the Journal of Alzheimer’s Diseases -. As you can imagine, there is also evidence that these cognitive complaints increase as we age. A Dutch study of around 2,000 healthy subjects found that up to 29 percent of people between the ages of 25 and 35 consider themselves forgetful, a rate that rises to 34 percent between the ages of 40 and 50, to 41 percent. between 55 and 65, 52 percent between 70 and 85. Up to 60 percent of these people say they are somewhat concerned about their own forgetfulness. Complaints about one’s memory can be related to depressive states and feelings of not being healthy enough. Although some attribute forgetfulness to emotional problems, to the lack of specific interests, or to the age, in the majority of cases the cause remains unknown ».
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Concern grows
A generic feeling of memory loss not only is it not a sign of future dementia, but in about half of cases it tends to improve over time, especially when any psychological difficulties on which it depends in some cases are overcome. Moreover, also the mild cognitive impairment – definable as a cognitive impairment actually disproportionate for age, but in the presence of normal ability to carry out daily activities – it does not necessarily represent the antechamber of dementia. What is actually happening is that progressively, over the years, people seem to be more and more worried for the conditions of one’s memory. One study, the British National Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity, found that between 1993 and 2007 there was a steady increase in such concerns, probably also in relation to the fact that the further one goes, the more social and life require increasing cognitive participation.
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The conditions of alteration
According to Stone and his collaborators, it is possible to distinguish quite clearly – although one sometimes tends to slip into the other – some conditions of memory impairment which have nothing to do with a specific risk of developing dementia. Here are the main ones.
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1) Symptoms of normal memory dysfunction
In most cases the person does not even go to the doctor for this disorder (which is present in about a third of the population), but he detects it and worries about it a little. Typically, this is simply someone who would have exaggerated expectations of optimal memory performance. When he comes to a healthcare facility he should only be reassured and informed of the common wavering nature of human memory.
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2) Cognitive symptoms due to anxiety or depression
The person complains of poor memory, especially of an autobiographical type, and poor ability to concentrate, symptoms that can actually be part of the clinical picture of a depressive or anxious state. This complaint can continue even when the actual depressive state is overcome, and in any case it is a condition that does not result in specific cognitive tests intended to detect it. With treatment of the underlying condition the problem typically improves.
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3) Functional memory disorder
The person actually tends to “miss out” from the point of view of memory and even family members notice it. He can forget his credit card Pin, or even family events that others remember perfectly and in which he too participated. The mnemonic difficulty is present but it is neither constant nor generalized. For example, the names of some known people may be forgotten, but many others are remembered. The condition cannot be attributed to specific psychic or neurological disorders, and it does not tend to worsen, even if it is experienced with concern by the sufferer.
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4) Memory disorders linked to other functional disorders
Disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome often involve, in addition to insomnia and a sense of fatigue, also the feeling of having memory difficulties.
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5) Memory disturbances due to medication
Some pain medications, such as pregabalin, and gabapentin, can cause feelings of memory loss, as can some tricyclic antidepressants taken for a long time. Conditions that are usually overcome by stopping the drug.
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September 6, 2020 (change September 6, 2020 | 14:50)
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