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A: This is an age-related question. If you’re 40 and you’re forgetting things, then you might want to get some testing done to find out what’s going on in your life that’s causing that, because a40-year-old that’s a very forgetful person is kind of unusual.
However, 40 and above, we start to see a gradual onset of increasing memory loss. Sometimes it is just because we are so busy and we have so much going on, so many balls in the air that we can’t help but drop one here and there. And that sneaks up on everyone. Some of this is inherited. You might remember making fun of Grandma because she couldn’t remember anyone’s name. Well, guess what, you may be Grandma one day. That gene is passed down.
I would say that it’s not too early for anyone to start doing brain games. There’s a wonderful website called Luminosity where you can go on there and do a pre-test, do a month of games and do a post-test to see your progression. Learning to dance, play an instrument, or a new language.
All those things are going to strengthen your brain in ways it wasn’t used before and that will boost your memory. These are very active things that you can do.
However, sometimes memory loss may be a medical problem and won’t be corrected or improved with brain games and new learning. And that’s when you want to talk to your provider and get the testing necessary to make sure that you don’t have a diagnosis of something more serious.
Gingko Biloba has been reported to be beneficial but the study results range from findings that it is very effective to those that say it was no more effective than a placebo. And we really don’t know because the standard for testing natural products is not as strict as it is for pharmacological medications.
Therefore, we can’t say for sure because we don’t have the double-blind placebo studies out there. They are very expensive and no one will make money off of it at the end of the studies. So, most of our ‘evidence’ is anecdotal.
However, Vitamin D3 is known to help with depression and that will help with memory. Outside of that, I can’t recommend anything medically.
If forgetting things is causing you stress, you should get it checked out. It could be early onset Alzheimers. When you know that you don’t have anything medically wrong, then you can focus on improving your memory. Make your brain stronger by getting better rest, more exercise, eating healthily, learning new things, and doing brain games.
You may also want to get your hearing tested. Studies show that people with hearing loss use more of their brain trying to interpret what they can’t hear. Then, they don’t have their full brain capacity for other things.
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