All too often, individuals above a certain age may have incidents of memory lapses or other cognitive episodes that may leave them wondering “Is this normal?” “Am I getting dementia?”. Here are some guidelines to distinguish between normal vs. abnormal memory impairment:
|
NORMAL |
ABNORMAL |
|
Forgetting momentarily where something was placed (i.e. keys) or where one was going. |
Increased forgetfulness where you cannot perform tasks of daily living safely such as cooking (i.e. leaving stove on while not cooking, or placing a kitchen towel on an open flame. |
|
Delay recall of recent events, but eventually will recall. |
Amnesia, no recall of recent events even the day prior. |
|
Needing more time to learn new tasks or information. |
Not able to learn new tasks or information. |
|
Experiencing “tip of the tongue” phenomenon, and word retrieval will eventually come through. |
Having difficulty expressing thoughts secondary to poor word retrieval and stringing a cohesive sentence together. Experiencing “aphasia”- a language disorder affecting a person’s ability to communicate. |
Information summarized from:
If your memory incidents are frequent and interrupting your daily life, as well as quality of life, talk to your general practitioner about your concerns.
@clevelandclinic
