Thinning of hairs, overgrown beard, and a bulging abdomen are some common signs of aging which do not cause much discomfort. Most men learn to accept some deficiency in physical strength, energy, and sexual desire. In fact, men learn to compensate for these gradual changes and spend years of creative and joyful years of aging. But one of the greatest Traits of aging is the combination of experience, judgment, and memories. We call it ‘wisdom’. 2500 years ago, Sophocles, one of three ancient Greek Tragedians said, “Men are learning to become wise in aging” maybe because of this treasured wisdom that older people are worried about their memory deficits than any other age-related changes. This concern is not unreasonable, as about 7% of people over 65 have a ‘cognitive impairment’ condition and 40% of people over 85 have a major mental condition. Aging is unbearable, however, medical research shows that mental deficits can be prevented.

Increasing age can even affect the best of the brains. Learning new things takes time as new information is thoroughly processed in the brain and the details can be a lot to handle. As the names suggest, short-term memory is lost quickly, however, long-term memory stays. Of course, aged people who are healthy do not show a deficiency in abstract reasoning, spatial vision and language skills. In fact, while cognitive processes may start to slow down, some cognitive functions such as vocabulary and knowledge may improve a lot with age.

Natural Memory Slides

Even people with normal memory tend to forget things occasionally and while youngsters may laugh at their memory slips, elders can be completely disturbed by this minor error. They may start worrying about their age while thinking that something is wrong with them. They tend to ignore the fact that forgetting things is a part of human nature and so, it is not a major issue.

Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

People over the age of 50 who pass normal memory function tests but still complain about memory impairment are known to have ‘Age-Related Memory Impairment’ (AAMI). As the name suggests, this complication is part of a natural aging process and less than one percent of people are affected with severe problems such as dementia.

The next complication in this category is Mental Disorders (MCI), which are more serious than AAMIs. This complication is diagnosed in elderly who complain of memory impairment and are less likely to score in their standardized memory tests than their peers. Individuals with this condition maintain their linguistic skills and abstract reasoning and can work independently, however, up to 50% of people with this condition ultimately develop full-blown dementia. Dementia is diagnosed when the cognitive impairment of a person is so severe that his daily functioning is disrupted. In most cases, the disease is progressive and irreversible. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can be caused due to multiple brain strokes. Dementia is a terrible disease to live with and a hard way to die. Scientists are researching to understand the causes of cognitive impairment and ongoing research is underway to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of such diseases. Let’s hope that we can see a decrease in these numbers in the coming years.