Age and memory

[Armybrat]

My dementia has one advantage - I get to sleep with a different woman almost every night.

 

[Jeepnik]

"After I retired I started taking it again mainly for the lucid dreaming effects."
I already have far too many of those about past experiences I'd rather NOT remember.

Those have always been there Ginko or not. But on the plus side at least I am still able to dream about those past events.

 

[Jeepnik]

If you don't recognize something from the past, after it is told to you, it well might indicate that the memory has been truly lost. You might well be right that this is a "true sign" but unless it happens repeatedly and it interferes in your ability to conduct your daily life I would think that it is not yet a serious concern.

In any event, despite the best efforts of modern medicine, little or nothing can be done to stop whatever is causing a brain to descend into dementia (or what was once just called "senility" or "hardening of the arteries"). The newer drugs like Aracept do not seem, in my opinion, to really do much to help at all (but I am not a physician nor a scientist studying these things). In my years working in the "senior care" industry, I can say that there are things that help folks manage. Keeping to a routine, and staying in a stable, familiar environment can be very helpful in continuing to live a satisfying life. Having routines to follow, and having assistance with those routines, such as living in a senior focused retirement community, can help achieve that stability for as long as possible.

My grandmother spent her last days in one of those places. My mom spent a few days in one after each of her stokes or falls. I wouldn't send my worst enemy to one of those hell holes. They aren't the clean and fresh smelling Edens the folks that run them try to convince you they are. Neglect and abuse are the order of the day and all driven by profit.

 

[wproct]

I have never liked to read books. I would have an assignment in school of reading a chapter in history etc. I would start to read and after the first paragraph or two I would think this was kind of interesting, but after a page or two my mind was wandering and I just couldn't concentrate on it. So, in my entire adult life I have probably only read maybe a half dozen books cover to cover. However, whenever I did choose to read one I just couldn't put it down until I was finished. One of the first ones that I read we had gone to the theatre to watch a movie, "Amityville horror". I was really into it and on the way home one of our kids said that a neighbor boy had the book so I told them to ask to borrow it. I read that one in one sitting. Now, reading magazines about things I was interested in, motorcycles, guns, cameras, etc., I could read forever.

I'm about 80 now and I remember stuff from when I was a kid pretty well. Whenever I am introduced to a new person I almost always have to ask them to repeat their name, it's like initially my mind is busy studying their face etc. and then I have to hear their name, its like I can't do the same things at once. I've always had a hard time remembering weddings, funerals, family trip details, etc. I don't know if it's because I'm not really engaged mentally or what, I just don't know. I mean once a year we go on a family trip with my wife's siblings, and it's not that I don't like them, I really do, but if a month later I have to remember the trip, where we stayed and what we did, I gotta really study hard to do it. My Dad lived to be 93 and he had dementia, but he had suffered a traumatic head injury when he was around 74 and I think that was a large part of it. Movies I don't remember so well. I have favorites that I do and I will watch them again every so often, but regular movies we watch I struggle to remember very well. However we have been retired now for 20 years and we have watched tons of movies.

 

[Redington Slim]

 

[davevabch]

Not only if you can't remember the name of a childhood frame but after being told you don't recognize it. That is a true sign …

My Mom is 95, tough old Bird. Call her up on the phone and ask if she want to go party and She will be waiting at door. Her short term memory is shot. But she can do Poems and songs from when she was a child and young lady perfectly. We all love to hear her talk about the Great Depression and how her very large family survived.

 

[Yaworski]

I have favorites that I do and I will watch them again every so often, but regular movies we watch I struggle to remember very well. However we have been retired now for 20 years and we have watched tons of movies.

This whole thread is because I didn't remember watching the movie. Someone said that it was because the movies are important or something like that. I'm thinking that might be right. Movies today focus more on special effects than interesting characters and dialog.

I mentioned to my daughter that I didn't think that I had watched a Mission Impossible movie and she said "yeah, we watched one" but couldn't tell me which one, the only thing that stuck in her mind was Tom Cruise running on rooftops. So it didn't stick in her mind either. I think that she's far from dementia age and just finished grad school with a 4.0.

 

[hittman]

My mom for several years knew I was her son but not much else.

She was gone at age 68 and had spent a few years in a nursing home. 13th of this month she’s been gone 17 years already. Love ya mom.

 

[jack black]

I don't know how many thousands of novels I've read over the years. Sci Fi, crime, fantasies, even romance novels. So it has never surprised me when I start reading a book, only to realize that I read it before, maybe twenty or thirty years earlier.

What's getting me now is that I don't remember movies I've seen recently. I had never seen the Mission Impossible movies so I started from #1. Last night I started watching "Fallout" and partway in, things looked familiar. Maybe I saw this scene on a talk show? Nope, more and more I realize that I've watched this movie but I couldn't tell you what is coming up. For the life of me, I don't have a clue when I would have watched it. So it turns out that I had seen one of the MI movies, I just don't remember it.

How old are you?

 

[davevabch]

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https://www.arealme.com/

 

[Yaworski]

How old are you?

66. Why?

 

[WendyZXZ]

My husband had that happen about a year ago or so. It turned out that something happened a year or so, long enough ago that they are still wondering...embolism, aneurysm, mini stroke, whatever, but is beyond the walk into a room and spend a few wondering what happened and why is he there? Him, being a goofy and fun loving type just asked or told the doctor that his nitro burning brain dropped a cylinder. His doctor getting the reference just said...yes. It does not seem to affect reasoning and cognitive, things learned long ago and ingrained is there but memory and sense of time may be off kilter. I just tell his dumbass, let me know if things seem wrong to you, or else face the consequences from me. I do tell him that he is no longer 50, let alone 40 and he is NOT alone here.

 

[jack black]

66. Why?

About the right age.
Best Wishes

 

[davevabch]

It is all relative to nature. The brain is like a computer so is the body. At age 50 IMO is like a vehicle with 200K miles.. You and the car go downhill, not uphill.Maybe survives to 250k or 300k some to 400ks. How long does a computer last? The Insurance companies will always take the bet. And as we know, the house always wins.

 

[WendyZXZ]

66

About the right age.
Best Wishes

Some fine wishes for any that may need such.

 

[Hvymax]

I don't know how many thousands of novels I've read over the years. Sci Fi, crime, fantasies, even romance novels. So it has never surprised me when I start reading a book, only to realize that I read it before, maybe twenty or thirty years earlier.

What's getting me now is that I don't remember movies I've seen recently. I had never seen the Mission Impossible movies so I started from #1. Last night I started watching "Fallout" and partway in, things looked familiar. Maybe I saw this scene on a talk show? Nope, more and more I realize that I've watched this movie but I couldn't tell you what is coming up. For the life of me, I don't have a clue when I would have watched it. So it turns out that I had seen one of the MI movies, I just don't remember it.

Could be Old-timers or the crap these days isn't worth remembering. I never cared for fiction. I always preferred History and how things work. Working up loads and the occasional wildcatish abomination takes a lot of research and experimenting. Not to mention pulling the occasional welding procedure out of my posterior. It's all Science when you think about it. Mad Science is my favorite especially unnatural acts with metal.

 

[Yaworski]

About the right age.
Best Wishes

Right age for what?

 

[jack black]

Right age for what?

This is when age related chemical and structural changes begin in brain regions devoted to memory such as hippocampus and frontal lobes.
You may start to show anger and question others when they try to give you information.

Best Wishes

 

[DBnoise]

My dementia has one advantage - I get to sleep with a different woman almost every night.

I had to laugh at this. A good friend, now deceased, used to joke about horny women and Dementia. He liked the same woman. She was always thinking she needed to get laid because couldnt remember the last time.

 

[davevabch]

Age? Call your insurance company and get a quote on a new life insurance policy. That should tell you the truth.

 

[Yaworski]

This is when age related chemical and structural changes begin in brain regions devoted to memory such as hippocampus and frontal lobes.

Are you a neurologist?

You may start to show anger and question others when they try to give you information.

I've always questioned others when they try to give me "information" because they usually can't or won't substantiate their claims which has always made me angry. So nothing has changed there.

Thank you for your advice, doctor.

 

[jack black]

Best Wishes

Are you a neurologist?



I've always questioned others when they try to give me "information" because they usually can't or won't substantiate their claims which has always made me angry. So nothing has changed there.

Thank you for your advice, doctor.

Best Wishes

 

[jack black]

Are you a neurologist?



I've always questioned others when they try to give me "information" because they usually can't or won't substantiate their claims which has always made me angry. So nothing has changed there.

Thank you for your advice, doctor.

Best Wishes

 

[Hvymax]

Please help me, why did I come to this site. Even this forum would be helpful.
Let's be friends and grow old together. Then well be new friends.

Almost everyone here is already Old. We need a thread for Topsoil Recipes!!!

 

[Hvymax]

What really used to piss my wife off was that her Grandmother would always recognize me and hardly anyone else. Even when she was standing next to me

 

[vito]

My grandmother spent her last days in one of those places. My mom spent a few days in one after each of her stokes or falls. I wouldn't send my worst enemy to one of those hell holes. They aren't the clean and fresh smelling Edens the folks that run them try to convince you they are. Neglect and abuse are the order of the day and all driven by profit.

You're wrong if you think all senior care facilities are the same. There are basically three levels of such facilities. The "lowest level", i.e., where the residents need the least assistance, is "independent senior housing". In many of this type facility the residents have a full apartment, with kitchen, and live as independently as they might have when in a separate house. But services such as being reminded of when to take daily medications, or having a dining room where the resident can eat without having to prepare their own food, is often provided, albeit at additional cost. The next level is "assisted living". This level normally also has residents living in their own apartments, but has more offered in the way of assistance, such as having at least a Certified Nursing Assistant on duty 24/7 and likely a licensed nurse at least on the day shift. In addition to meals in a dining room, "assisted living" provides maintenance of the apartment, housekeeping services, possibly laundry services and typically has a schedule of activities for the residents to participate in as they wish. The third level, which might be what you experienced with your grandmother, is a Skilled Nursing Facility, or just called a nursing home. This level is for people who need extensive medical care, sometimes at a level that a few years ago would only be available in a hospital. Some of these facilities can be excellent, and some far from that. It all depends on their funding. If you are in a private facility, where daily costs may be around $300, the care is likely very good and the facility likely clean, well staffed, and dignified. If you are in a facility which is primarily funded by Medicaid, a joint Federal/State program and often very underfunded, the care may be minimal and the facility itself terrible.

Another distinction between facilities can be whether the facility is a for-profit business, or a not-for-profit operation, often run by a religious or charitable organization. Generally, in my opinion, the care is better in the not-for-profit locations, especially when funded partially or fully by Medicaid. The best care will be found in a facility that is fully privately paid for, where even the for-profit providers know that they need to meet a higher standard to keep their wealthier clients happy. Such facilities can range from about $8.000 a month for Independent Living to around $15,000 a month for Skilled Nursing care.

 

[Dan in MI]

Movies have always been "in the moment" for me. Until I have seen it a few times I don't remember much about it. Not so much with other things, but for whatever reason movies don't stick.

 

[jimbo1096]

I recently had one of my quarterly doctor check ups. I told him about how I had started losing dates and appointments and not remembering things that I had started out to do. He gave me the test and said everything was fine and all I had was old person's memory loss. And he said that with a straight face. I had to reschedule my appointment twice because I had forgotten them.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Movies have always been "in the moment" for me. Until I have seen it a few times I don't remember much about it. Not so much with other things, but for whatever reason movies don't stick.

I know what you mean. I watched "Pearl Harbor" last week and I was just as surprised as they were.

I'm going to watch some Civil War movies to find out how that ended.

 

[Jeepnik]

You're wrong if you think all senior care facilities are the same. There are basically three levels of such facilities. The "lowest level", i.e., where the residents need the least assistance, is "independent senior housing". In many of this type facility the residents have a full apartment, with kitchen, and live as independently as they might have when in a separate house. But services such as being reminded of when to take daily medications, or having a dining room where the resident can eat without having to prepare their own food, is often provided, albeit at additional cost. The next level is "assisted living". This level normally also has residents living in their own apartments, but has more offered in the way of assistance, such as having at least a Certified Nursing Assistant on duty 24/7 and likely a licensed nurse at least on the day shift. In addition to meals in a dining room, "assisted living" provides maintenance of the apartment, housekeeping services, possibly laundry services and typically has a schedule of activities for the residents to participate in as they wish. The third level, which might be what you experienced with your grandmother, is a Skilled Nursing Facility, or just called a nursing home. This level is for people who need extensive medical care, sometimes at a level that a few years ago would only be available in a hospital. Some of these facilities can be excellent, and some far from that. It all depends on their funding. If you are in a private facility, where daily costs may be around $300, the care is likely very good and the facility likely clean, well staffed, and dignified. If you are in a facility which is primarily funded by Medicaid, a joint Federal/State program and often very underfunded, the care may be minimal and the facility itself terrible.

Another distinction between facilities can be whether the facility is a for-profit business, or a not-for-profit operation, often run by a religious or charitable organization. Generally, in my opinion, the care is better in the not-for-profit locations, especially when funded partially or fully by Medicaid. The best care will be found in a facility that is fully privately paid for, where even the for-profit providers know that they need to meet a higher standard to keep their wealthier clients happy. Such facilities can range from about $8.000 a month for Independent Living to around $15,000 a month for Skilled Nursing care.

My baby sister is in agreement with you. An RN she burnt out. She started her own consulting business. Basically she helped medical facilities that were in danger of losing their license.

Most facilities had mostly paperwork and training issues. Some when they contacted her she checked things out and told them she couldn't help them.

But memories of watching my grandmother die in one in the 60's prevail.

Getting a good facility is a crap shoot. And the bad ones are really good at hiding things.