Although memory loss occurs in all cases of Alzheimer's disease, it can be difficult to detect in the early stages as many patients manage to cover it up well during tests as a matter of pride.
It's the recent things we've done such as in the last hours, days or even weeks that are the first memories to be lost in Alzheimer's patients.
However, while those things that are placed in our short term memory are the first to go it's only much later as the Alzheimer's condition has become much more severe does the past or longer term memory become affected.
This makes the degree or memory loss a very useful tool in assessing the presence and scope of the disease as if the patient is co-operative and asked in a pleasant way the results can be very revealing.
The following ten questions form part of a common test as they cover both the short and the long term memory and also test for orientation as well.
How old are you?
What is your date of birth?
What day is it today?
What month are we in?
What year is it?
When was the first world war?
What is the name of the President / Prime Minister?
Where are you now?
Can you please count backwards from 20 to 1?
Tell them an address, then ask them to repeat it back to you after five minutes.
Although the test is deceptively easy it is also very useful as it's quick, cheap, non-evasive and helps diagnose Alzheimer's disease or dementia and gives an indication of the areas in the patient's memory that may be affected.
Care must always be taken as a low score on its own doesn't prove dementia or Alzheimer's disease, as not all people will know all the answers to the questions!
Instead it's a guide or an indication that something may be wrong and requires further investigation.
Are you still in disbelief? Yes, true indeed, this article title reads ?Ways to prevent short term memory loss in CHILDREN?. Who said that memory loss can only occur in our later years? Memory loss can occur to anyone, regardless of his or her age. Unfortunately, unlike flu and coughs, memory loss does not have a direct medication that you can pop in to help improve your memory conditions. There are supplements and vitamins off the shelves of every pharmacy, but none of them is proven to be effective in bring back the memory. Is your child having problems remembering things? Maybe it is time to do a little check up on her and see how you can help to improve her condition.
It can be pretty pitiful when short-term memory loss happens in children. This is usually unavoidable but the good news is that there are ways to help in improving your child's condition.
Children in particular love games. Any form of games entices them, hence make use of this and make them play endless mind-boggling games. Mind games and puzzles are just some of the types of games that you might want to try on your child. Mind games and puzzles give the child the opportunity to think and strategize. As such, this allows the brain to be worked and hence enabling the child to achieve better memory capacity in the future. Although some games like puzzles might not be very relevant, giving your child the opportunity to get a hold of these games would allow them the be active mentally. Being mentally ?dead? or inactive would just stop the process of retrieving or storing information.
Alternatively, you can make your child to be physically active by bringing them to the playground. A child that is lacking from some kind of contact with the outside world will look and feel lethargic and lazy. When a child is brought out more often, he will tend to explore new things, and hence this does a little bit of work on his mental progress. Imagine in a situation whereby the child is taken out to the playground. He will learn how to play a swing; he will learn how to go down a slide etc. This might seem pointless to you but take a close look at the kind of activities he is doing. These simple activities will allow him to build on his mental and memory power as he continues to explore new wonders.
People have always considered the television as a bad creation. However, studies have shown instead that TVs can aid in children intellectual development. This of course includes developing their memory power. Specific genres of television shows can help to boost the intellectual quotient of the child. Shows like Sesame Streets are definitely great for your child. Cartoons however do not provide the same outcome.
The whole idea here is to make your child develop his memory power the right way. If you choose to ignore this problem, then chances are your child will continue with this problem. You will definitely not want your child to be a laughing stock who is suffering from memory loss only at the age of 5!
Both Mike Herman & Gregory Frost are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.