Preventing Memory Loss

What’s the best way to improve your memory? The answer can be summarized in two words – use it!

As with building muscles, the key to improving one's memory is simply to continue using it. There is no need to rely on vitamins or magic pills as none of these have any beneficial effects on memory. Neither is there any truth in so-called "brain foods" like fish or peanuts. Good memory comes from using the mind in order to sharpen it.

There are three ways to improve memory: give your full attention to anything you wish to remember, don't let your mind wander, and pay no attention to trifles since they interfere with the ability to remember important things," according to the late Dr. Morris Fishbein, the former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, in this “Popular Illustrated Medical Encyclopedia.”

Contrary to popular belief, memory loss and intellectual decline are not normal parts of aging. While there is some decline in these functions as we age, it is not serious enough to cause trouble later in life as long as the person remains physically and emotionally healthy.

"Crystallized intelligence, the ability to use an accumulated body of information to make judgments and solve problems, actually rises throughout life in healthy, active people," said Dr. Joseph G. Sweeting, professor of clinical medicine, in “The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide.”

"Key factors in maintaining or improving mental capacities in later life are social involvement and flexibility. Those people who remain active participants in family and society and who demonstrate in midlife a capacity to enjoy new experiences and to tolerate ambiguity generally are most successful," Sweeting added.

Although certain conditions like alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease or vitamin B deficiency can affect your memory, the problem is usually psychological in origin and is apt to bother those who worry about it For instance, the inability to remember where you put your car keys or where your appointment is may be caused by depression or anxiety.

"Everybody suffers occasionally from memory lapses, when for some reason a name, word, or fact cannot be recalled. This may be due to interference by other ideas in the memory circuit or to repression by the 'psychic censor' because the word or thought has a disagreeable association," Fishbein explained.

But granting that you are free from diseases like tuberculosis, heart failure or kidney problems which can all affect mental function, there is no need to be concerned about being forgetful once in a while as this may be caused by stress. My personal prescription for this condition is rest, a balanced diet and enough exercise. The less you worry about this trivial matter, the better for your mind.

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