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Over The Past Couple Of Years I've Experienced Mild To
Question: Over the past couple of years I've experienced mild to what has significantly increased over the past 6 months. Recently while in a mtg, an employee was sitting in room who I related to an another employee I worked with 2-3 yrs ago. The employee in mtg worked for me about 6 months ago. I had to have a coworker tell me who the employee really was. This incident has seriously got me concerned. I routinely down played forgetting a meeting, someone's name, assignments, etc. I'm a male turning 50 in a few months, executive professional
Brief Answer:
Based on age and work environment highly likely STRESS/ANXIETY
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for your question. I am going to say with a high degree of professional confidence that given your age and work environment status you are experiencing the very common symptoms of either "age related" forgetfulness which is considered a NORMAL PHENOMENON or you are likely experiencing interruptions in cognitive/memory functions due to stress/anxiety or other psychological states.
Other issues related to lifestyle that always need to be considered when dealing with complaints of memory or cognitive issues include alcohol/tobacco/prescription-OTC-illicit drug usage. Smoking is related to reduction in cognitive function and can become more significant with age due to the reduction of O2 carried to body tissues (especially the brain) which can begin showing compromise as early as the ages of 35-40 years of age. Also, the center where memories are managed in the brain happens to be one of the most oxygen hungry regions of the central nervous system. Any decrease in oxygen saturation of the blood will especially be felt in this area known as the hippocampus.
Alcohol usage (>14 drinks per week or >4 drinks on any given day) affects cognition through direct toxic chemical deterioration of neurons in important cortical and subcortical regions responsible for laying down and consolidating as well as retrieving memories and other cognitive information of an analytical nature.
Sleep deprivation is also a recognized lifestyle factor that seems to impact us less when younger and more as we age. One sign of not enough sleep is EXCESSIVE DAYTIME somnolence which can also be a possible symptom of SLEEP APNEA which can lead to memory and other cognitive impairments. If you have ever been told that you snore while asleep or that you suspend your breathing for more than 30 seconds at a time then, a sleep study may be in order and could demonstrate this phenomenon of sleep apnea. Correction of this could lead to improvement in cognitive powers and skills including memory function.
When speaking of organic reasons for waning cognitive issues one would include serum levels of things such as Vitamin B12, folate, Vitamin D, and Thiamine (especially if on a background of excess alcohol use). Other things to consider would be low levels of hormones such as FREE THYROXINE and THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE as well as TESTOSTERONE and CORTISOL. I always include these in an initial blood workup for a patient. Of course, I also include a complete blood count, renal and hepatic function tests as well as electrolytes such as Na, K, Ca, and Mg.
Alzheimer's disease or any form of dementing illness (and there are several other types) would not enter into my differential diagnosis for someone such as yourself until and unless I have satisfactorily convinced myself that all other possibilities have been ruled out. I would also send the patient for a neuropsychological evaluation if all ORGANIC PARAMETERS and bloodwork panned out normally and it was clear that things such as stress and anxiety were not at isse. That would become our measured baseline against which interventions and treatments to follow can be compared.
And so, in conclusion, no reason to panic....They say that 80 is the new 50...so by comparison, Today's 50 is more likely the new 30's given the amount of extracurricular activity and capacitation for physical and mental tasks many your age are engaged in....slight lapses in memories are not considered clinically significant and there are always things one can do to improve metabolic and even physical status to make sure it stays that way.
If I've provided useful or helpful information to your questions could you do me the utmost of favors by CLOSING THE QUERY along with a few positive words of feedback and maybe even a 5-star rating if you feel it is deserving? I am definitely interested in getting updated information on your condition if you'd care to drop me a line at www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi and let me know how things turned out.
You can always reach me at the above address for this and other questions. I wish you the best with everything and hope our discussion has aided in your understanding of a few concepts related to your concerns.
CHEERS!
This query required 70 minutes of professional time to research, assimilate, and file a response.
Based on age and work environment highly likely STRESS/ANXIETY
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for your question. I am going to say with a high degree of professional confidence that given your age and work environment status you are experiencing the very common symptoms of either "age related" forgetfulness which is considered a NORMAL PHENOMENON or you are likely experiencing interruptions in cognitive/memory functions due to stress/anxiety or other psychological states.
Other issues related to lifestyle that always need to be considered when dealing with complaints of memory or cognitive issues include alcohol/tobacco/prescription-OTC-illicit drug usage. Smoking is related to reduction in cognitive function and can become more significant with age due to the reduction of O2 carried to body tissues (especially the brain) which can begin showing compromise as early as the ages of 35-40 years of age. Also, the center where memories are managed in the brain happens to be one of the most oxygen hungry regions of the central nervous system. Any decrease in oxygen saturation of the blood will especially be felt in this area known as the hippocampus.
Alcohol usage (>14 drinks per week or >4 drinks on any given day) affects cognition through direct toxic chemical deterioration of neurons in important cortical and subcortical regions responsible for laying down and consolidating as well as retrieving memories and other cognitive information of an analytical nature.
Sleep deprivation is also a recognized lifestyle factor that seems to impact us less when younger and more as we age. One sign of not enough sleep is EXCESSIVE DAYTIME somnolence which can also be a possible symptom of SLEEP APNEA which can lead to memory and other cognitive impairments. If you have ever been told that you snore while asleep or that you suspend your breathing for more than 30 seconds at a time then, a sleep study may be in order and could demonstrate this phenomenon of sleep apnea. Correction of this could lead to improvement in cognitive powers and skills including memory function.
When speaking of organic reasons for waning cognitive issues one would include serum levels of things such as Vitamin B12, folate, Vitamin D, and Thiamine (especially if on a background of excess alcohol use). Other things to consider would be low levels of hormones such as FREE THYROXINE and THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE as well as TESTOSTERONE and CORTISOL. I always include these in an initial blood workup for a patient. Of course, I also include a complete blood count, renal and hepatic function tests as well as electrolytes such as Na, K, Ca, and Mg.
Alzheimer's disease or any form of dementing illness (and there are several other types) would not enter into my differential diagnosis for someone such as yourself until and unless I have satisfactorily convinced myself that all other possibilities have been ruled out. I would also send the patient for a neuropsychological evaluation if all ORGANIC PARAMETERS and bloodwork panned out normally and it was clear that things such as stress and anxiety were not at isse. That would become our measured baseline against which interventions and treatments to follow can be compared.
And so, in conclusion, no reason to panic....They say that 80 is the new 50...so by comparison, Today's 50 is more likely the new 30's given the amount of extracurricular activity and capacitation for physical and mental tasks many your age are engaged in....slight lapses in memories are not considered clinically significant and there are always things one can do to improve metabolic and even physical status to make sure it stays that way.
If I've provided useful or helpful information to your questions could you do me the utmost of favors by CLOSING THE QUERY along with a few positive words of feedback and maybe even a 5-star rating if you feel it is deserving? I am definitely interested in getting updated information on your condition if you'd care to drop me a line at www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi and let me know how things turned out.
You can always reach me at the above address for this and other questions. I wish you the best with everything and hope our discussion has aided in your understanding of a few concepts related to your concerns.
CHEERS!
This query required 70 minutes of professional time to research, assimilate, and file a response.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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