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What Causes Difficulty In Recalling New Words?

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Posted on Sat, 12 Dec 2015
Question: Do I have memory loss? For example my memory for daily activities is excellent (I can repeat conversations exactly when many other people cant) But my memory for words is very poor. For example I may have to try learn a new vocabulary word by repeating it over and over and repeatedly checking the word where it was written down. Is that more of a learning disability than memory loss? Im afraid of alzeihmers
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dariush Saghafi (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
Alzheimer's does not operate in this fashion and is unknown in 21 year olds

Detailed Answer:
Good evening. Sorry for your ongoing problems. I do recall your case and am happy to reassure you that I am not suspicious at all for Alzheimer's disease since it is not even described in the literature as a verified diagnosis in people of your age but more importantly the description of the problem you're experiencing is not the way AD attacks its victims.

If you successfully graduated from your high school years and especially if you went on to college and either completed studies or are in the process of completing then, the likelihood of your having an unidentified learning disability is very low indeed. Having perfect memory for short term events as well as conversations that were held during a 24 hr. period but not being able to learn new vocabulary words is not characteristic of any of the common learning disorders that are known to affect people. Furthermore, learning disabilities almost by definition are most predominant and prevalent during the early scholastic years. They do not appear in later life without there being some other major life event in a person's life such as a traumatic brain injury, traumatic life event (i.e. PTSD or other catastrophic psychiatric type of stressor), etc.

What would most certainly be of use in your case aside of metabolic studies which have already been recommended by other physicians would be a detailed neuropsychological battery of cognitive tests which can aptly and rather precisely tease out organic brain disorders (e.g. Alzheimer's disease, Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia, etc.) from psychological/psychiatric types of problems which many times can exactly mimic organic brain disease.

Write to me at: bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional comments, concerns, or to provide status updates if this possible.

I would appreciate your rating of this interaction on a HIGH STAR SCALE if you find it helpful or informative related to your questions and would very much appreciate a few words related to feedback you'd like to express in whatever light you wish to express yourself.

You may even still be able to return to the previous answer I submitted to you a couple of weeks ago and rate the answer since that one is still pending an evaluation.

This consult request has taken a total of 29 minutes of time to read, research, and envoy as a response to the patient.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Dariush Saghafi

Neurologist

Practicing since :1988

Answered : 2473 Questions

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What Causes Difficulty In Recalling New Words?

Brief Answer: Alzheimer's does not operate in this fashion and is unknown in 21 year olds Detailed Answer: Good evening. Sorry for your ongoing problems. I do recall your case and am happy to reassure you that I am not suspicious at all for Alzheimer's disease since it is not even described in the literature as a verified diagnosis in people of your age but more importantly the description of the problem you're experiencing is not the way AD attacks its victims. If you successfully graduated from your high school years and especially if you went on to college and either completed studies or are in the process of completing then, the likelihood of your having an unidentified learning disability is very low indeed. Having perfect memory for short term events as well as conversations that were held during a 24 hr. period but not being able to learn new vocabulary words is not characteristic of any of the common learning disorders that are known to affect people. Furthermore, learning disabilities almost by definition are most predominant and prevalent during the early scholastic years. They do not appear in later life without there being some other major life event in a person's life such as a traumatic brain injury, traumatic life event (i.e. PTSD or other catastrophic psychiatric type of stressor), etc. What would most certainly be of use in your case aside of metabolic studies which have already been recommended by other physicians would be a detailed neuropsychological battery of cognitive tests which can aptly and rather precisely tease out organic brain disorders (e.g. Alzheimer's disease, Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia, etc.) from psychological/psychiatric types of problems which many times can exactly mimic organic brain disease. Write to me at: bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional comments, concerns, or to provide status updates if this possible. I would appreciate your rating of this interaction on a HIGH STAR SCALE if you find it helpful or informative related to your questions and would very much appreciate a few words related to feedback you'd like to express in whatever light you wish to express yourself. You may even still be able to return to the previous answer I submitted to you a couple of weeks ago and rate the answer since that one is still pending an evaluation. This consult request has taken a total of 29 minutes of time to read, research, and envoy as a response to the patient.