To have a memory void or to have a word on the tip of the tongue but cannot say it: they are common expressions that manifest a difficulty to remember things that are very simple. When should these signals give cause for concern? Professor Alberto Albanese, Head of Neurology at Humanitas, a guest in Tg2 Medicina 33 studio, spoke about this topic.
“It is normal that in a life as stressful as today’s, where we are required to be hyper-performing, we lose blocks of memory. In fact, memory is compartmentalized and we are called to re-focus our attention on different things each time and we are not always able to be so quick to focus and remember everything. This, to a certain extent, is normal”, reassured Prof. Albanese.
Can this prelude to dementia in old age?
“In principle, there are forms of early dementia, which present for example disorders such as difficulty in orientation in known places, difficulty in recognizing people or remembering things that are very customary: this may be worrying, but they are rare and often genetic forms,” says the specialist.
Faced with trivial problems of memory, such as forgetting a name or where something was placed, you can practice. “Exercising memory can be useful and can be done in various ways: either through exercises (such as crosswords or learning and repeating poems, for example), or by learning to focus attention, focusing well on what you do and trying to shift attention; lifestyle, quality of nutrition and physical activity also count. It has in fact been demonstrated that a healthy lifestyle improves the expectations of our cognitive functions”, concluded Prof. Albanese.
To learn more about prevention tips, click here
Watch the interview with professor Albanese from minute 04.36, click here.
