Everyone has the occasional memory lapse. But sometimes it’s not caused by the natural aging process.

Last week, your dad forgot to meet you for dinner. Yesterday, you showed up with rakes and lawn bags to help him clean up the yard. But when you rang the doorbell, he wasn’t home – he’d gone to see a friend.

If your parent or another loved one seems to be more forgetful lately, don’t just chalk it up to old age. Some degree of forgetfulness is part of the normal aging process. But if your loved one seems disoriented or confused, even just some of the time, it’s a good idea to make a visit to his or her family doctor. Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease – a common cause of dementia – may be to blame.

What is dementia?

Dementia is the name given to a group of symptoms that includes impaired memory or judgment, a decline in the ability to think about abstract concepts and certain personality changes. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which affects 4.5 million Americans. Five percent of people age 65 to 74 and about half of people over age 85 have the disease, which destroys brain cells that control thought, memory and language.

No one is sure what causes Alzheimer’s disease. Genetics can play a part – if your mother or father has Alzheimer’s, it’s possible that you might get it as well.

Losing the past

The earliest symptom of Alzheimer’s is a loss of recent memory. A person who has Alzheimer’s disease may remember the smallest details of his or her distant past. But he or she may not be able to remember a conversation that happened yesterday.

Over time, Alzheimer’s disease affects all parts of a person’s memory and interferes with the ability to think, reason and even communicate. Eventually, many people who have Alzheimer’s disease are no longer able to care for themselves.

How to know

Take your loved one to see his or her family doctor. The doctor will ask about any symptoms and order tests to rule out other causes of dementia, such as vitamin B12 deficiency, depression, blood vessel disease in the brain and thyroid disease. He or she may also refer your loved one to a neurologist.

What happens next?

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can seem overwhelming. Talk with your family doctor about your concerns and about how you can keep yourself healthy as you care for your loved one.

Sources: Alzheimer’s Association: http://www.alz.org, Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center: http://www.alzheimers.org, National Institutes of Health (NIH): http://nihseniorhealth.gov

Some causes of dementia:
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Stroke
• Certain infections
• Brain injury or trauma
• Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis

Not just ‘old age’
The following memory problems aren’t part of normal aging:
• Forgetting things much more often than usual.
• Forgetting how to do things one has done many times before.
• Trouble learning new things.
• Repeating phrases or stories in the same conversation.
• Trouble making choices or handling money.
• Not being able to keep track of what happens each day.
• Getting lost in a familiar place, like one’s own neighborhood.

Alzheimer’s Disease in Illinois

In Illinois, a half million residents are directly impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, including nearly 350,000 caregivers, contributing more than 300 million hours of unpaid care, at an estimated value of more than $3.3 billion. With baby boomers aging, a 14 percent increase in Illinois cases is expected by mid-century.

Source: Nancy Rainwater, Director, Communications of the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Illinois Chapter; http://www.alz.org/illinois