There are times in a woman's life when you can't seem to keep it together. You may lock your keys in the car, leave your purse in a restaurant, or just feel your head is in a fog. You may have times when you draw a blank in conversations. You worry and ask yourself, "Could this be signs of early Alzheimer's?" There are a number of illnesses and hormonal issues that can impair memory. Learn about the many health problems that may be contributing to your memory problems.
Is it dementia? If your memory is slowly getting worse over weeks or months, it would be wise to get a check-up. If you find more and more difficulty with simple things like cooking or dressing yourself, you need a medical evaluation performed. There are tests that can rule out metabolic problems such as thyroid conditions that impact memory. You need to get answers.
Confusion, memory lapses, and focus problems: These are symptoms associated with many illnesses other than dementia. Diseases such as asthma, COPD, or blocked carotid arteries result in less oxygen reaching the brain. Heart disease reduces blood flow which results in less available oxygen. Certain diseases such as kidney or liver failure result in toxin buildup in the bloodstream. Urinary and lung infections also impact available oxygen levels. Any health problem that affects oxygen levels or circulating red blood cells, can impair memory and thinking.
Menopause and hormone imbalance: Women often experience severe memory problems during the years leading up to and during menopause. They begin to feel they are losing it. Hormonal imbalances directly affect mental function. It is important to get help to solve these hormonal problems. It takes specialized tests to diagnose which hormones are out of balance. Estrogen is just one of several hormones that can really cause havoc in your emotions and physical state.
Hypoglycemia: When you're suffering from low blood sugar, you may experience memory or focus problems until you eat some protein.
Thyroid Imbalances: The thyroid gland is one of the most important endocrine glands, affecting every cell and function of the body. Hypothyroidism, myxedema, and hyperthyroidism all affect your physical and mental state. Memory problems can be the result of thyroid and endocrine imbalances. Lab tests can help identify metabolic problems.
Fibrofog: Fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disease affecting thousands of women. One of its most stressful symptoms is fibrofog. Memory, learning, and retention problems are experienced to some degree by all Fibromyalgia patients. Patients feel like they are in a fog. Its severity varies from day to day and with each patient. Doctors are not sure what metabolic problems causes the disturbance.
Stress: Some women work better when stressed and others come unglued. Stress can debilitating at times. Memory problems are only one symptom. If stress is tearing you part, mentally and physically, you need help. You must find a way to deal with your stress in a more positive manner. It may be exercise, music, gardening, meditation, yoga, or sewing but find something that relaxes you. It is much healthier to use one of the activities above to deal with your stress rather than resort to prescription drugs. Counseling is the next step if nothing else works. Prescription drugs should be your last step in your efforts to deal with excessive stress.
Health checkups are important: If you have having memory problems, get a checkup. Most women avoid tests, afraid their memory problems are due to early dementia. Others may just ignore the symptoms. Tests can rule out the many health problems that may be affecting your health and memory. There is less fear when you know what is causing your problems. If it turns out to be dementia, you will receive diagnosis earlier so that you can benefit from therapies that might slow it down.
References:
http://www.cigna.com/individualandfamilies/health-and-well-being/hw/medical-topics/confusion-memory-loss-and-altered-alertness-confu.html
http://www.askdocweb.com/memoryloss.html
http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/news/20030516/epilepsy-drug-linked-to-memory-problems
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24187064/ns/health-health_care/t/incontinence-drugs-linked-memory-problems/#.TtmhHnpSg-U
