My brother Joe has a fantastic memory. Like, total recall. He told me he remembers (and I believe him) getting in the car with my Dad to go and pick me and my Mom up from the hospital when I was born (and, he would have been two years old!)
My own memory is not so good. I think I remember things perfectly, but both my ex-wives would happily correct me whenever I tried to tell a story about something "back in the day." I can sometimes remember an event that happened 40 years ago with crystal clarity, but not the name of someone I was introduced to, say, yesterday. Names, in fact, seem to be a particular problem. I will puzzle over them for days and then, when I quit, they pop into my head. This, these days, is worrisome. Am I just getting old or getting Alzheimer's?
But, I finally decided, my memory is neither good nor bad, just capricious.
P.J., both your short (“name of someone [you were] introduced to, say, yesterday”) and your long-term (“back in the day”) memory can be improved by a combination of cutting back on your calorie intake and increasing your amount of aerobic exercise. The exercise would – not – need to be anything too strenuous. You could get yourself a treadmill, the type that automatically tells you how many calories you burn. Or, you could join an aerobic swim class. Either way, your goal would be to decrease the amount of energy your body needs to use to maintain excess calories and increase your flow of oxygen (from your blood) to your brain. Check with a nutritionist to find out your exact calorie needs and meal ideas, and check with your doctor to make sure you can participate in low-impact exercises. You could keep a journal to measure the accuracy of your memory as it improves.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Hey, I already told you that if you started to show signs of Alzheimer’s, I’d be right there to help you out. Don’t you remember??? Couldn’t resist joking with you :)
Oh, and not being properly hydrated can contribute to poor memory. Cut back on your diuretics (coffee, tea, and, dare I say it, alcohol) and increase your H2O intake.
ReplyDeleteBabe,
ReplyDeleteYou are obviously reading too much into this post. As I said, I don't need to worry about remembering everything exactly right, somebody will always correct me!
"You could keep a journal" What the hell do you think this Blog is? A recipe guide?
"Cut back on your diuretics (coffee, tea, and, dare I say it, alcohol) and increase your H2O intake." Ask anybody who knows me, I drink more water than a camel! And, give up booze? Get real!
Finally, I do not fear Alzheimer’s. As I think I've mentioned before, there are a lot of advantages to having Alzheimer’s, such as you can have a new best friend every day and, best of all, you can hide your own Easter eggs...
Thanks for the tips, anyway.
“What the hell do [I] think this Blog is?”
ReplyDeleteActually, a smaller, less edited, private journal would probably be more beneficial to you. Be that as it may, honestly P.J., do I go around waving cartons of eggs under your nose and expect you not to take half and immediately hard-boil them? Nope. Please, for the love of temporal lobes (the source for intense religious experiences) stop tossing out medical posts and expecting me not to provide reality-based (Serenity poem, “change the things that you can,” if you like) responses. That’s just what I do.