I have often heard people quietly wonder if their memory lapses could really be Alzheimer’s Disease. Research in this area is scanty, but preliminary results find that fear of Alzheimer’s Disease is very real.
In one research study, ten out of the twenty-five potential participants refused to become involved. These ten people stated that their reason for not participating was their discomfort with the topic. In the actual research it was found that the participants (all over age 60) avoided visiting friends and relatives who had Alzheimer’s Disease. The participants who reported the greatest amount of fear were those who already had a relative with the disease. Since only a limited amount of research has been done in this area it seems worth pursuing further. Perhaps, middle aged people need to be included as participants.
Everyone knows that after a certain age the memory can begin to play tricks, making us forget things we would never have forgotten at an earlier age. It can be frustrating and sometimes embarrassing; however, generally it is not serious. We, baby boomers, have tried to gain a sense of control over these memory lapses by labeling them Senior Moments. Somehow having a name makes them seem more manageable and less threatening. What often remains unspoken, though, is a more subtle fear. Could that Senior Moment really be the beginning of Alzheimer’s Disease? This fear seems to be becoming more and more prevalent.
In our brain and nervous system we have about 100 billion nerve cells that constantly communicate with each other; they allow us to think, remember, move and experience all the myriad facets of our lives. These nerve cells are also involved in the storage of memory. Our brains store memories in a number of different places. One important memory storage area is the frontal lobes. The memories in these lobes can be adversely affected by a number of things like fatigue, hormones, wear and tear on the cells over time. Another important structure for memory is the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a small seahorse shaped structure in the center of the brain. Its job is to transfer short term memories into the long term store that is located in our frontal lobes. This structure is the first to be affected by Alzheimer’s Disease.
