Lately, I’ve been experiencing an event that isn’t fun and at times is embarrassing. Recalling names – especially names of sports figures has always been easy for me. But over the past year, I’ve noticed an increasing inability to call out names.
My mom and her mom were victims of Alzheimer’s Disease so that’s always on my mind, but Paula my first wife and a learned student on Alzheimer’s told me “if you can figure out a way to discover what it is you can’t remember that’s not Alzheimer’s, it’s CRS – can’t remember stuff.”
I have a lot of CRS, but always know where to look so Alzheimer’s doesn’t concern me yet.
I suggested to Bobbi my current wife and a Registered Nurse I was experiencing Dementia. She said my situation is more likely Brain Fog, which is also defined as Brain Fatigue. Brain Fog is commonly caused by; lack of sleep, stress, neurological disorders, menopause, diabetes, nutritional deficiencies, and side effects of medicines.
I am not sure what or why, but I know my recall has slipped and at times it is embarrassing. I try to make notes to cover myself, but that doesn’t always work. During Talk Shows on the radio is a bad time for sports guy to forget a home run hitter’s name.
Fortunately, Bobbi is a student of these things and is helping me cope. I’m doing a sleep study in a few days – not my first one, but with the knowledge that poor sleep might be causing my memory lapses here, I come again.
Next Wednesday, December 6th, Bobbi will be our guest on the On-Air Chat to discuss new medical findings of how bacteria in your gut might be a clue to problems with your immune systems, brain or other far-reaching areas.
I recently read an article in my Rotary magazine that said there is a strong case for increasing creativity even as we get older. There are two types of human intelligence: fluid intelligence which does degrade over time and crystallized intelligence which is our overall bank of knowledge and only gets larger as we get older.
Ah ha – if I can stimulate my brain by sleeping and eating better and reducing my stress I might just start getting smarter and more creative!
Getting older isn’t for sissies and evidently, there are ways to cope with aging. Wish me luck!
