5 Signs of Short Term Memory Loss

Short Term Memory Loss

Your elderly loved one has undoubtedly changed over the years, perhaps they are not as active or as healthy as they once were. For many individuals, Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease are major concerns, and these illnesses and others often manifest themselves in the form of short term memory loss.  To help keep your elderly loved one as healthy and happy as possible, it is crucial that you pay close attention and catch short term memory loss right when it begins. The following are five signs that short term memory loss may be present.

Decline in Cognitive Capabilities

1. Forgetting recent events or activities can be difficult to pinpoint at first, but this symptom of short term memory loss can quickly escalate and even cause dementia. Individuals with this symptom may have a difficult time planning or organizing, may forget to take their medicine, or may not pay bills on time.

Speech Confusion 

2. Speech confusion. When elderly individuals have a difficult time finding the right words, or mix up the meaning of common words, this may be a sign of short term memory loss.

Changes in Mood or Personality 

3. Individuals who suffer from short term memory loss may have the constant feeling that something is… off. This can prompt them to act in a different way than normal, and may cause anxiety or other distress.

Disorientation 

4. Though visiting a new place can be disorienting for anyone, it is something that most people can navigate. For individuals who have short term memory loss, coping with unfamiliar surroundings can be difficult because they may not remember how they arrived in this new place.

Repetitiveness

5. Elderly individuals who suffer from short term memory loss may ask the same question several times, or repeatedly make the same observation.

Though there really is no cure for memory loss, mild cases can be treated. The key is to address the issue quickly, before it becomes too severe. By watching out for these five signs of memory loss, you may be able to pinpoint short term issues and have them treated quickly. Additionally, paying close attention to the behavior of your elderly loved one will also allow you to better care for their needs.

How does the aging process affect driving ability?

by Julia Layton

The fact is, human beings age at different rates. Some drivers are as safe at 80 as they were at 40, while others probably should give up driving at 65. There are countless factors affecting an older person’s safety behind the wheel. Driving is a complex task, and it involves many systems, both physical and mental, all of which need to be in top form in order to handle the quickly changing environment of the road.

One of most drastic physical changes that occurs with age is vision deterioration. Light reception is what enables us to see, and as we age, our eyes become less sensitive to light. Also, refocusing from one object to the next takes longer, so the “simple” task of checking the speedometer and then moving our attention back to the car ahead of us becomes a lot less simple. Older eyes are also more susceptible to glare because the lenses of the eyes thicken and the pupils shrink as we get older. According to the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation, someone who is 55 takes eight times longer to regain normal vision after exposure to bright light than someone who is 16. Other visual systems affected by aging include peripheral vision, depth perception and color perception. An older person may have trouble distinguishing red lights from yellow lights or brake lights from running lights. Also, many seniors suffer from vision disorders like cataracts and macular degeneration.

All of this makes it more difficult to read road signs, react quickly to busy road conditions and accurately determine distance and speed.

Another function affected by the aging process is hearing. Hearing is an important part of safe driving — it allows us to react properly to ambulance and police sirens and the honking horns of people trying to warn us of danger or mistakes. Thirty-three percent of people over the age of 65 have some degree of hearing loss. Over the age of 75, that number goes up to 75 percent. Motor skills also suffer with age. Muscles weaken, reflexes slow down and flexibility decreases. This all makes it harder to do things like turn your head to make sure it’s safe to change lanes and quickly turn the steering wheel to avoid a collision. Also, arthritis is very common among senior citizens, making quick and fluid motion and maneuverability even more difficult.

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Problems Facing Elderly Living Alone

By Erin Schreiner, eHow Contributor

For many elderly members of society, living alone is a way of life. After their  children grow and move out and their spouses pass on, the left-behind seniors  must face the task of maintaining a household solo. If you have an elderly loved  one who is dealing with the rigors of living alone, consider some of the  problems that this arrangement may create.

Increased Risk of Poverty

• Most elderly individuals depend upon personal retirement accounts or  government assistance to meet their financial needs. Because these individuals  no longer work, they are more likely to fall into poverty, reports Merck.  Exceptionally old seniors who have outlived spouses and must now support the  household alone are at even more risk of running into financial difficulties.  Family and friends of elderly individuals living alone can help them avoid these  potential financial problems by helping them create and maintain a budget;  monitoring the senior’s financial security.

Trip and Fall Risks

• While some elderly individuals are still quite spry, many are not as  physically able as they were in their youth. Elderly individuals living alone  run the risk of falling within their homes and having no way of alerting others  to their emergencies. Many technological advances have been made to help seniors  who are at risk of experiencing this type if in-home trauma. Individuals worried  about the risk of the senior citizen in their lives can provide them with an  alert system, such as an alert necklace or watch, to use should they take a  tumble.

Errand Running Struggles

• As seniors age, they often lose their ability to get out and about and  complete their own errands. The inability to drive due to visual difficulties or  mental acuity can make even seemingly simple things, such as picking up some  milk from the store, next to impossible. Individuals charged with caring for  live-alone elderly individuals who can not venture out for their own errand  completion can assist these individuals by creating an errand completion  schedule and picking up the things that this senior requires, or shuttling her  out to get them herself.

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Acknowledging Caregiver Burnout

Acknowledging Caregiver Burnout is the first step in preventing it happening  to you. In your busy life or business who do you care for? Ok, let’s face it, a  woman of the new millennium wears a multitude of hats and goes about her day  taking one-off to put another on without batting an eyelash. It becomes so much  a part of her routine she does it like brushing her teeth.

Before understanding the concept of burnout you must first examine who you  actually have to care for. The list is endless with caring for children,  possibly parents and/or grandparents, friends, your spouse or partner,  co-workers, staff, your pets, sibling, a business partner and oh yeah yourself  just to name a few. Now buckle up as we explore your other roles even deeper.  Most women perform daily tasks that put them in other care giving roles such as  – teachers, nurses, chauffeurs, cosmeticians, housekeepers, chefs, negotiators,  bookkeepers, financial planners and advisors, peace-keepers, labourers,  developers, designers, professional dieters, counsellor, babysitter, and I could  go on but you know where this is going!

I am exhausted just thinking about the fact that all of these hats are  probably worn by you in one day and we didn’t even talk about any professional  roles yet! Now take a look at what happens when your job list becomes too  heavy….

Please follow this link to read the full article: http://ezinearticles.com/?Acknowledging-Caregiver-Burnout&id=6724186

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6724186

How to Help Retirees Stay in Their Homes

By Philip Moeller

Posted: April 4, 2011

Helping people stay in their homes as they age has been a formal, if poorly understood, goal of U.S. aging policy for some time. Experts say it’s far cheaper than housing seniors in nursing homes and other institutions. And public surveys find that it’s also the overwhelming preference of 9 out of 10 seniors.

As much as we want to age in our own homes, however, the network of government, volunteer, and family caregiving resources needed to support older Americans is able to meet only a fraction of the elder population’s needs. And with soaring numbers of older Americans, coupled with stressed government and philanthropic budgets, the scale of unmet needs is likely to rise sharply.

America’s resources for home-based seniors are coordinated chiefly by the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Support services are defined and delivered through a network of state offices, some 630 local areas on aging districts, and thousands of connected local government and volunteer programs.

Still, according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), there is no definitive picture of the home-based services America’s seniors are receiving or of their unmet needs.

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