The memory loss clinic is a specialty of our hospital. We see a variety of patients with complaints of memory loss, usually elderly people over 70 years old who are accompanied by their families. Occasionally, a young person will come to the clinic with a nervous, worried expression and ask me, “Doctor, my memory is very bad now, am I suffering from dementia? There is even a 22-year-old girl who asks me the same question, so the question arises, is memory loss necessarily dementia? A. Definition of memory Memory refers to the process of storing and extracting information in the brain, which, in layman’s terms, means storing all kinds of information in the brain and being able to take it out quickly when needed. Human memory usually decreases gradually with age, usually starting to be felt after the age of 50, with little change between the ages of 50 and 60, and the memory loss accelerates after the age of 70. Usually, we call it physiological memory loss, when for some reason memory loss accelerates (too much worse than peers or too much worse than before), then it is pathological memory loss, and when it is serious to a certain degree, we call it dementia. Second, the performance of physiological memory loss Physiological memory loss is a natural phenomenon, with the entry into the middle? There is a relationship between old age and the inability to adjust memory strategies as well as abnormalities in extraction due to the reduced attentional resources of the elderly. It is characterized by a milder degree and generally does not continue to develop after a certain point of development. The ability to perceive time, place, person relationships and surroundings is not diminished in any way, and the results of a formal memory examination at the hospital are usually normal. They can take care of themselves in daily life and are quite distressed by the memory loss, and often keep a memo in order not to miss things. Although it may also bring inconvenience to the work and life of middle-aged and elderly people, generally speaking, it does not have a great impact on work, study and daily life. A variety of factors that cause pathological memory loss 1, emotional problems can affect memory, there will be depression, memory loss, slow reaction; anxiety, inattention, can not remember, so there will be the more nervous the more can not remember the situation, like the 22-year-old girl mentioned earlier, is because of the exam tension, memory loss, strictly speaking, this is not in the category of pathological memory loss The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you are doing. 2, people in serious illness will be weaker, memory will not be good for a while. 2. Long-term drinkers, alcohol is toxic to the brain and can lead to a lack of B vitamins, which can cause memory loss. Long-term use of Valium-type drugs will also affect memory. 4, many physical diseases can cause memory loss. Malnutrition, cranio-cerebral trauma, tumors, infections, usually have memory loss, such as those who suffered from encephalitis or meningitis as a child, memory, intelligence is often affected. Patients with hypothyroidism will have emotional manifestations similar to depression, and it makes sense that memory will be diminished. Modern research has proven that the mood and memory of diabetics can be slightly worse than their peers, and the older they are, the more pronounced this difference is. 5, after a stroke there is often a varying degree of memory loss, which we call cerebrovascular cognitive decompensation. Because cognitive impairment due to cerebrovascular disease is more common, severe cases develop into vascular dementia, which is the second leading cause of dementia, so it is listed separately. 6. In Alzheimer’s disease (dementia), there is more apoptosis of brain cells, multiple inflammatory lesions in the brain, and tangled nerve fibers, and memory loss progresses slowly and irreversibly. They cannot remember what has happened, even after repeated reminders, lose the ability to identify their surroundings and do not know where they are; they gradually lose the ability to take care of themselves, have no worries, their thinking becomes increasingly slow, their language becomes more and more impoverished, and they lack a sense of humor, which is currently the number one cause of dementia. 4. How to deal with memory loss 1. First of all, we should seek medical advice to assess the degree of memory loss and find out the cause. 2. For emotional problems, psychological counseling by a specialist is often required. If necessary, take a small amount of mood-improving drugs, and as the mood improves, memory will often slowly improve. 3. For memory loss caused by alcohol or drugs, it is usually necessary to stop using these substances with the assistance of a psychiatrist. Then after supplementing with B vitamins and improving brain cell metabolism, memory will improve. 4. Memory loss due to somatic diseases requires cause-specific treatment, and the degree of memory improvement varies according to the severity of the condition. 5. At present, for cerebrovascular cognitive decompensation, early intervention and early treatment will result in a more optimistic prognosis. Therefore, if a neurologist gives you a questionnaire about a memory test, don’t think it is superfluous. Sometimes you don’t experience memory loss yourself, but a complex questionnaire can reveal certain deficiencies in your memory. Since it is caused by cerebrovascular disease, improving brain circulation and brain cell metabolism is of course the most fundamental treatment, and on top of that, you can take drugs such as Advil to improve your memory. 6, Alzheimer’s disease patients usually have memory loss and personality changes in the early stage. Those elderly people with early complaints of mild memory loss need to visit the memory clinic for memory measurement and cranial imaging. Early detection and early full course of medication can not only delay memory loss, but also have a better effect on the patient’s ability to take care of life, social function, and the quality of life of the patient and family.