Menopause and Memory Loss

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If I Only Had a Brain!

Have you become a member of the “Can’t Remember Nouns” club?

Oh, you know. You want that thingie in the corner, or the whatchamacallit on the counter. Or maybe you need that doohickey in the kitchen?

Perhaps you’ve forgotten appointments, still haven’t found your keys (I know they’re here somewhere!)

Maybe you can’t remember what you are looking for when you walk into the next room…and you’ve been there three times already.

If any of this sounds familiar you have some serious brain fog.

You and Your Memory

Some experts tell us that memory loss has nothing to do with Menopause while others say that estrogen DOES have effects on memory in menopause. Now before you check yourself in to a full time care facility thinking you are losing it, remember that most women have lots going on at this time of their lives and hormones can contribute to foggy thinking.

Your basic memory comes in three flavors. Long term, which tells us about our past, short term which allows us to remember to pick up the three things we need from the store- then promptly forget them, and what’s that other thing? Oh right, RECALL. You need to be able to retrieve the information wherever it was stored.

When we are stressed, tired, cranky, not eating well, not sleeping well, overweight, and sluggish, the old gray cells don’t function quite as well as they should and the retrieval part of things sometimes flounders.

There are the usual things you can do for yourself like exercising, watching your diet, and taking a good multi vitamin.

This is probably more important than you realize because B vitamin and amino acid deficiencies can contribute to poor memory and memory lapses. Eating right along with taking a good supplement will ensure sure you (and your brain) are getting adequate nutrition.

Exercising will not only make you feel better, but it will increase blood flow and send your brain the blood it needs.

Stay Sharp!

You’ve heard use it or lose it? The same holds true for your mind. Using your mind in different and new ways, or learning something new keeps your brain (neural) pathways from getting dusty.

And who wants another thing to dust?