Memory after sixty, without the fear
I was a hospital pharmacist for thirty-two years, and for the last four I have sat at a table in a senior centre with people’s brown paper bags of medicines. Most of them came because they had started forgetting things.
Why memory slips after sixtyWatch the video: what is usually behind the slips, and a way to improve it.
This site is where I write down what I tell them: what ordinary forgetting looks like, what is worth checking before you worry, and the small everyday tools that hold a memory together.
It is for you if you are past sixty and something has changed, and for you if you are watching it happen to someone you love.
Start with what is happening
I keep forgetting names
Write the name down the moment you hear it. Then read about the shape of ordinary forgetting before you decide what it means.
I was given a new medicine
Put every bottle and box on the table, including the ones from the drugstore shelf. Memory often changes with a medicine, not with age.
It got worse after the hospital
A stay in hospital can leave a fog that takes weeks to clear. Note the date it started and tell the doctor plainly.
I am worried about my mother
Start a small notebook of what you see and when. It will be worth more at the appointment than any argument.
I sleep badly and think slowly
Sleep, hearing and sight carry more of memory than most people expect. Check those before you suspect the worst.
I’m Diane Kessler. I spent thirty-two years as a hospital pharmacist at a county hospital in the Midwest, most of it in the basement pharmacy, and the last four years running brown-bag medication reviews at the senior centre on Elm Street.
My mother died with vascular dementia. Blood pressure and a fall, the things that could have been caught earlier. I keep the notes here that her family did not have.
I do not diagnose anyone, I do not give doses, and I do not name brands or remedies. When I have a figure it comes with its source. My husband Walt says I could find a pill bottle in a haystack, and he is not wrong.
— Diane
Topics
Ordinary forgetting at sixty
An overview of what day-to-day forgetting typically looks like in the sixties and seventies, and how to separate it from changes that deserve a closer look.
Medicines and Memory at Sixty
A map of how common medicines can affect memory and clarity after sixty, and what to do about it.
Sleep, Hearing and Sight After Sixty
How sleep, hearing and sight shape memory and clarity after sixty, and which changes are worth acting on.
Blood pressure, sugar, heart and brain
How the health of your blood vessels, heart and blood sugar affects memory and clarity after sixty, and what to measure and ask your doctor.
Habits That Hold Memory and Clarity
An overview of the daily habits that support memory and clarity after sixty, including walking, learning, company, alcohol, meals, water, and loneliness.
Everyday memory tools after sixty
An overview of simple daily tools for names, keys, routes, the calendar, the notebook, phones, and fixed places for things.
Doctor visits for memory after sixty
An overview of when and how to bring memory concerns to a doctor, what tests exist, and how to prepare for the appointment.
When It Is Your Spouse or Parent
An overview for family members who notice memory or clarity changes in someone they love: what to watch, what to say, and what to bring to the doctor.
What I hold to
- Check the medicine cabinet before you suspect dementia. It is the easiest thing to change and the most often overlooked.
- Hearing is memory. What you cannot hear you cannot remember, and a hearing aid is a memory tool.
- What is written down is remembered. A paper calendar by the phone beats a good intention.
- One change at a time, and six weeks to judge it. Two changes at once tell you nothing.
- Ask the pharmacist. She has more time than the doctor, and the bottles are her whole job.