If you start to forget frequently, be careful! What are the reasons that trigger forgetfulness? Experts point out that reasons such as smoking, alcohol, medications and vitamin deficiency can cause amnesia.
Neurology Specialists underline that it is normal to forget from time to time, but that the cause of frequent forgetfulness should be investigated by consulting a physician and said, “Amnesia has many reasons other than physiological reasons. “Not every forgetfulness is Alzheimer’s or dementia,” they said.
Experts stated that our memory is affected by many factors and gave information about amnesia. Expert neurologists stated that it is normal to forget from time to time and that we all may experience forgetting problems from time to time, but stated that when the problem of frequent forgetfulness begins to occur, the cause must be investigated.
Smoking, alcohol, medications and vitamin deficiency can lead to amnesia.
Neurologists listed the 8 most important risk factors for forgetfulness as follows:
• “Reduce alcohol consumption. The use of alcohol, especially in high amounts, affects memory both momentarily and chronically. Alcohol consumption, especially in high doses, can cause damage to deep brain structures and cortex, leading to irreversible brain damage.
• Smoking may negatively affect memory through oxygen depletion and arteriosclerosis mechanisms.
• Some drugs can cause memory impairment and weakening, some drugs that affect acetylcholine metabolism, antidepressants, antihistamines, some muscle relaxants, etc. medicines.
• Depression, intense stress, when we are upset, sad or tense, we become distracted, we may not be able to focus on other thoughts and follow the moment, we have difficulty focusing and it may become impossible to remember the topic or what we are trying to learn at that moment.
• Vitamin, iron deficiency or hormonal irregularities, B vitamins, vitamin B9 (folic acid), vitamin B12, vitamin C, D, E deficiencies, iron deficiency, hormonal irregularities due to endocrine diseases such as thyroid and adrenal gland.
• Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and even infections in older age groups, which disrupt brain functions by affecting brain blood flow and circulation.
• Sleep disorders, especially the decrease in the advanced stages of sleep, which we call deep sleep, negatively affect memory. Sleep hygiene and quality sleep are also very important for memory.
• Physiological aging, as we get older, our hair turns white, our skin wrinkles and sags, our bones melt and calcify, of course our brain ages over time, neurons decrease, connecting dendrites become loose and diminish, this is physiological aging, slight forgetfulness is normal.”
Don’t panic just yet
Neurologists point out that if you cannot find the words, cannot remember the name, but can remember it after thinking about it for a while, you should not panic immediately:
“If you forget your belongings from time to time and find them later, if you go to a room or kitchen and return without taking what you bought, do not be afraid. The situations I mentioned are normal. However, alarming problems such as frequent amnesia that affects daily life or getting lost in an environment you know very well should take you to your doctor,” they conclude by saying.
References:
- Allen RJ. Classic and recent advances in understanding amnesia. F1000Res. 2018 Mar 16;7:331. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.13737.1. PMID: 29623196; PMCID: PMC5861508. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5861508/
- Deak F, Kapoor N, Prodan C, Hershey LA. Memory loss: Five new things. Neurol Clin Pract. 2016 Dec;6(6):523-529. doi: 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000314. PMID: 28058207; PMCID: PMC5200851. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5200851/