3 hidden causes of memory problems
Louise Hallinan is the international award-winning author of Smart Brain Healthy Brain and a Natural Health Practitioner. She founded the Smart Brain Health Centre in Sydney which specialises in mood and memory problems.
Have you ever experienced a moment where you saw someone you know approaching in the opposite direction while you were out walking or shopping when suddenly, your mind goes blank and you cannot remember their name quick enough to say hello? But then amazingly, a short time later, that person’s name comes back to you, clear as a bell. Yes, you did remember their name after all, just not at that exact moment you wanted to.
I call these ‘memory problems’, where the information is there in your brain, it just took you a little longer to find it. When these memory problems occur, they should not be dismissed or ignored. Ask yourself why is this happening? There has to be a reason why, it just does not happen overnight.
I believe if you ignore or dismiss these memory problems, they will occur more often and gradually over a period of time may lead to dementia.
Some causes of memory problems are not very well known, I call these the hidden causes. Here are three examples that I would like to tell you about.
1. Dehydration
Something as simple as not drinking enough water every day can, over time, have a detrimental effect on your brain health. Your body is 73 per cent water and your brain is 85 per cent water. When you are dehydrated, this may cause you to have headaches, a foggy brain and a poor memory. If your brain is deprived of even a small amount of its fluid requirements, your thought processes and your emotional stability are the first things to be affected. A dehydrated brain is a shrunken brain that does not function efficiently for many reasons.
So, how much water do you drink each day? The right amount of water you should drink daily for your body’s requirements is generally 1.5 litres. If you are drinking 3 cups of coffee or tea, or a few glasses of soft drink during the day, these are not counted in the daily requirements. It has to be water, so make it a daily habit to drink enough water which will really benefit your body and brain. Dehydration is one cause of memory problems that is extremely important, yet so simple and easy to fix.
2. Stress
Many people are being affected by stress in their daily lives. It is due to the fast-paced lives that we are living, that keeps us running from one thing to another. Not enough time in the day to accomplish either what you want to do, what you have to do or need to do. We are trying to squeeze so much more into our days than ever before.
Many scientists now believe that excessive exposure to stress can actually shrink your brain. Stress is one of the major causes of memory problems that is totally underestimated. Chronic stress is responsible for many other health issues as well as memory problems. There are steps you can take to reduce your stress levels which will lead to an improvement in your overall health including memory problems. One tip that will help you to deal with your stress levels is to realise that you cannot always control what happens to you, but that you can usually control how you react to it.
3. Sleep apnoea
Sleep apnoea occurs when the soft tissues at the back of your mouth and throat relax too much during sleep. This causes the airways to become blocked. People with this condition often snore loudly and can wake up hundreds of times during the night, leading to daytime grogginess and fuzzy thinking, though they do not remember waking during the night at all.
One reason why sleep apnoea may cause memory problems is because the condition is associated with low blood oxygen levels, which would reduce the oxygen supply to your brain. If your brain does not get enough oxygen, this can over a period of time, lead to cognitive impairment.
If you are aware that you or your partner may be snoring during the night, have fuzzy thinking and are tired during the day, see your doctor and organise to have a sleep study done. This will indicate whether you have Sleep Apnoea or not. If you have been having memory problems, this may be one solution to your problems. Prevention is always much better than cure.
So, if you are aware that you are experiencing ‘memory problems’, do not ignore they are happening. There always has to be a reason why, so be proactive and look for the cause. It may be that one of these examples of hidden causes could be solution to your memory problems.