by Platos Girl

Created on: March 13, 2009

The first step in dealing with short-term memory loss is getting a clean bill of health from your health care provider. After it's established that you are not dealing with any medical issues that affect your memory then it's just a matter of addressing what you may think is causing these short-term memory losses.

How many times have we sat down at our computer, then realize we've forgotten our glasses, or started cooking and forgotten what ingredients we need. We've all walked into a room to retrieve something that we know is in that room or closet or pantry, but we're clueless as to what it is that we entered that particular place for until we return to the point of origin, and then we remember our glasses, the brown sugar or whatever it is we had forgotten. This is short-term memory loss my friends.

First and foremost do not rely on your memory. Yes, it sounds sort of oxymoronic but this is the catalyst for dealing with short term memory loss. Some of us wistfully recall the days of our adolescent and beyond when we boasted of having what is known as a photographic memory (we don't hear that term bantered about as much anymore, I not at all sure why either. That I had a photographic memory was what assisted me in excelling with my school studies. I really didn't have to study that hard.

My dear mother who is now 79 years of age told me about 10 years ago that she was concerned that she may be suffering from Alzheimer's Disease because she was frequently forgetting that she left some of the grocery bags in the car and that she couldn't remember where she had put a receipt from a store she had just purchased an item from or could not find her car keys. I attempted to ease her concerns by telling her the following: Mother, if you can't remember where you put your keys then this is normal short-term memory loss, if you suddenly forget what your keys are for, well then you may be developing a medical or permanent memory problem.

I also would suggest that you do not overwhelm yourself with too many tasks in a given time period. If you have a busy day planned, then the night before you should write a To-Do list and have it readily available when you start your day and then you should check off each item as you accomplish it. If you need to add or delete a task then do it, write it down. Just don't forget the list. Again, keep it short and simple.

Now, there are supposedly some neutricuticals that are currently advertised to assist those who suddenly find that they are suffering from short-term memory loss. The most popular one is Ginkgo Biloba, (this is the only one I will mention so as not to appear to endorse any other ones). The running joke among those of us who have tried this and other supplements is that we forget to take them.

Anyway if you happen upon an infomercial that extols the benefits of their memory loss miracle product it probably contains the above mention supplement Ginkgo Biloba, so don't spend more money on the same supplement.

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