by P. Payne

Created on: August 30, 2010

When you find yourself standing in the middle of a room with no idea why you are there, can’t remember why you called your daughter, or momentarily lose your sense of which way to turn on a familiar street, you may wonder whether you’re experiencing another “senior moment” or have the beginnings of dementia.

As people age, occasional memory lapses are normal. Forgetting a person’s name, misplacing keys or glasses, or having a search for a word to use are all common memory lapses, according to doctors at Johns Hopkins. Other normal memory lapses include forgetting to run an errand or forgetting something that happened in the past. Even forgetting for a moment where to turn when driving is normal forgetfulness, according to the Johns Hopkins doctors. (http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/alerts/memo ry/JohnsHopkinsHealthAlertsMemory_1437-1.html)

However, a more serious problem may be indicated when a person begins forgetting appointments, becoming disoriented in a familiar place, or being unable to name common objects or recognize people who should be familiar.

According to the Johns Hopkins doctors, mild cognitive impairment may include any of the following: frequently misplacing items and people’s names, forgetting recent events, forgetting important events, frequently getting lost temporarily, and the memory problems that become noticeable to family or friends.

With dementia, a person may forget what items are used for, may lose language skills, lose sense of time, and withdraw from social interaction. Dementia also affects short term memory and a person may become easily disoriented or get lost for long periods of time in a familiar place.

In a 2007 interview, Dr. Eric Braverman, a New York City physician and author of the book, "Younger You," spoke on The Early Show about the causes of memory loss in middle age and beyond. Braverman said hormones, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis can cause memory loss. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/21/earlyshow/ health)

According to Braverman, keeping your body healthy is necessary for the brain to stay sharp. The loss of calcium connected with osteoporosis affects the brain because every brain cell needs calcium and the metabolism from muscles to pump blood to the brain.

Stress, lack of exercise and loneliness all contribute to memory loss in those who are middle age and beyond, Braverman said. He recommended at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every

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