THE TEST

When the camper pulled in loaded with two slender boats on top I ask myself the name of this slender double boat affair. The first word that comes to mind is “catamaran.” That doesn’t sound just right I tell myself - and wonder if this is a “senior moment,” a precursor of losing my memory.

Well cheer up, according to Barbara Sherwin, a professor of psychology at McGill University in Montreal, as the old joke goes, if you forgot where your car keys are, there’s nothing wrong with you, but if you forgot you have a car, you’re in trouble.”

According to Dr. Nathan Herrmann, a geriatric psychiatrist in Toronto, and reported in Good Times “It’s normal for older people to take a little longer to think of answers, come up with someone’s name, or remember appointments, but in general their ability to remember things is maintained pretty well into late life, and wouldn’t affect their day-to-day functioning.” On the other hand, he says warning signs of more serious memory loss include frequent incidents of:

• Leaving a stove burner turned on and burning pots and pans.
• Leaving taps turned on and causing floods.
• Forgetting to lock the doors to one’s home.
• Forgetting to pay bills or cash cheques.

“Most people who are really worried about their memory don’t have significant problems. But when patients say there is nothing wrong, yet their families complain bitterly about their memory, they almost always have cognitive difficulties. Insight into one’s situation is often lost very early in Alzheimer’s disease.” By the way, those uploaded “boats” are called Kayaks. Thanks J and D.