I think that "having conversations with younger people" would ONLY have a MARGINAL effect on what is known as WORD-RETRIEVAL problems. I have a friend that is a speech therapist that agrees with me about it being marginal. Plus I am VERY old and I OFTEN have meaningful conversations at the swimming pool with younger 40 and 50-year-old people. This time of year there is a lot of that age group down here visiting (and thinking about if would this be a good place for them to retire). My speech therapist friend suggests getting a memory book that has suggestions of how to create your own memory prompts for associating various things to their noun names. She also suggests doing crossword puzzles and Suduko.

I have some advice in that situation, "where conversations are not too deep - rather superficial - like something about the weather
.......The answer my friend is blowing in the recreation news wind. There ANYONE can find a PLETHORA (sorry I just could not stop myself) of GROUP activities for both sport and social mental activities.
.......Socrates's motto was MIND and BODY!!!!!! Find both activities in the rec news and improve your word retrieval and physical chances of living longer!

Well, one thing I can say for certain is you sure are one hip guy for your age. I think the people who are at another level than me (65) are so much more interesting to talk to than people my age who think we know everything. We were surrounded by people older than us but way more active than us and way smarter than us in so many ways. I never rejected their point of view on anything. So many times even when I didn't agree with them they turned out to be in the correct lane on whatever we were talking about.

I hope and pray I can progress to the upper tier age-wise and become a little wiser and stay teachable throughout the rest of my life.

I enjoy the hell out of your posts. Thanks for the laughs along the way. :1rotfl:

I forced myself to self-isolate during the pandemic. I reduced my socialization to only 1 person for about 3 years. About 4 weeks ago I finally felt that it was SAFE to return to normal socialization with REAL people. I STILL avoid indoor groups. But, DO engage with groups for outdoor sports activities. I have a lot of catching up to do (and I imagine that probably about 10% of the US population acted like myself) Three years is a long time to walk away from people and people-oriented activities. It is like returning from prison (I can imagine). I would make occasional trips to Publix wearing a mask and maintaining as much distance as possible.
......I tried to stay in physical shape at home with springs and weights and yard work, but nothing is the same as the activity which produces adrenaline from even MILD competition. My muscles and back are still sore after 4 weeks - it takes longer to get over the initial pain the older you get. also I put on about 15 lbs that I really do NOT WANT or need! It used to take one week to stop the muscles from hurting when I was 20 to 25 years old, now at least 4 weeks.
.......But, I am ALIVE and that was the POINT !
........And my point with respect to the memory/language and AGING issue is that lack of exercise and socialization whether caused by Pandemic isolation or other reasons can cause memory loss and word-retrieval loss.
.......I know because I experienced BOTH.
.......Actually, during that 3-year hiatus of mine, it DID help to engage in communicating with those TOTV-ers with the very positive and intellectual outlooks that many have. I EVEN finally learned not to talk politics and spend time in the solitary lock-up. Although I still think that politics can NEVER be separated from life. And we should have a special section to talk about that ....after all we are all consenting adults.
.........As I mentioned before .....Socrates main statement was "MIND and BODY" so my humble advice is to read the rec news and join an investment club, or a movie club, or a chess club and play something of a physical activity like shuffleboard, darts, yoga, or even that elbow killer......Pickle's ball.....as a last resort........but, hopefully BEFORE GOLF........uugg, uugg !

An octopus can have 8 arms MINUS any that he/she recently lost in a fight with a bigger, tougher creature. But, EVENTUALLY, they grow back to 8, I believe.

All the food that my parents cooked for me as a child and teen was cooked on aluminum cookware, which was considered more MODERN than the OLD cast iron at the time (40s to 60s). But, I believe that it was NOT good.

One thing that has NOT been mentioned much IS the fact that as seniors, many of us take prescription medications. And, they all have some side effects, many of which are to slow down the cognitive and memory functions.............I know I have some prescriptions.
.......A sleeping pill will slow your word-retrieval skills down in the morning.

Good post!

Maybe get a parrot................Actually, a lot of older people talk to their dogs. It might help a tiny bit. Plus a forced schedule of walking and saying hi to and talking to other dog owners.

We are in our mid 70's, and have been experiencing what you have described for the past several years. I believe it is, for the most part, normal. Just as the physical body begins to slow down, wouldn't it be normal for the brain to slow down as well. Of course, this would vary from person to person. I think post # 5 gives an accurate description of the subject in question. Personally, I would not seek any testing unless "I found my car keys but I forgot what they are for".

I second Charter Research
 

I took a free test at Charter Research and it was very comprehensive. I also took a tau blood test for Alzheimer they offer.

No one mentions taking magnesium (400mg) for this. I went to a neurologist a couple of years ago with this same issue. She recommended 400mg of magnesium. I also suggest B12 supplement, but look to see the type of B12. It needs to be Methylcobalamin.

Thank you for this post. Is there anyway to save or print this thread. So much great information. I want to save and share.

As to "varying from person to person" - I agree. Jimmy Carter's brain has NOT seemed to slow down. I wish I were more like him. The other day I met a man at the swimming pool that was age 87 and said that he took ZERO prescription drugs. I wish I were more like him.

Reversing the Tide of Misinformation
 

....

Reversing the Tide of Misinformation
 

Genetics can have a influence on being afflicted with dementia but a healthy diet and lifestyle will have a major impact on preventing and mitigating its terrible consequences. Of course it takes a strong commitment.

I am referencing this article in part because our medical system primarily focuses on pills, surgery or any other treatment that is financially profitable.

Preventing Alzheimer’s: Our Most Urgent Health Care
Priority - PMC

The prevalence of dementia is 1 in 10 individuals older than 65 years and increases to 50% of all individuals older than 85 years.

We now know that complex real-life activities around one’s passion and purpose, such as challenging jobs, learning musical instruments, and speaking multiple languages, are most effective in optimizing mental processes and building cognitive reserve and brain capacity.

Sleep has a critical role in promoting brain health. Research over the past decade has documented that sleep disturbances have a powerful influence on the risk for developing neurodegenerative disease.

The most important factor of all for brain health and resilience as we age appears to be cognitive reserve. Cognitive reserve represents the redundancy of neuronal connections achieved through cognitively challenging activities that force the neurons to make significantly more axonal connections than when not challenged

Everything we consume has an energy coefficient because it produces a certain amount of energy in our body. The quality of food based on its nutrient density can profoundly affect the brain at the cellular and genetic levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3DSwbCYOwI&t=22s

my thought process is calmer. Answers, ideas, thoughts seem to flow in or be readily available where previously it seemed like I’d have a blank or brain freeze.

Saving info from posts
 

If you are comfortable on a pc, I recommend using copy & paste into a text file, then saving that text file under a meaningful name in a directory/folder that you know has info. I have done that since I found this chat board, and have a folder labeled ContractorNNServicesRefs that is full of text files (named things like Electricians, Plumbers, GarageDoors, etc) that has lists of people recommended on this forum so when I need to call someone to fix something, I don't have to start searching then. I have found that often the Search function doesn't give me pointers to the same posts I read in the past.

I do the same thing (copy & paste into a text file to save info) when I run across info that I know I want to send to people, or refer to at a future date. I have already done that with info from this thread, since both myself and my husband are in the same 'missing words' stage and have greatly appreciated everyone's responses and plan to follow up on many of the posted suggestions. Thanks to all!

No one here has mentioned drinking of alcohol. I think alcohol may accelerate loss of memory and cognitive ability.

I would agree that beer, whiskey, and vodka are bad for cognition. Small daily amounts of red wine are likely good for a person.

According to Cliff Clavin, beer actually makes you smarter...

"Well, you see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it’s the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

And beer has the same benefits as red wine...

https://www.brainandlife.org/article...20into%20three.

I can help you with that:

Open the thread.

Go to the top of the page where you will see a tab that says Thread Tools. Click on it.

There you will find Show Printable Version, click, and then you can send it to your printer.

Boomer

I learn something new every day!:thumbup:

Yeah, it can. But some believe it works the other way too.

Back in my college years I played a lot of tournament chess. I remember one tournament in Fargo ND when by the luck of the draw I had the opportunity to play Stepan Popel, noted chessmaster and author. He's been gone for a lot of years. Anyway during our game he had a thermos bottle, out of which every now and then he took a sip. I figured coffee. But nope. Brandy! Didn't seem to impair his playing ability in the least.

The difference between a pro and an amateur. . . but did you beat the chessmaster? I am assuming with your modesty you won. . . :a040:

sux at chess guy

Be very careful on what doctor you go to. Any mention of memory loss will stay on your medical and can prevent you from being insurable in the future