Final Blog :(

I think I have a synthesizing mind. Most of my information is taken from other sources because I have not had a lot of experience in this area. Although a couple of stories involve the people who make my life complete, they have not happened to me so it's hard for me to fully appreciate the effect the situation has on the lives of others.

Throughout my blogging experience, I have discovered a lot about memory problems. I had the notion that memory problems are either hereditary or they happen to people who get nailed in the head really hard. Both of these are reasons for memory loss, but there are other factors that can cause short and long term memory problems that I was able to research more and learn more about them in depth.

I think this blogging process has allowed us, as students, to explore more and learn more about ourselves and each other. Because technology is ever-evolving and becoming increasingly popular, these blogs let us learn more about the new technology available to us. It also helped us to express ourselves in ways that a pen and paper could not. We had the freedom to write what we want and design our own space that we could call our own.

Memory help: How to help prevent memory loss as you age

The Age-Old Assumption

What causes memory loss? One of the obvious factors, of course, is aging. A common analogy, found here, is that the filing system isn't as efficient as it used to be. As you get older, your brain tries to absorb as much information as it used to and this task becomes increasingly difficult. Forgetting things becomes easier and easier as one ages. My mom is the perfect example. She'll ask me the same question twice a day, and I'll give her the same answer, twice a day. And what happens? She asks me again the next day. I've grown used to this though so it's not so bothersome anymore. Ways to prevent memory loss as you get older? As mentioned before, a healthy diet and regular brain exercise keep the forgetfulness away longer. Lists and self-memos are also pretty nifty if you need a little extra help :)

-- Check out the video up above

Booze and Drugs

Drinking and drugs are easily accessible in today's society, even for those under the ages of 18 and 21. If taken in extremely excessive amounts, both of these substances can cause complete loss of memory.

Certain drugs, pot for example, cause people to "zone out" or feel as if they're in a totally different place. Hallucinogens like LSD cause the person under the influence to see things that aren't there and could lead to memory problems throughout life. Alcohol, although not considered by some people, is a drug that is abused all too often. Kids as young as 13 can become alcoholics nowadays, sad as it may seem. This drug is a depressant that often acts as a stimulant in it's moderate stages. People lose their inhibitions, become extremely relaxed and become rowdy and excited. As they continue to drink however, they lose their ability to take care of themselves, and eventually pass out. At the point where the body recognizes that it has had too much alcohol, it shuts the brain down to force the drinker to stop consuming the beverage. This point can cause a blackout...

According to dictionary.com

a.temporary loss of consciousness or vision: She suffered a blackout from the blow on the head.

b.a period of total memory loss, as one induced by an accident or prolonged alcoholic drinking: The patient cannot account for the bizarre things he did during his blackout.

during this time the drinker will have no memory of certain events that have taken place. Occasionally they will remember flashes of an event but most often they are completely unaware of anything that occurred. This is normally caused by binge drinking, or drinking large amounts in a small amount of time. This is extremely dangerous to the drinker and could cause irreversible results later in life.

Stay away from alcohol and drugs people.
You don't want to encourage your own memory loss :)

Little Babies...

Back from a verrrry long break with newfound results :)

^ SB 2010 in PCB with my best friend :)

According to an article from the Health Source database, babies born 1500 g (or 3.3 lbs, which was about what Johnna weighed when she was born) or less had a higher rate of having slower neurological development process. Nearly 50% had to have some assistance after reaching the age of 7. A select group of premature children were given, at ages 7 and 8, verbal ability, school achievement, and auditory memory tests, the 50% who required learning assistance scoring very poorly in each section. In Johnna's case however, none of these areas are difficult for her. Granted she does tend to forget song lyrics occasionally, but she has taken strenuous class all throughout high school and continues to score highly on quizzes and tests. She even scored a perfect on her TerraNova test back in the 7th grade (she'll never forget that one), and continues to excel in verbal ability and school achievement areas.


For more in-depth article on this topic, check out the link from up top. I think it's all pretty interesting. Don't forget to take my poll in the top left corner :)

Sisterly Love

So the main reason I chose to write about this topic is because of my sister. She was born 7 weeks premature and is doing well now. The one thing that I tend to worry about as I prepare to move away to college is the fact that she forgets EVERYTHING. She'll get mad at me for saying it, but she tends to lose her keys at least once a week, making me think I'm going to have to have 4 extras made (one to hide under each car tire of course) before I leave for West Lafayette. My mom and I have both wondered whether or not her premature birth has played a part in her memory "problems" shall we call them.

We tried out a memory test -special thanks to Sam Daily :)
We wrote down a list of words that rhymed with bat (cat, rat, sat, Matt...) 9 total. We gave her 1 minute to memorize their position on the counter, in rows and columns of 3s. After her minute was up we gave her 5 minutes to go back to work and then called her back over. She then had to recall where each word was on the counter. First time she got a 6/9, aka a 67%. The second time we gave her a minute but made her wait 10 minutes to tell their position, and shockingly enough she scored a 7/9, only one card better. Hopefully we'll have some more fun-filled experiments later on :)

The Sad Truth

Provisions in medical care and healthcare are being made due to new discoveries almost daily. Because of this, people are living longer. We obviously have better physicians today than the ones from one hundred years ago and more powerful meds now that are supposed to cure or at least be beneficial to a multitude of diseases. With people living longer however, that also makes them more likely to develop more severe diseases in their old age, such as cancer as well as the dreaded Alzheimer's. Recent studies show that there are 5.3 million people worldwide living with this devasating illness. And although Alzheimer's is a terrible sickness that destroys the memory of the one who possesses it, it also causes serious emotional pain to the family members and friends of that person. New discoveries have been made which show that minorities, specifically African Americans and Hispanics, are more likely to develop this disease later on in life.

Experts also say that if you keep your brain active, you are much less likely to run a risk of obtaining this disease in your golden years. Pull out those Nintendo DS sudoku puzzles and get your brain exercising. And better yet, get your body moving too! Regular exercise and a healthy diet keep you physically and mentally fit as well.

Although there is not cure for Alzheimer's, there are many options. If diagnosed with Alzheimer's, doctors recommend that you take meds instead of reject them. These drugs will help treat the symptoms and prolong the dementia.

You can read about a real-life example of a man living with Alzheimer's here.