DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2020.v08i07.014

Pages: 1712-1715

The older people suddenly become aware about their memory when they fail to recognise their relatives or forget where they have placed common items like keys. But after few minutes or hours they remember, this is part of normal ageing. The older person when forgets and does not remember what he has forgotten is a more serious issue and these moments of forgetfulness are noticed by family members over period of time and they too ignore thinking it as part of ageing! The older people consult the physician saying my “memory is weak” or “I am forgetting”. This is a tricky situation for the clinician and family members. A detailed analysis is required only if red flag signs are present. A brief test like “Three item recall test” can be done and depending upon the result, the older people can be rest assured that their memory is good. Some older people hide their memory problems fearing that they will be diagnosed having serious disorders due to which they will be isolated. A psychological disorder like depression is the main cause for loss of memory which is pseudo loss and also mimics dementia, which needs to be remembered. All older person presenting with memory issues should be screened for depression using a suitable scale. The memory loss that occurs over period of time usually suggests organic and chronic disease. While sudden onset of memory loss is seen in a condition called Delirium which needs immediate hospitalisation and evaluation. An attempt is done by the authors here for the benefit of students of medicine, sociology and nursing in approaching an older person when they say “I am forgetting”.