Did You Know? – Cognitive Decline

Cognitive decline is something that is in the news predominantly in the last few decades.

Has recognition of it increased or has it gotten more predominant?

As the body ages, all of its functions can start to decline including memory. The key factor is to distinguish between normal forgetfulness and dementia.

Forgetting where you left things, occasionally forgetting about an appointment entering a room and forgetting why you went there, or more commonly having the tip of the tongue phenomena, are all normal signs of aging. When your daily performance and to do what you want are minimized due to memory loss, then these may be signs that suggest the onset of dementia. If words are forgotten or garbled, or phrases are repeated in the same conversation or performing simple tasks like washing or dressing, or forgetting things that you normally do daily, these can be early signs of dementia. Also, getting lost in familiar places or unable to follow directions are further troubling signs.

It is never too early to start preventing memory loss and cognitive decline. With so many reports in the last few years of the effect of coconut oil reducing memory loss, it is hard to take the American Heart Association's recent recommendations seriously. It is this authors’ opinion that vegetable oil and margarine are not healthy alternatives for cooking. Olive oil remains a great food for consumption but coconut oil for cooking is still better due to its higher point of flammability.

Taking a supplement like Vesele® may actually improve memory as blood flow throughout the body is enhanced.