The comparisons are obvious, I hope. Elaine http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080416/sc_livescience/menmorefo... Men More Forgetful Than Women Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.com 2 hours, 17 minutes ago Men are more likely than women to have problems with memory and other thinking skills, symptoms considered to be an early stage of dementia, research suggests. The new study, to be presented at an annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Chicago this week, expands the field of research on aging and memory into a touchy arena - cognitive differences among men and women. Forgetfulness _link_ed with aging, or just a frenzied day, is normal. Say, you misplace your car keys or wallet, or you can't remember where you parked the car. Red flags should pop up when you start forgetting things you normally remember, and on a routine basis, such as weekly appointments, doctors say. These are signs of so-called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which can lead to dementia. People with mild cognitive impairment are three to four times more likely than others to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. Considered the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's is a neurological disorder that affects your ability to think, speak, reason, remember and move. The recent findings come from a study of nearly 2,000 residents of Olmsted County, Minn., who ranged in age from 70 to 89. Dr. Rosebud Roberts of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and her colleagues followed the participants beginning in the fall of 2004, collecting new data every 12 to 15 months. Overall, 74 percent of the participants had normal mental function; about 16 percent had MCI; and 10 percent had full-on dementia. Men were one-and-a-half times more likely to have mild cognitive impairment than women. The prevalence in men increased from 12 percent in men ages 70 to 74 up to 40 percent in the oldest age group, ages 85 to 89. This was an unexpected finding, Roberts said during a press briefing, referring to the difference between men and women. The finding remained the same regardless of a man's education or marital status. [.....]

    The comparisons are obvious, I hope. Elaine http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080416/sc_livescience/menmorefo... Men More Forgetful Than Women Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.com 2 hours, 17 minutes ago Men are more likely than women to have problems with memory and other thinking skills, symptoms considered to be an early stage of dementia, research suggests. The new study, to be presented at an annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Chicago this week, expands the field of research on aging and memory into a touchy arena - cognitive differences among men and women. Forgetfulness _link_ed with aging, or just a frenzied day, is normal. Say, you misplace your car keys or wallet, or you can't remember where you parked the car. Red flags should pop up when you start forgetting things you normally remember, and on a routine basis, such as weekly appointments, doctors say. These are signs of so-called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which can lead to dementia. I don't want to hear about this.  Enough.  If my memory got worse than it is already I'd never remember what it was like prior to the deterioration.  I stumble around to remember names all the time, misplace my house keys, eyeglasses.  I misplace my cell phone and have to phone it from my landline so when it rings I can find it. At least I still have the capacity to remember that is how to solve that problem- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Your ok, Rita. You know where your land line is located too. How you feeling about the big win for the Democrats this fall? Charlie

    The comparisons are obvious, I hope. Elaine http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080416/sc_livescience/menmorefo... Men More Forgetful Than Women Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.com 2 hours, 17 minutes ago Men are more likely than women to have problems with memory and other thinking skills, symptoms considered to be an early stage of dementia, research suggests. The new study, to be presented at an annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Chicago this week, expands the field of research on aging and memory into a touchy arena - cognitive differences among men and women. Forgetfulness _link_ed with aging, or just a frenzied day, is normal. Say, you misplace your car keys or wallet, or you can't remember where you parked the car. Red flags should pop up when you start forgetting things you normally remember, and on a routine basis, such as weekly appointments, doctors say. These are signs of so-called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which can lead to dementia. I don't want to hear about this.  Enough.  If my memory got worse than it is already I'd never remember what it was like prior to the deterioration.  I stumble around to remember names all the time, misplace my house keys, eyeglasses.  I misplace my cell phone and have to phone it from my landline so when it rings I can find it. At least I still have the capacity to remember that is how to solve that problem- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Your ok, Rita. You know where your land line is located too. How you feeling about the big win for the Democrats this fall? Charlie Yeah, I guess if I forget my landline is on my big computer desk I'll be in trouble. I never make predictions on how an election will turn out.  I can only hope but I wouldn't bet one dime.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - It is a very strange year politically. I don't think there ever was a year that looked so certain to go to one particular party that seems to have changed to a horse race as this one. I'm not ready to bet the farm are you? Charlie

Rita - at age 90 (ugh!!) I do not suffer from the symptoms you described, BUT - my problem is that, frequently, when looking  for a certain word, it escapes me; it is gone - until long after I need it!!! But, I console myself, by knowing this is merely a symptom of aging; of memory deterioration, and that - should it be the precursor of Alzheimer, it will, nevertheless, take a few years (???) until the real thing decends on me - and, surely, by that time, I will be gone. I hope my theory is _base_d on facts, and not delusion and false hope, but that is what I have read.  I subscribe to the magazine The Scientific Amerfican Mind - which is super-excellent , in an effort to stay with it' and get some rational explanations for many issues of aging and other phenomena.  BUT - though I enjoy it enormously - it does nothing for my instant recall of certain words, which escape me. (besides, my eyesight is giving me enormous problems,which cannot be helped, since they are merely old eyes) I KNOW how common that is, for old folks, but knowing it, is no consolation, is it?!  Sometimes, it can be a comon word - - ppfffftt -= it is gone!! I do not experience what you descibed, simply because I am by nature a fairly well organized peson (almost compulsively), which, in this case, is very helpful. My keys are alwys placed in the same locaioln; I could not miss them, if I tried.  And the same for almost all else.  There is something compulsive and mechanical about all this - but, I don't care - since it prevents me from losing all kinds of things, and becoming confused.  I could not become confused if I tried.  though I am reluctant to make such predictions. I am old enough NOT to worry about temporary language glitches, and, since what you described is also typical of he aging process, I am sure you do not go into a deep depression about it, and it obviously has not diminished all your other excellent capacities - though, aparently, it did have a destructive effect upon your political choices.......... that is truly regrettable, but not as bad as, for instance, in my case, where eventually I might forget what the names are - what they mean - and who the heck they are..... . Seriously - so far, I cannot complain too much, tbough I really try!!! Olly