Page 16 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

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several exciting new findings have emerged from this research and those of other investigators, the
fundamental breakthrough still lies in the future. Nonetheless, research's increased focus on
dementia— and memory loss more broadly— has vastly expanded our knowledge base and has helped
to develop effective preventive strategies and treatments for memory loss. This is truly a sea change
from barely a decade ago, when the symptom of memory loss usually led to the view that “senility”
had set in and could not be stopped. I wish that some of these new treatments had been available for
Frieda Kohlberg when she developed memory loss, because they could have slowed down the rapid
progression of her terrible illness.

David Finestone and Frieda Kohlberg were unusual patients for me to see in 1988. At that time,
most patients who came to our Memory Disorders Center already had moderate to advanced
dementia, most commonly Alzheimer's disease. But during the 1990s, the number of middle-aged
and elderly people who had mild memory complaints and deficits literally ballooned. They asked me
the same questions with almost alarming regularity:

I have mild memory loss. Is that normal or abnormal for my age?
If my memory loss is abnormal, does that mean I am getting Alzheimer's disease?
If my memory worsens, how can I prevent my own personality, my “self,” from being
destroyed?

There Are New Preventive and Treatment Strategies

In the new millennium, these fears have been turned on their head with discoveries of new
preventive strategies and a whole range of treatments for memory loss. I now face a brand-new set of
questions that ask which preventive measures should be taken and which treatments for memory loss
are safe and really work. As a practicing physician and an active researcher in the field of memory
disorders, in writing this book I relied on the available medical and scientific information, buttressed
by my own clinical experience, to explain how memory works and then describe the best methods to
prevent and treat memory loss.

The Memory Program is intended to help two categories of people: