How to Prevent Losing Your Memory

You can prevent memory loss.

While often seen as a sign of aging, memory loss can occur in a person of any age. If you feel that you are losing your memory, you can do things to prevent and reverse this process. According to Kenneth L. Higbee, author of "Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It," simple steps and conscious actions will help you fight memory loss. While fighting memory loss, you might find your memory improving as well, states Higbee.

Instructions

1. Keep an active mind by stimulating and challenging your brain. According to Zaldy S. Tan, author of "Age-Proof Your Mind," stimulating your mind daily will help ward off memory loss. Exercise your mind by learning new skills and perfecting existing ones. Mind-stimulating games that require active thought will aid in keeping a healthy mind. Games such as sudoku, crossword puzzles, boggle and scrabble will all challenge your brain. In addition, activities such as memorizing poetry and keeping up on politics will aid in memory loss prevention. Whenever you learn something new, you create new synapse connections in the neural pathways of your mind. Zaldy says that this prevents memory deterioration.

2. Reduce stress from your life. According to Jean Carper, author of "100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's and Age-Related Memory Loss," stress often causes forgetfulness and early memory loss. When stress is affecting your life, your mind is often flooded with worry, causing you to forget things throughout the day. Stress also causes high blood pressure, which has negative effects on memory retention, states Carper. Start by identifying the sources of stress in your life and methodically eliminate or fix each one.

3. Get enough sleep. According to Majid Fotuhi and Peter V. Rabins, authors of "The Memory Cure," getting enough sleep nightly will help prevent memory loss. When your mind is tired due to lack of sleep, your brain loses focus and reacts slowly. A tired mind often has trouble remembering facts without extra effort, causing the "in one ear and out the other" effect, states Zaldy. Make sure that you get enough sleep by going to bed when you are tired and allowing for at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. If you wake and still feel tired throughout the day, your body is not well rested. Remedy this problem by going to sleep earlier to allow for a full sleep cycle.

References

• "The Memory Cure : How to Protect Your Brain Against Memory Loss and Alzheimer's Disease"; Majid Fotuhi and Peter V. Rabins; 2004
• "100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's and Age-Related Memory Loss"; Jean Carper; 2010
• "Age-Proof Your Mind: Detect, Delay, and Prevent Memory Loss--Before It's Too Late"; Zaldy S. Tan; 2006
• "Your Memory: How It Works and How to Improve It"; Kenneth L. Higbee; 2001