|
Memory
Improving
Among
Older
Americans
Feb.
28,
2001
-
Aging
baby
boomers
often
complain
of
having
forgetful
"senior
moments,"
but
new
evidence
suggests
the
memories
of
older
Americans
may
have
improved
during
the
last
decade.
Memory
problems
still
increase
with
age,
but
a
new
study
shows
that
the
typical
senior
performed
much
better
on
memory
tests
in
1998
than
in
1993.
Only
4
percent
of
Americans
ages
70
and
older
and
living
in
the
community
were
identified
as
having
severe
memory
problems
in
1998,
down
from
6
percent
in
1993.
The
study,
co-authored
by
Vicki
Freedman,
PhD,
and
Hakan
Aykan,
PhD.,
of
Philadelphia
Geriatric
Center's
Polisher
Research
Institute,
and
Linda
Martin,
PhD,
of
the
New
York-based
Population
Council,
appears
in
the
March
2001
issue
of
the
Journal
of
Gerontology:
Social
Sciences.
The
research,
based
on
interviews
with
more
than
10,000
seniors,
carried
out
by
the
University
of
Michigan,
included
several
memory
tests.
Participants
were
asked,
for
example,
to
repeat
a
list
of
10
words,
to
count
backwards
from
100
by
seven,
and
to
name
the
president
and
vice
president
of
the
United
States.
For
participants
too
impaired
to
take
the
tests,
family
members
and
friends
provided
reports
of
memory
problems.
Improvements
were
experienced
by
both
men
and
women
and
were
especially
large
for
those
in
the
80s
and
those
with
less
than
a
high
school
education.
Study
authors
caution
that
these
results
are
preliminary
and
need
to
be
replicated
by
other
scientists
before
understanding
their
full
implications.
Yet
they
speculate
these
improvements
may
be
part
of
a
longer
trend
brought
about
by
multiple
factors.
"Better
treatments
developed
over
the
last
decade
for
dementia,
depression,
and
strokes,
for
example,
may
be
aiding
memory
and
brain
function
for
some
older
persons,"
says
Dr.
Freedman,
the
study's
lead
author.
"Changes
in
health-related
behaviors
-
such
as
eating
a
healthy
diet,
exercising
regularly,
and
for
women,
taking
hormone
replacement
therapy
-
may
also
be
at
work."
Older
Americans
are
also
better
educated
today
than
a
decade
ago,
but
that
fact
doesn't
account
for
all
the
improvements.
"The
largest
improvements
we
found
were
among
seniors
who
never
graduated
from
high
school,"
explains
Dr.
Freedman.
"This
finding
suggests
forces
outside
the
classroom
may
be
involved."
"We
are
very
intrigued
by
this
study
and
its
suggestion
that
severe
cognitive
impairment
in
the
older
population
may
have
declined
over
time,"
says
Dr.
Richard
M.
Suzman,
associate
director
for
behavioral
and
social
research
at
the
National
Institute
on
Aging,
which
funded
the
research.
"This
report
follows
the
line
of
other,
initially
surprising
studies
during
the
1990s,
which
found
a
reduction
in
the
rate
of
physical
disability
among
older
people.
As
we
did
then,
we
will
encourage
researchers
to
replicate
these
initial
findings
and,
if
confirmed,
work
to
understand
why
such
improvements
may
be
happening."
Whether
improvements
in
memory
are
leading
to
improvements
in
physical
functioning
or
vice
versa
have
not
yet
been
determined.
But
either
way,
the
results
are
good
news
for
an
aging
population.
As
Dr.
Freedman
points
out,
"Our
study
suggests
being
old
and
being
of
sound
mind
may
be
more
compatible
than
ever.
"
•
Philadelphia
Geriatric
Center
is
a
nationally
recognized
leader
in
providing
services
to
the
elderly.
•
The
Journal
of
Gerontology:
Social
Sciences
is
a
publication
of
the
Gerontological
Society
of
America,
the
national
organization
of
professionals
in
the
field
of
aging. |