USA: Aging gracefully - Forgetting normal part of aging

. FORT MYERS. Florida / The News-Press / January 27, 2009 Visible changes in our physical appearance naturally occur as we grow older. Gray hairs and wrinkles become more noticeable - visibly proclaiming our years of experience in the journey of life. Other not-so-visible changes may be occurring during the normal aging process. The process of being able to recall things or retrieve information from our stored memory slows down. Rather than becoming overly worried about things you are forgetting, begin now to implement coping strategies. With normal aging, these strategies for overcoming the frustration of normal forgetfulness become very important. In order to compensate for the slowing down of our memory, we must take extra time to register or learn the information in order to successfully retrieve it from our memory later. This may mean eliminating distractions to concentrate on registering the important information. For example, reading the paper while listening to another person creates distractions that will likely interfere with successfully registering and storing important information in your memory. Making a grocery list before a shopping trip is another important way to use memory aids for our benefit especially as we experience normal aging and forgetfulness. If you arrive at the store and realize you left the list at home on the counter, there's still hope. Rather than trying to remember the list as a whole, think of one department in the store at a time. Concentrating only on the produce section may help you remember that you need lettuce and vegetables for salad. Even the most routine tasks may cause concern periodically. Adding baking soda instead of baking powder to muffin mix is an easy slip that may occur with normal forgetfulness. Taking more time to focus on the task at hand and completing each task step by step may help to overcome this challenge. Preparing each ingredient in a small prep bowl prior to mixing reduces the chance of adding the wrong ingredient accidentally. Misplacing objects is also common if we do not utilize memory aids to our advantage. Finding your car keys is much simpler if you store the keys in the same place all the time. Recently, I found myself searching high and low for my car keys on a Monday morning. Without really thinking, I had placed the keys in a convenient spot in the garage while unloading stuff from the car on Sunday. Whether it's a tray on the kitchen counter or a hook by the back door, put the keys in that spot immediately when you arrive home to eliminate the possibility of misplacing them. On Feb. 4, Dr. Bill Beckwith will be presenting on the topic of "Remembering What Not to Forget" at Arden Courts in Fort Myers. Dotty St. Amand is executive director of the Alvin A. Dubin Alzheimer's Resource Center in Fort Myers DUBINCTR@aol.com Copyright ©2008 ...