DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My mom is in her 80s, and I've noticed that her memory seems to be slipping. Sometimes she forgets a person's name or can't recall what she did the day before. Is it normal to have these types of lapses at her age or should I be worried they are signs of something more serious?
ANSWER: It is understandable that you are concerned about changes in your mother's memory. Memory lapses and modest decline in thinking skills are common as people age. There's a difference, however, between normal changes in memory and memory loss associated with neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. And some memory problems are the result of treatable conditions.
It may help to think of memory function as running on a continuum, with each person's memory and cognitive functioning falling somewhere along it. Some people have sharp memories and can recall even the smallest details, while others struggle to remember big events. Memory changes can be viewed as movement along this continuum.
