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Tag: dismiss

  • Too Young For Alzheimer’s? Easy To Dismiss Symptoms 41-Year-Old Had Before Diagnosis

    Too Young For Alzheimer’s? Easy To Dismiss Symptoms 41-Year-Old Had Before Diagnosis

    At 41, most people are juggling careers, families, and future plans, not bracing for a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. But that’s exactly what happened to a dad from Australia, who is now spreading awareness of a little-known reality: Alzheimer’s is not just a disease of old age.

    Fraser was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia that strikes earlier in life, before the age of 65. He now regularly shares videos on YouTube chronicling his journey, revealing that his symptoms began as early as two and a half years before the shocking diagnosis.

    As many people would do, Fraser initially kept dismissing his memory issues as something related to stress. In one of the videos, he recalled the shock of realizing his memory issues were getting out of hand, particularly when he started forgetting details about the people closest to him, like what his teenage daughters had planned for the day.

    Fraser shared one incident where he nearly called the police, convinced his daughter was missing, only to find out she was at the movies, just as she had told him multiple times. Now, his family helps him stay on track, his kids text him their schedules and repeat plans, knowing he might not remember the first time.

    Another surprising symptom that Fraser began noticing was the changes in his sleep pattern and the quality of his rest. He recalled that during periods when his mental health declined, his sleep noticeably worsened. Although some of that has improved, he admits that certain aspects of his nighttime rest still have not fully returned to normal.

    “I tend to get my full night’s sleep in again. I do wake up sometimes throughout the night though, a bit more than I probably used to. But I can still fall asleep all right. What I have noticed though, is that I sleep now during the day. I have to sleep during the day now, because I just feel exhausted,” he said in a video.

    Fraser’s channel captures several candid moments that reveal what it’s truly like to forget details. One clip shows him staring off into the distance multiple times, struggling to recall specifics from a recent golf outing with friends. He later admits how he had trouble remembering names and specifics: “It just becomes very foggy, even when I’m motivated to speak, even when I want to speak – I just can’t,” Fraser explained.

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  • Want To Dismiss Bad Memories? Never Skip A Good Night’s Sleep

    Want To Dismiss Bad Memories? Never Skip A Good Night’s Sleep

    Do you struggle to keep bad memories from resurfacing, no matter how hard you try to push them away? Well, a simple solution could be to get enough sleep.

    Sleep deprivation could be the culprit behind your mind’s inability to lock away unwanted memories, according to a recent study published in the journal Psychology and Cognitive Sciences.

    “Sleep problems and intrusive memories play an important role in the onset and maintenance of many mental health disorders. Here, we show that depriving healthy participants of sleep disrupts their ability to keep intrusive memories at bay,” the researchers wrote in the study.

    The researchers examined how sleep affects the ability to control bad memories by monitoring the brain activity of 85 healthy participants who either got a full night of sleep or stayed awake. During the trial, participants were shown faces linked to emotionally charged images, like car crashes or fights, and asked to either recall or suppress the memories connected to them.

    The results revealed that those who were well-rested showed more brain activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for managing thoughts and emotions when trying to suppress negative memories. On the other hand, the sleep-deprived participants had less brain activity in this area, making it harder for them to control intrusive thoughts. The well-rested group also had reduced activity in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center, suggesting they were better at shutting down unwanted memories.

    “These findings offer fresh insight into our understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the link between poor sleep and mental illness and could support the development of novel treatment and prevention strategies,” the researchers wrote.

    Here are some tips to have good sleep:

    Have a Sleep Schedule: Make a regular sleep routine by going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, even on weekends. Having a consistent sleep schedule helps synchronize your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

    Watch What You Eat and Drink: What you consume can impact your sleep. Avoid heavy meals late at night, and limit caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine, especially in the hours before bed, as they can disrupt your sleep.

    Have a Healthy Lifestyle: Keeping stress in check and staying active throughout the day can work wonders for your sleep. A regular exercise routine as well as minimizing long naps during the day, can help you get the quality rest you need each night.

    Make a Restful Environment: Your surroundings play a huge role in how well you sleep. Control the light, noise, and temperature in your bedroom to create a peaceful atmosphere. Also, try cutting back on screen time, particularly before bed can help you improve sleep.

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