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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Can Short Term Memory Loss Be Treated?

over past year husband has had issues with short term memory - in past 2 mos he cannot remember names of items, refers to everything as that thing . Today it was what is a trashcan . He tells same story and ask same questions multiple times but no clue he is repeating himself & has a look of being lost and clueless when preforming most tasks he used to do with ease. I thought he just needed to focus but people are asking me if he is having problems. He is in good health, heart disease history, open heart in 2011 and stent in 2014, weight 121lbs, 64 yrs young,numbers are all good, no other health issues. Medications: gemfibrozil 600 mg & colestipol HCL 1 gm with multi-vitamin. Suggestions?
posted on Fri, 23 Jun 2017
Twitter Sun, 13 Aug 2017 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 14 Aug 2017 Last reviewed on
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello,
Thank you for trusting HCM

Short term memory loss, difficulty focussing and performing tasks is concerning for early dementia. Mini-mental status evaluation, physical and neurological examination, brain imaging studies and blood investigations are warranted at this point to confirm the diagnosing and identifying the cause.
Medications that increase acetyl choline levels in the brain like Donepezil can help prevent the progression of Alzheimer's dementia.Reversible causes of dementia like hypothyroidism can be treated by correcting the underlying condition.

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Regards,
Dr.Lekshmi
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How Can Short Term Memory Loss Be Treated?

Hello, Thank you for trusting HCM Short term memory loss, difficulty focussing and performing tasks is concerning for early dementia. Mini-mental status evaluation, physical and neurological examination, brain imaging studies and blood investigations are warranted at this point to confirm the diagnosing and identifying the cause. Medications that increase acetyl choline levels in the brain like Donepezil can help prevent the progression of Alzheimer s dementia.Reversible causes of dementia like hypothyroidism can be treated by correcting the underlying condition. Hope this answers your question Please address further questions here Regards, Dr.Lekshmi