Sir David Attenborough health: National treasure is ‘coming to terms’ with memory loss
A Perfect Planet: David Attenborough trailer revealed
Presenting the likes of Blue Planet and the Natural World, David Attenborough will delight audiences with a new series, A Perfect Planet. However, the expert may be struggling to remember “proper names” of things.
In a candid interview, Sir Attenborough said he’s “coming to terms” with memory loss that naturally occurs in older age.
Script-writing for his mesmerising show, Planet Earth II, was more difficult for him, as Sir Attenborough finds it hard to recall “proper names” of scientific terms.
Talking about a trip to the Jura Mountains in Switzerland, Sir Attenborough said: “There were these searing yellow fields, and I can’t think of the damn name.”
He continued to tell James Dunn at The Sunday Telegraph: “I wanted to say something about it, but I couldn’t.
“It wasn’t until we got quite close to Geneva that I thought, of course, oil seed rape [i.e. rapeseed oil].”
While “running into problems” with his memory, it’d seem that Attenborough may be facing cognitive impairment.
What’s cognitive impairment?
The Mayo Clinic categories cognitive impairment as problems with memory, language, thinking or judgement.
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Mild cognitive impairment can be noticeable to the person affected, and close family and friends.
However, these changes “aren’t severe enough to significantly interfere with daily life and usual activities”.
This condition can increase a person’s risk of dementia, but some people with mild cognitive impairment may never get worse.
As the brain enters later life, gradual forgetfulness is to be expected; this includes taking longer to think of a word or to recall a person’s name.
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Consistent or increasing concern over mental performance could be indicative of mild cognitive impairment.
Signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
Signs of MCI, as pointed out by the Mayo Clinic include:
- You forget things more often
- You forget important events such as appointments or social engagements
- You lose your train of thought or the thread of conversations, books or movies
- You feel increasingly overwhelmed by making decisions, planning steps to accomplish a task or understanding instructions
- You start to have trouble finding your way around familiar environments
- You become more impulsive or show increasingly poor judgment
- Your family and friends notice any of these changes
People with mild cognitive impairment may also experience depression, irritability, aggression, anxiety and/or apathy.
“Symptoms of MCI may remain stable for years, progress to Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia, or improve over time,” explained the Mayo Clinic.
Current evidence suggests clumps of protein clumps (plaques and tangles) contribute to MCI.
The strongest risk factor for MCI is increasing age, and having a gene known as APOE e4.
Other health conditions have been linked to an increase in cognitive change, such as:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Elevated cholesterol
- Depression
- Obesity
Lifestyle choices can also put a person at increased risk of MCI, which include:
- Lack of physical exercise
- Infrequent participation in mentally or socially stimulating activities
- Smoking
- Excessive alcohol use
How does mild cognitive impairment (MCI) differ from dementia?
The Alzheimer’s Society stated MCI is “not a type of dementia” as the symptoms aren’t severe enough to significantly interfere with daily life.
“Most healthy people experience a gradual decline in mental abilities as part of ageing,” said the charity.
However, MCI does increase a person’s risk of developing dementia, which could involve becoming lost in familiar places.
The new BBC One series A Perfect Planet will be aired on Sunday, January 3 at 8pm.
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