Don’t forget, the young get memory lapses too

IF you think memory problems are the preserve of the elderly, forget it – young people frequently struggle to remember things too.

A study shows that those in their 20s often forget why they entered a room or where they put their keys.

And more than half struggle to find the right word once a week.

The Edinburgh University researchers said people should not worry that memory lapses are the first sign of dementia because they have them when they are young.

Laura McWhirter, a neuropsychiatrist, quizzed 124 healthy adults aged from 18 to 59 on how good they thought their memory was.

Just 13 per cent rated it as “excellent”, 39 per cent said their memory was worse than five years ago and 24 per cent felt it was worse than others of the same age.

And 56 per cent were scared of developing dementia, including 13 per cent “very afraid”, the journal CNS Spectrums reports.

Half the volunteers, average age 27, said they forget why they enter a room at least once a week and 40 per cent misplace their mobile phone at least weekly. Some 48 per cent forget to buy items once a week, 21 per cent struggle to find their keys and 18 per cent have a blank over their PIN number. And once a month an absent-minded 33 per cent fail to recall where they have left their car or bike.

Dr McWhirter said memory lapses are “just a function of how the brain works”, adding: “If you are doing lots of different things and not concentrating when you get in and just put your keys down somewhere, you may well forget where you have put them.

“Don’t worry about these things because they are normal.”

Dr McWhirter said those with early stages of dementia tend to be unaware of lapses. In contrast, a healthy person can remember that they forgot their keys last week.