By UTMB’s Dr. Victor Sierpina: People are living longer than they once did. Society is faster and ever changing. These factors accentuate the problems with loss of function in the aging person. Perhaps no other condition is so feared in our minds as dementia, which includes Alzheimer’s and other types. It is estimated that over 5 million Americans over 65 suffer from Alzheimer’s and more than 60 percent are women. Short term memory is affected early and most severely though, while long term memory may be preserved a surprisingly long time. Many age-related changes in memory and cognition can be normal and benign. In my practice, patients often come in highly concerned about a sense of “slipping.”They worry excessively that these occurrences are part of an inevitable slide into Alzheimer’s. Certainly, if you or a family member has such concerns, have your physician or another health care professional administer a screening test for dementia. A scale called Functional Assessment Staging of Alzheimer’s disease, or FAST, is useful, as it grades several stages of function. This might give you an idea where someone in your acquaintance falls on the spectrum of function.