Not all forgetfulness is a sign of Alzheimer's, experts say; Baby Boomers often unnecessarily worried by minor lapses

• Here's a phenomenon Judy Ashby observes when she runs her Alzheimer's Association booth at health fairs around Utah: Middle-aged women tend to keep their distance and middle-aged men will make a nervous joke.
• Baby boomers --- whose senior members suddenly find themselves on the cusp of old age --- are uneasy about the prospect of losing their memories, says Ashby.
• Tonic," and publishers have found a lucrative market with can-do books like "Total Memory Workout."
• "They come in here and think they have memory loss," says Salt Lake City physician Fred Gottlieb about his patients in their 40s and 50s.
• Doctors and researchers point out that forgetting where you've put your glasses is not a sign of dementia, but that "if you don't remember you wear glasses, that's when you have problems," as University of Utah professor Raymond Kesner says.
• People typically become more forgetful as they age, perhaps because of cell loss in regions like the parietal cortex, the area that helps you remember the word "cortex" instead of having your mind go blank.
• The association notes that the disease may be genetic and eventually inevitable for many people (currently, 50 percent of people who reach age 85 have diagnosed Alzheimer's, according to the association) but that certain life choices can delay its appearance.
• Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods such as walnuts, flax seeds and cold-water fish like salmon, and in fish oil supplements.
• As for other supplements, the ones with hopeful names like "Deep Thought" and "Brain Pep" --- so far, says Kesner, no herbs have proved to definitely improve memory.
• Alzheimer's drugs already on the market only help about 30 to 40 percent of patients, says Ashby.