The CDC reports that over 15 million Americans suffer from reduced cognitive function. Although cognitive problems mainly affect those aged over 65, still, even children and young people can be affected. Psychiatric Consultants of Atlanta can help identify issues that can interfere with your cognitive skills.
You may be the right person to undergo cognitive testing whether or not you have symptoms. Your health provider often recommends cognitive testing to determine the brain’s ability to concentrate, process, and store information. The test can also help evaluate your ability to reason verbally and deductively.
If results show some parts of your brain are not operating normally, your doctor will devise the right remedy. Effective treatments can help boost brain function and processes. Apart from aging, below are some conditions that can contribute to a decline in cognitive skills.
Vascular diseases
All the parts of your brain are connected to blood vessels that provide essential nutrients and eliminate toxic products. The normal working of the brain’s blood vessels can be affected if you have a vascular disease blocking or limiting blood flow.
Consequently, the different sections of your brain will not get enough supply of nutrients or elimination of toxic substances. That can lead to impaired cognitive ability. You may also have cognitive problems because vascular diseases affect the structure of the brain’s blood vessels.
Problems affecting sleeping habits or patterns
During sleep, your brain and the rest of your body cooperate to help dispose of waste products. Toxins accumulate mostly in the brain during the daytime when the brain’s activity level is higher.
Sleeping also allows your brain time to cement memories and make sense of new or complex information. Without sufficient sleep at night, you will have an unhealthy brain, leading to a decline in cognitive skills. CDC recommends that your night’s sleep last 7 hours or more to achieve optimal brain health.
Several common sleep issues or disorders can make you sleep for fewer hours or have a night of poor-quality sleep. The usual sleep issues include sleep apnea and insomnia.
For instance, when you have sleep apnea, you have inadequate airflow in your nasal airways during sleep. The starting and stopping of air intake allow you to wake up partially to gasp for air. This process can occur several times until you finally wake up in the morning.
Some medications
If you use some medications, you can experience impaired cognitive skills symptoms. Medications that can change the chemical composition and working of your brain are anticholinergic, cardiac, insomnia, or mood medications. Chemotherapy drugs and anti-pain medications can also lead to degenerating cognitive skills.
For that reason, avoid using medications that your doctor does not prescribe. Moreover, if you use prescribed medications, adhere strictly to the doctor’s instructions.
A decline in your cognitive ability can also result from a condition affecting the working of thyroid glands. Insufficient levels of certain vitamins, like vitamin B12, in the body can also cause memory changes.
Contact Psychiatric Consultants of Atlanta today to schedule an appointment for cognitive testing and learn if you can get a memory boost.