To send a link and summary of this article to a friend, click here . Until recently, accounts of herbs improving intelligence and memory were regarded as whimsies of folklore. Now we know better. Scientists are learning that herbs can help us think better. Researchers are also dispelling a few myths about memory loss and aging.
Medical experts know that in older people, being run-down or tired can lead to confusion.
And increased anxiety can contribute to problems by cluttering up memory channels. And this is a problem because the brain requires 20 percent of the total oxygen carried in the blood to function properly. While it is true that you normally forget more things as you grow older, only about 10 percent of North Americans over 65 suffer from true senility or memory-loss disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. The good news, according to Stanford University psychiatrist Jerome Yesavage, M.D., is that most memory loss resulting solely from age can be prevented. A study funded by the National Institute on Aging in which a group of people were charted for 28 years found that many showed no intellectual decline at all, even after they were well into their seventies.