| View Larger Image | Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss | Paperbackby Martha Weinman Lear (Author)
| List Price: | $13.99 | | Price: | $10.07 | | You Save: | $3.92 (28%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Wellness Central | | Edition: | 1st Edition | | Page Count: | 272 Pages | | Publication Date: | March 25, 2009 | | Sales Rank: | 58,968th |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780446699358
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
For any Baby Boomer who has ever said, "Has anyone seen my keys?"..."What did I come in here for?"...or "His name is on the tip of my tongue," WHERE DID I LEAVE MY GLASSES? is the tailor-made book. According to Martha Weinman Lear and the top memory experts she taps in the book, the memory lapses that begin in middle age are typically no cause for alarm. In other words: You're normal! In fact, remembering less in later years is rarely a sign of Alzheimer's or any other scary memory-loss condition. It's just a part of normal aging. On her hunt for answers, Lear explores why names are the first things to go and what can be done about it, why we forget certain things on purpose, why we forget more than our parents did and in which cases our brains are actually doing us a favor by letting go of certain knowledge. Weaving together fascinating insight from psychologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists with rich and often hilarious anecdotes, Lear explores the whys and wherefores of garden-varuiety memory loss, and, in the process, offers reassurance and hope to the millions of forgetful baby boomers. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 20 reviews)
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A reassuring comfort by Marian Mason (Richmond, VA USA)  5 Stars
November 03, 2009
This book is a funny breezy read, but it is also filled with solid scientific insights on normal aging. I've shared the book with several people and they all thought it was terrific.
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The Keys are in the Refrigerator by RebeccasReads.com (Austin, Texas) 5 Stars
June 23, 2009
Reviewed by Enid Grabiner for Rebecca's Reads (6/09)
Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. It is all about me!! Just last night when I was putting on my glasses to search for the book, I placed them over a pair I already had on! My husband, Whatshisname, just laughed and told me I was losing it! Aha, I am not, as Martha Weinman Lear so delightfully explains in her hilarious anecdotal exploration of memory loss. Thank Goodness. It's a bit of good news for us aging baby boomers.
Explaining what is and what is not normal memory loss is the premise of this well written, rapidly readable book. Weinman's well documented "Where Did I Leave My Glasses?" provides findings from biologists, neuroscientists and psychologists that are cleverly providing reasons for why we have memory issues. Also explored are gender-related memories, list retention, name recognition, memory perception and deception. Scientific facts are mixed with easily relatable examples of types of issues we all deal with. What was I just saying? What is his name? Why did I just walk in this room? What did I need at the store?
"Where Did I Leave My Glasses?" by Martha Weinman Lear is the best gift anyone can give to a Baby Boomer friend or relative. These are universal issues presented in a way to reassure and educate those of us who can't seem to remember it well! It's not always Alzheimers.
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About memory for all ages by Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) 5 Stars
June 22, 2009
Lear's book, thankfully, doesn't focus on memory losses associated with age. Her book covers much of the material you would learn in a college course on the psychology of memory, delivered in an entertaining, chatty style.
The most fascinating parts of the book dealt with the different areas of our brain associated with different types of memory and the evolutionary origins of our brainpower. She's not afraid to quote experts who say we were never made to live this long. Some negative effects of aging can be attributed to the loss of functions that were critical for survival, but disappear after the age when our ancestors died. After all, fifty used to be considered elderly. When you read history, it's shocking to realize that many rulers and war heroes of European countries were teenagers.
Lear focuses on normal memory loss, which isn't always age related. When it comes to Alzheimer's, she refers to healthy practices several times in the book. Apparently cholesterol, weight and diabetes all contribute to Alzheimers. Elsewhere, I've read that Alzheimers may actually be a form of diabetes.
Lear adheres firmly to the guidelines of mainstream medicine. On page 225 she refers to the importance of following doctors' orders. She even reports statistics claiming that fewer than 50% of Americans are compliant when it comes to medication for diabetes and hypertension.
This little paragraph doesn't belong in this book. The notion of why people comply can be complex. Other authors have suggested that people are less likely to comply when they don't "own" the solution. Ramo's book, The Age of the Unthinkable, includes an intelligent discussion of why people were compliant for one disease but not another.
Additionally, there are bigger issues about why people get those conditions in the first place. Meditation and exercise help blood pressure. Supermarkets with shelves of frosted cereal are walking invitations to diabetes. Frankly, I'm surprised compliance is greater than 20%, given the challenges of paying for medical care, plus the medical reimbursement system that doesn't allow time to explain exactly what and why you're supposed to do.
Overall, I was impressed with Lear's access to top researchers and her ability to extract useful and interesting information. The book is a welcome alternative to doom-and-gloom discussions of aging.
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Oh No. I'm Looking for My Glasses Again! by L. King (Toronto Canada)  3 Stars
May 25, 2009
This is a light journalistic excursion into the common phenomenon of memory loss. Martha Lear is quite funny in telling of anecdotes and I spent an enjoyable evening reading the book. Not much is said about Alzheimer's disease or dementia so don't think of it as a diagnostic, only a tool to reassure you (or your friends, children or spouse) that you are really quite normal and not prematurely losing your marbles.
That being said read it for the narrative as this is not a serious book on the topic. I've an interest and academic background in applied psychology and the application of cognitive factors has been part of my work life. For the student any good cognitive psychology textbook will give you a better understanding of the differences between short, mid, long term and episodic memory as well as a classification of memory related errors.
There is however a great quote by Dr. Daniel Schacter (who also writes on the subject of memory) "Memory is probably more about the future than it is about the past". I may pick up one of his books next.The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers looks fairly interesting.
4 stars as a gift perhaps or a light read, 2 for serious content. To compliment this I also recommend folk singer Christine Lavin's song "Oh No (I'm looking for my glasses again)" from her album "Please Don't Make Me Too Happy" - not available at Amazon but you can find it on the web and I recommend it and her.
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book by Adeline M. Chambers 5 Stars
January 30, 2009
Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Lossi bought this book as a gift for a friend. she enjoyed it and i may have to borrow it t read also.
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