Fading Brain Power

It happens, so they say.  It happens to everyone.  At a certain age you begin to FORGET.  You don’t forget what happened forty years ago.  You forget what happened four minutes ago or what it was you were going to pick up at the store when you get there, or you forget somebody’s name when you encounter them at the store.  I watched my elderly friend, George, go through the same kind of thing, but it seems to me he was much older than me when it began to happen.  He used to say that having lived so many years he had so much on file in his brain that it just naturally took him a little while to find the right file cabinet and then to find the right folder.

When I talk about these “fading brain power” moments with someone younger, they usually attempt to comfort me by saying they do the same thing.  But it isn’t the same thing—because I can and do remember vividly how it was when I was their age.  I would occasionally forget then, but I never forgot the way I forget now! No, this is something different and it is affecting not only me, but a good many of my compadres of similar age.  

Everyone knows from dealing with older folk that this fading memory thing—this forgetfulness thing occurs.  For some it is a real catastrophe (Alzheimer’s, etc.) and for others it is just a slow erosion.  But be of good cheer—the glowing protein of the jelly fish is here! Prevagen, a brain power supplement has come to our rescue just in the nick of time. It is aggressively advertised (showing up on my TV screen 8 or more times last night).  Prevagen is the “best seller” among brain supplements at the moment.  It is said to strengthen the brain, boost brainpower and help an elderly person maintain a healthy cognition.  It is reported to help with memory loss and to improve concentration.  It is a miracle drug!  Baah! This is all fake news.  The pharmaceutical company (Quincy Bioscience) is making millions off elderly people with fading brain power.  

Fake news wins sometimes—and Quincy Bioscience won September 28, 2017 when a lawsuit lodged by the New York Attorney General and the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection was dismissed by a federal judge.  The complaint was “The marketers of Prevagen preyed on the fears of older customers experiencing age-related memory loss.  The critical thing these marketers forgot is that their claims need to be backed up by real scientific evidence.”  By the way, Prevagen is rather pricey, costing more than a week’s worth of groceries, and according to the NY AG “provides none of the health benefits that it claims.”  It irks my soul and my fading brain power when Fake News wins!  More power to the glowing protein of the jelly fish!

Empty chairs and empty tables--but I still remember George and
Earl for their wonderful (though fading) brain power.  Ah! the
stories they could tell!