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The simple statistical fact is, though, that most of us will not get Alzheimer’s disease. Even so, memory problems are as common after thirty-five as bad knees and graying hair. Since this is not likely due to disease, then why isn’t our memory as sharp as it used to be? What about all those things we’ve been told to do, like crosswords and brushing our teeth with our left hand? Do they really work, and if they do, why do they work? Are they just something to do before the inevitable overtakes us? In graceful, accessible language, Halpern answers these questions, visiting brain scanning suites, chemistry labs, mice nurseries, pharmaceutical companies, and scientific meetings, as well as spending time with the doctors and scientists at Columbia University’s Taub Center for Research on Alzheimer’s and the Aging Brain, New York University’s Center for Brain Health, and other leading institutions in the U.S. and abroad. She sits in the examining room as patients are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, is in the lab the residents of a San Francisco retirement village enrolled in a memory retrieval class, happens to be in the lab when the first Alzheimer’s risk gene in a decade is discovered, attends the Memory Olympics, and visits Mars - the candy company, not the planet - where food scientists are working on a chocolate product that they claim has the ability to grow new neurons in the brain. For Halpern, this is as much a personal quest as it is an intellectual journey. Her father had been experiencing serious memory loss before his death, and his doctors couldn’t say if he had Alzheimer’s or not. Frustrated by their uncertainty, and distressed by the memory loss literature that seemed to bounce between the unexamined, easy advice of self-help, and the arcane language of neurology and genetics, Halpern wanted to learn what the cutting-edge scientists were learning. And because there are now many ways to look at the brain, she also made sure hers was thoroughly examined with PET scans, SPECT scans, two kinds of MRIs, and hours of old-fashioned, number 2 pencil-and-paper tests. CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT I FORGOT records Halpern’s travels through this fascinating and fast-changing world. She not only debunks some of the more common myths surrounding Alzheimer’s disease and normal memory loss, she also provides readers with information about important discoveries being made in these fields. Beautifully written, sharply observed, and deeply informed, CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT I FORGOT is full of vital knowledge—and a solid dose of hope. www.HealthNewsDigest.com Top of Page 
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