DH not knowing obvious things he used to know

[Cheek2cheek]

Eg that fish are cold blooded and insects have 6 legs. (DH is very intelligent, degree from Oxford, science background).

He’s nearly 50. Is it normal just to forget things that you used to know? It’s worrying me as it reminds me of when my granny (with dementia) forgot that children lose their teeth and had a freak out about DS’s happy smile.

AIBU to be slightly worried?

Millipedes are arthropods. Not relevant but interesting to know.
OP, yes it does sound a little worrying. Is he worried about it?

I once read about a man who went to the doctor concerned because he could 'only' think 3 moves ahead in chess rather than 7 as per usual. He was laughed out of the office. Later he turned out to have Alzheimers and went downhill v quickly. At postmortem his brain was absolutely full of plaques, to the extent that drs were amazed he was functioning as well as he had. The theory was that he'd made such a conscious effort to use his brain, so he wasn't anywhere near as incapacitated as most people would be with that level of plaques.

My point is, degeneration shows up differently in different people and so if anything that's not normal for him is happening, you should get him checked out.

I'm 40 and have an Oxbridge degree. I have forgotten a lot of stuff that I used to know (and wouldn't be able to answer either of those questions). If I'm not interested or don't use the knowledge, it just gets replaced. It's only know that I have a 5 year old that give realised how much I've forgotten. On the other hand, I can still remember all the words to a lot of 90s pop songs.

@Cheek2cheek I agree with what @VickyEadieofThigh has said. I didn't do science past (the equivalent of) GCSEs and my memory is shot to pieces. Utterly crap, but if even I didn't remember that fish were cold blooded I'd be very worried.

This thread has sent me down an internet wormhole and apparently fish are not all cold blooded at all. They are mostly ectotherms but a few species among sharks, tuna and others have apparently evolved some physiological temperature regulation.

It's a specious argument but maybe your husband is just up on recent research OP!

Have you never forgotten something?

And the end of the day the brain is only a type of memory bank (think computer) you cant remember everything when the memory bank is full!

Nothing to worry about.

The main reason I know insects have 6 legs is because of that film Arachnophobia that everyone was terrified of back in the day. I learnt spiders are arachnids because they have 8 legs. That's always stuck with me, probably because of how hyped the film was (think I was about 8 or 9).

I can remember reading that an academic (I think it was Anthony Giddens) who said that they couldn't remember their earlier works or what they were thinking in any detail at the time. They read their earlier works as if they were written by someone else.

Functional memory is different. How to do something is stored differently from remembered knowledge about something.

If you are concerned you need to address this further.

Yes I'd find that worrying. It's the kind of thing I'd count as very common knowledge and I'm not remotely sciency. I'm really surprised by the number of people saying they wouldn't have known insects have 6 legs!

I would expect anyone with an Oxbridge degree to have a large bank of general knowledge and to know that fish are cold blooded, that insects have six legs, that dolphins are mammals, that Antarctica is a continent and the Arctic is not, that Henry VIII had six wives, that Chrysler is an American company and similar without having to think twice.

If someone who had always had that knowledge seemed to be losing it, I'd suggest a check with the GP for B12 and any UTI.

Forgetting an old phone number, or the surname of someone you don't know terribly well, or the fine grained details of a specialist field you no longer work in is another matter.

OP whatever others are suggesting, a scientist forgetting these things by age 50 rather than 80yrs is certainly a concern.
They aren’t things you can forget.

The thing that screwed me up the other day - ticks are arachnids, therefore 8 legs. But their larvae have only 6 legs. What’s all that about then?

I think some people are derailing the thread with talk about how many legs an insect has. The OP is rightly worried about her husband's memory - that's the focus of the thread.

How is his health in general? There is a link between diabetes and cognitive decline. If you are worried I would encourage him to get blood tests for metabolic health and vitamin deficiencis in the first instance...

Just the fact you have posted suggests you are worried and it’s seems outside of what has been normal for others you know.

How agreeable would he be to speaking to his doctor?

Remember that programme 'are you smarter than a 10 year old' I think that just goes to show that people do forget certain things...

Agree with this. Please try to persuade him to see his GP as soon as possible. Hopefully, it will turn out not to be the case and would set your mind at rest, but if not, the earlier it is treated, the better.

I think this could be a concern. I'm 70 and I know these things without having to think about them. If I forgot them I would expect my family to be worried about me.

I think it would be worth trying to persuade your DH to see the GP. Dementia - which I assume is what you are worried about - is not the only cause of memory problems and mental confusion. Medication or a lack of certain vitamins, etc can cause similar symptoms and can be tackled quite easily.

I wish you and your DH well.

Insects and millipedes (and stuff!) are both arthropods.

There are four sorts of arthropods: spiders, crustaceans, insects and millipedes/centipedes.

Please don't derail. The OP has raised valid concerns. I would certainly seek a GP appointment, "insects have six legs" is ingrained general knowledge (for the OPs OH) and it is not normal to forget such things, I would say.

Honestly? If you're worried, get him to the doctors. At his age, there is absolutely no harm in ruling out an infection somewhere as they can cause mental state alterations.

I’d be slightly worried, yes. Try to encourage him to get full bloods done. It could be something simple.

Well when you put it that way it’s different, cold blooded fish and insect legs will seem random and unimportant to almost everyone who reads your post. But him essentially forgetting red means stop in traffic tells a different story.

Has he mentioned anything about his memory?

I apologise.

How does he seem in himself? Have you noticed any other changes for example irritability, sleep disturbance or low mood (depression)? I would be a little concerned about him forgetting those things and possibly keep an eye out for any other worrying symptoms.