Can thyroid problems worsen your memory and concentration?
A clearly underactive or overactive thyroid can noticeably affect your memory, concentration and mood. With mild thyroid problems that link is far less clear, so have your complaints investigated by your doctor before drawing conclusions.
With a clearly underactive thyroid, memory and concentration complaints are well documented. Treatment with levothyroxine improves these complaints in most cases, but recovery is sometimes incomplete, particularly in milder forms of thyroid underactivity. A combination treatment with levothyroxine and an additional thyroid hormone (T3) has not shown convincing additional benefit.
An overactive thyroid plays out very differently: in a study of patients with Graves' disease, 89% of patients in the overactive phase suffered from mental fatigue, compared with 14% in the control group. After treatment, these complaints decreased significantly.
With mild, so-called subclinical thyroid underactivity, in which laboratory values deviate only slightly, the picture is unclear. A meta-analysis found an increased risk of cognitive problems at higher TSH values, but only in people with a strongly elevated TSH. A Korean study of 1,400 patients found no difference in cognitive profile or progression to dementia. Mild, subclinical overactivity likewise showed no association with cognitive decline or dementia in a large analysis of tens of thousands of adults.
An interesting side note: people who knew they had thyroid disease reported memory and mood complaints more often, even when their thyroid was functioning normally at the time. Some of the complaints may therefore not be a direct consequence of the thyroid disorder itself, but of other causes. Routine screening for subclinical thyroid problems in older adults with cognitive complaints is being called into question by recent large-scale research.
Based on multiple observational studies, meta-analyses and one large individual-participant-data analysis. For overt hypo- and hyperthyroidism, the association with cognitive complaints is plausibly causal; for subclinical forms, the evidence remains limited and contradictory.
When should I be concerned about memory problems?
Not every instance of memory loss is worrying, but certain signs deserve prompt medical attention: sudden deterioration, the combination of memory and smell problems, or complaints that are already affecting daily life are reasons to call your general practitioner.
Does fasting or eating less help your memory and concentration?
There are cautious indications that eating considerably less may improve your memory, but the evidence is still thin. Healthy people looking to improve their concentration cannot rely on fasting as a proven strategy.
What are the causes of memory loss?
Memory loss has many possible causes that differ greatly from one another. If you suddenly develop memory problems, always have them assessed by a doctor so that a treatable cause is not missed.
What does your estrogen level do to your memory and concentration?
Oestrogen has a measurable influence on memory and concentration, and the decline during perimenopause is accompanied by temporary cognitive complaints in many women. Whether hormone therapy reverses this depends on timing and individual circumstances; discuss this with your doctor if it is affecting you.
Does creatine also help with memory and concentration?
Creatine can improve your memory, but mainly if you are older, vegetarian, or your brain is under pressure. If you are a young, healthy meat-eater who sleeps well, the effect is small to negligible.
Why does your memory work less well as you get older?
Memory loss with ageing is a normal biological process with multiple clearly demonstrated causes, but you can slow it down: regular exercise and mental activity have the strongest evidence base.