However, experts warn that poor memory normally foreshadows certain diseases -- in the worst, but not the least cases, senile dementia.

Four percent of the forgetful fifty-something -- who account for 70 percent of their age group -- are suffering from senile dementia, said sources attending an international seminar on amnesia and senile dementia in this capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

Experts have also found senile dementia makes up a half of all the mental disturbances affecting 10 percent of those above 65.

Treatment of senile dementia was recognized by scientists worldwide as difficult, said Dr. Ericsson, a world-renowned neurologist and the personal doctor of former US President Ronald Reagan.

Ericsson now leads the largest medical and biological center in the United States, Texas Medical Center, which has a long history of research in senile dementia.

Western medical scientists had made no major breakthroughs in senile dementia treatment and the best they could do was to prevent the disease from worsening, said Ericsson, who believes a better solution may lie in traditional Chinese medicine.

During his stay in Hangzhou, Ericsson accepted a special gift from a local pharmaceutical company on behalf of Reagan's office --China's first remedy for the treatment of senile dementia, and launched a Hangzhou-Ericsson institute for joint neurobiology studies.

Experts attending the seminar warned that prevention is by far the best way to conquer senile dementia, and forgetfulness is the first and foremost symptom of the disease, which has been termed as the third most common killer disease.

Even the forgetful twenties and thirties should take action to prevent the disease, which may affect them later on, they said.

Doing exercises, cutting salt intake, staying away from cigarettes and alcohol and getting along with people were all effective ways to avoid amnesia, said experts.

Learning foreign languages was also helpful to improve a person's memory, they added.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2002)