4 Reasons You Shouldn't Avoid Talking to Your Doctor About Dementia

Swapping out beef and butter for fish and olive oil — staples of the Mediterranean diet — is another way to keep your mind sharp. Socializing with friends and keeping your brain engaged also help.  

If you’ve noticed your hearing is getting worse, bring it up with your doctor. Researchers have linked hearing loss to dementia in multiple studies, which is why Lon Schneider, M.D., director of the California Alzheimer’s Disease Center, encourages adults who have difficulty hearing to “see whether hearing aids might be helpful.” All too often, people who have trouble communicating with others slip into social isolation, a long-recognized risk factor for dementia. While research is ongoing, the general consensus among experts is that hearing aids can’t hurt, and likely help reduce risk for dementia. 

These lifestyle changes “are really some of our most powerful tools in the arsenal to fight the onset of cognitive decline,” says Richard Isaacson, M.D., a neurologist and director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

2. Some brain changes are a normal part of aging 

AARP’s research found that 6 in 10 adults believe cognitive decline is inevitable with age. This is not the case, but there are some normal brain changes that go hand-in-hand with aging. “And it’s important to be able to know what is normal to be reassured, because these changes rarely affect what you can actually do day to day,” Rosenberg says. 

A slower processing speed is one common change that’s normal. “People tend to be not as quick to process thinking, problem-solving and so forth,” Rosenberg explains. Difficulty with word retrieval is another, “particularly for words that are used less often,” he adds. 

More trouble multitasking is also typical, and there’s no need to fret if you forget where you put your keys or can’t remember what you went upstairs for every now and then. 

“If that’s frequent that could indicate a problem, but plenty of college kids and 30-year-olds have that kind of a deficit occasionally,” says Schneider, who is also a professor of psychiatry, neurology and gerontology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. 

On the flip side, older adults may find that their routine memory, skills and knowledge improve with age, the CDC says. Bottom line: Your health care provider will be able to help you parse out what changes are OK and what needs a closer examination. 

3. An early diagnosis is key

If you do have dementia, there’s no upside to delaying diagnosis. The earlier you know, the more likely you are to benefit from treatments and services available. And according to AARP research, both adults and health care providers see the advantage of an early diagnosis.  

Here’s why: More than 120 different therapies for the most common type of dementia are currently being tested in clinical trials, according to a recent analysis of the Alzheimer’s Association research pipeline — and most target early stages of the disease, before brain damage is more widespread. 

There are also federally approved medicines that can temporarily manage some symptoms of dementia; nearly half of adults surveyed by AARP were unaware of this. In addition, on June 7, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, with much controversy, the first drug that could potentially help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s by removing amyloid plaques, a hallmark of the disease, from the brain. The controversy stems from the fact that many leading experts do not think the scientific evidence is sufficient to justify the drug’s claims or the extremely high price of $56,000 for a year’s worth of treatment. What’s more, the FDA’s approval comes with a condition: The drug’s maker has to conduct another randomized controlled trial to establish more clearly the effectiveness of the drug, which could take years to complete. Public and private insurers still have to determine what conditions patients will have meet to qualify for coverage of the drug.

Another advantage to an early diagnosis: Modifying your lifestyle, even after the disease is identified, can help slow its progression. Finding out sooner rather than later also allows people more time to plan legal and financial futures with family and friends.

“Don’t be afraid to find out. Because if you have memory problems, you usually live with them for many, many years — even decades. And what’s the point of hiding from that?” Rosenberg says. “Generally, memory problems progress very slowly; they’re like glaciers. We can’t really stop the glacier, but they move just a few inches a year. And so you have a lot of time to adjust.” 

4. Your concerns may have nothing to do with dementia 

A brain disorder isn’t the only thing that can cause memory loss, confusion and forgetfulness. Thyroid disease, a vitamin B12 deficiency and untreated sleep apnea, for example, can produce symptoms that mimic dementia, explains Vijay Ramanan, M.D., a neurologist at Mayo Clinic. 

“These are things that can be fairly aggressively intervened upon and actually improved,” Ramanan says. “And so as physicians, we never want to miss opportunities to help our patients if there are reversible causes of cognitive impairment.” 

Depression can also cause problems with cognition; medications can produce similar effects. The most common culprits are opioid painkillers, benzodiazepines (tranquilizers) and over-the-counter drugs that contain antihistamines, Rosenberg says. The American Geriatrics Society keeps an updated list of medications older adults should avoid for this reason and others. 

Rachel Nania writes about health care and health policy for AARP. Previously she was a reporter and editor for WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C. A recipient of a Gracie Award and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, she also participated in a dementia fellowship with the National Press Foundation.