2. Symptoms may be treatable
If an initial screening raises some red flags, a follow-up will help your provider get a better idea of what’s causing the thinking and memory issues. It could be dementia, or it could be something else entirely.
Depression, sleep disturbances, a vitamin deficiency — even an infection — can cause symptoms that mimic cognitive impairment or early dementia, like trouble concentrating, remembering and learning new things. Unlike dementia, however, some of these causes are “eminently reversible” once they are identified and treated, says Ardeshir Hashmi, M.D., a geriatrician and section chief of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Geriatric Medicine, “meaning the memory can actually get better.”
Medications are another big contributor to cognitive complications. Common culprits include opioid painkillers, benzodiazepines (tranquilizers) and over-the-counter drugs that contain antihistamines. The American Geriatrics Society keeps an updated list of drugs that older adults should avoid for this reason and others.
3. An early diagnosis opens more doors
Some people avoid screenings due to fear of diagnosis. But if you do have dementia — and about 1 in 7 Americans (13.9 percent) over the age of 70 do — diagnosing it early is best.
One reason: A handful of medications may be able to help to temporarily improve your dementia symptoms, and “you want to have those medications on board early,” Hashmi says, to better your chances of benefiting from them.
What’s more, ongoing research shows that drugs being tested to hopefully stop or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, aren’t helpful in the moderate and more advanced stages. “The chance of these things working is going to be at the beginning,” Kremen says. “So it’s going to really behoove everybody — potential patients, primary care doctors — to jump on this early.”
A confirmed diagnosis also means access to medical benefits, more opportunities to participate in clinical trials, and a chance to plan ahead with friends and family. “Early detection is a very positive thing. It’s when we don’t bring this up and we let it languish for our own fears, when we give in to those, [that] it actually becomes damaging,” Hashmi says.
4. You can learn how to reduce risks
Bringing up brain-health concerns with your doctor paves the way for a conversation about how to reduce your risks for developing dementia in the first place. A few of dementia’s big risk factors are out of an individual’s control — take age and genetics, for example. But research has revealed that there are numerous things individuals can do — or stop doing — that may impact their odds of developing the disorder.
“We are used to a silver bullet, a medication that we’ll be able to take and it’ll reverse things,” Hashmi says. “And this is a little bit different. Here, the emphasis really needs to be on prevention because we don’t have a cure.”
Some of these lifestyle changes include:
- Controlling high blood pressure
- Managing blood sugar
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Eating a healthy diet
- Staying mentally and physically active
- Staying connected with family and friends
- Treating hearing problems
- Sleeping well
- Preventing head injuries
- Drinking less alcohol
- Staying away from tobacco
