Los Angeles Times: Misplaced Glasses, Forgotten Names. How to Know When to Worry

The Los Angeles Times recently interviewed Zaldy Tan, MD, MPH, medical director of the Jona Goldrich Center for Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders at Cedars-Sinai, about how to distinguish normal age-related forgetfulness from signs of cognitive impairment.

More than 7 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, which predicts that number will nearly double by 2050.

“I don’t know too many people whose lives have not been touched by memory loss or dementia in some way,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

As director of the Memory and Healthy Aging Program, Tan helps patients assess their risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia and develop strategies to lower that risk. In his new book, What to Remember When You Are Forgetting: How to Live and Thrive With Memory Loss, Alzheimer’s, and Other Dementias, Tan draws on decades of clinical practice and research to explain the many types of memory loss and how they can progress over time.

His goal in writing the book was to help readers understand when forgetfulness isn’t cause for worry, and when it is the right time to seek help.

For those who need help, Tan says an early evaluation is key—not only to guide treatment but also to identify reversible causes of memory problems, including depression, lack of sleep, an underactive thyroid and vitamin B12 deficiency.

Tan also recently wrote articles for Time and Oprah Daily about what comes after a diagnosis: living with dementia and planning for the future.

In the Time article, he noted that although shame often accompanies a dementia diagnosis, he encourages his patients to maintain social connections and relationships.

“I tell them that even with cognitive changes, there is still a lot of life left to be lived—new places to see, new people to meet, new experiences to enjoy,” he wrote.

In the Oprah Daily piece, Tan focused on the importance of communicating and documenting one’s wishes for future care, particularly during the early stages of memory loss.

He wrote that “by investing in some honest introspection, candid communication, and appropriate documentation of one’s wishes, the likelihood of one’s wishes being fulfilled increases, while the risk of future conflict between family members is significantly reduced.”

Read the complete articles from the Los Angeles Times, Time and Oprah Daily.