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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.  TIPS FOR TALKING TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT DEMENTIA WHEN TO TALK: You can bring it up at any time — even in the absence of symptoms — but it’s especially

important to raise the issue if you or a family member have noticed aspects of your memory, thinking or behavior are different than they used to be.  “And recognize that that concern

doesn’t need to own you. It’s something that can be looked into to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to keep folks as good as they can be,” Mayo Clinic’s Ramanan says.    WHAT TO

SAY: Give your health care provider a general idea of how your days are different now, compared to before.   “Are there things that you used to be able to do that you struggle with now?

Getting a sense of what the biggest change is can often be very helpful as we try to triage the potential cause for the change,” Ramanan says.  WHO TO BRING: Johns Hopkins’ Rosenberg

strongly advises that people who have questions about their cognitive health bring an “informant” to their appointment. “You need another person besides yourself,” he says. A family member

is ideal, he adds, because they can fill the physician in on family history as well as the patient’s history.   WHAT TO EXPECT: Your primary care doctor will likely follow up on your

concerns with some screenings. This could mean blood work or imaging tests to see if your cognitive issues are due to another disease or condition. Or your doctor may look through all of

your medicines to rule out side effects from drugs.  There are also tests that assess memory, thinking and problem-solving abilities — so don’t be afraid to ask your doctor about them, says

Isaacson of Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Medicare now covers a cognitive assessment for beneficiaries at the yearly wellness visit. _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._