Part 1: Recognizing Changes and Getting Answers
Holiday gatherings across the High Desert and Inland Empire bring familiar faces, favorite recipes, and shared memories. They can also bring questions: “Am I forgetting more?” or “Dad seems different since our last visit.”
November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month—a good reminder to approach those questions with curiosity and kindness. Whether you are noticing changes yourself or supporting a parent, getting answers starts with a conversation, not a judgment.
A Forgotten Name—or a Change in Daily Life?
An occasional lapse does not automatically mean dementia. The more useful question is whether changes are becoming persistent or interfering with everyday activities.
Changes that can happen with normal aging
- Taking longer to remember a name, then recalling it later.
- Misplacing your glasses but finding them by retracing your steps.
- Occasionally forgetting an appointment and remembering afterward.
- Needing more time to learn unfamiliar technology.
Changes worth discussing with your doctor
- Getting lost on a familiar route.
- Repeating questions without remembering the answers.
- Struggling to operate a familiar appliance, such as your usual microwave.
- Making new mistakes with medications, bills, or everyday decisions.
- Becoming noticeably confused about time or place.
Look for a pattern rather than drawing conclusions from one stressful holiday afternoon. The Alzheimer’s Association’s 10 early warning signs can help guide that conversation.
Sudden confusion is different from gradual memory loss. Confusion developing over hours or days needs prompt medical assessment. Call 911 for sudden confusion with trouble speaking, facial drooping, weakness, or other possible stroke symptoms.
Your Voice Belongs at the Center of Your Care
If you are worried about your memory, you do not need to wait for someone else to notice.
Try saying: “I’ve noticed a few changes, and I want to understand them. Can we talk about a memory evaluation?”
Write down specific examples and when they began. You can invite someone you trust to your appointment, ask to speak privately with your doctor, or do both.
For adult children, choose a quiet moment rather than raising concerns at the dinner table. Start with an observation: “You mentioned missing your medication twice this week. How has that been feeling for you?”
Ask permission to help. Give your parent time to answer. Avoid quizzing, correcting every mistake, or speaking as though they are not present.
Dementia Has More Than One Cause
Dementia describes changes in thinking that interfere with independent daily life. It is not an inevitable part of aging.
- Alzheimer’s disease often begins with difficulty forming or recalling recent memories and gradually affects other abilities.
- Vascular dementia results from problems with blood flow to the brain, including strokes. Planning, attention, and thinking speed may be affected.
- Lewy body dementia can cause fluctuating alertness, visual hallucinations, movement changes, and dream-enacting behaviors during sleep.
More than one cause can occur together. Symptoms alone cannot reliably identify the type; a clinical evaluation matters. Learn more through the National Institute on Aging’s dementia overview.
Can You Check Your Memory at Home?
A screening tool can help start a discussion, but it cannot diagnose or rule out dementia.
Ohio State offers the free Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination, or SAGE. Follow its instructions independently and bring the completed form to your clinician for interpretation.
Clock drawing is another task sometimes used in clinical screening. A drawing by itself is not a diagnosis. Vision, language, education, and difficulty using a pen can affect performance.
You do not need to pass or fail a home test before asking for help.
What to Expect at a Memory Evaluation With Dr. Moqattash
Your visit begins with your experience: what has changed, how quickly it developed, and how it affects your routine. With your permission, someone close to you may add helpful observations.
Depending on your symptoms, the evaluation may include:
- A health and medication review: Sleep, mood, hearing, alcohol use, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medicines can all matter.
- A brief cognitive assessment: Tools such as the MoCA or MMSE help assess memory and other thinking skills. One score does not establish a diagnosis.
- Blood tests: Vitamin B12 deficiency, thyroid problems, and other treatable contributors may be checked.
- Brain imaging or specialist referral: MRI or CT imaging, more detailed testing, or a specialist consultation may help clarify the cause.
Treating a contributing condition may improve symptoms, even when another memory disorder is also present. These steps reflect the Alzheimer’s Association’s guidance for evaluating cognitive concerns in primary care.
Bring your medication list, glasses, hearing aids, and written examples. The goal is a clear next step you understand and help choose.
Start With One Conversation
Finesse Primary Care offers geriatric care and mental and behavioral health care for adults and seniors across Southern California, including Apple Valley, Victorville, Hesperia, Rancho Cucamonga, and neighboring communities.
Visit our Apple Valley or Rancho Cucamonga office, or begin with a telehealth appointment from the comfort of home. Dr. Moqattash can discuss your concerns and determine which parts of the evaluation require an office visit.
Call (760) 906-9362 to arrange an appointment. You deserve answers, a voice in your care, and support along the way.
