Not all memory loss is Alzheimer’s. Some of it is treatable. Some of it is not even dementia at all. Seven reversible causes.
This video is for anyone who is worried about their own memory, or watching someone they love begin to slip. The default fear is Alzheimer’s. The default assumption is that what is happening cannot be undone. Sometimes that is true. Often it is not.
We walk through seven reversible causes that can produce a dementia-like picture: B12 deficiency, hypothyroidism, normal pressure hydrocephalus, subdural hematoma, depression (pseudo-dementia), untreated sleep apnea, and medication side effects. Each of them is treatable. Some are easily reversed. Each gets missed often enough to be specifically asked about before a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is locked in.
You will leave with a framework for the conversation: three questions to bring to the doctor’s appointment, the tests and imaging that complete a workup, and the language to ask without telling the doctor their job.
Hope is grounded in mechanism, not in optimism. The seven causes here are the mechanism.
A note on this content. The Healthy Mind is a place for medical education, not medical advice. Watching this channel does not create a doctor-patient relationship. If something in this video resonates with you, that recognition is meaningful. The next step is a conversation with your own physician, who knows your full clinical history and can address your specific situation. No video can substitute for the care of someone who has examined you. Patient examples shared on this channel are composites or representative clinical patterns; identifying details have been changed. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or your local emergency services immediately. Dr. Steven Resnick
CHAPTERS
0:00 Not all memory loss is Alzheimer’s
0:25 Helen: a family grieving the wrong loss
1:30 What dementia actually is, and why this video matters
2:15 The seven reversible causes (overview)
3:00 Nutrient deficiencies: B12 and hypothyroidism
4:00 Structural causes: NPH and subdural hematoma
5:15 What commonly gets missed: depression, sleep apnea, medications
6:30 The reframe
7:00 Three questions to bring to the doctor
7:45 Helen’s outcome
8:15 Close
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