Have you ever pretended to understand something when you didn’t? I have. Two examples are when I talk to a mechanic about my car and when I talk to “tech support”. I really don’t understand that stuff and I definitely don’t want to learn it, so I just trust them to guide me.
The one place I’ve never done that is in a doctor’s office, but I know a lot of people do the same thing with the doctors that I do with the mechanics and tech support:
1. Wait until you have obvious signs of illness.
2. Schedule an appointment with a doctor.
3. Accept a diagnosis and a prescription without asking many questions.
We’ve all been taught to follow this diagnose and prescribe approach, which may work well for some medical issues, but it doesn’t work at all for Alzheimer’s. If you already have symptoms of cognitive decline, knowing what to ask the doctor is the first step for getting better care.
That’s why I created a document to help you talk with your doctor about Alzheimer’s disease. It’s called 20 Questions for Your Neurologist, and you can ask the same questions to your primary care doctor.
Even if you aren’t talking to doctors right now, you might find it helpful because I also included the answers : ) All you have to do is click on the link above.