MARC AGRONIN: Recently, a woman in her 80s came to my office panic-stricken over a diagnosis of dementia.
Her doctor had done a cursory exam of her cognition, bestowed the damning diagnosis, and prescribed twice the recommended starting dose of a medication for her memory.
She then began suffering from severe appetite loss and nausea. Missing from her medical care was any detailed understanding of age-related cognitive changes and the proper dosing and side effects of the prescribed medications.