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Memory Loss and Dementia Treatment in Surat
Assessment and treatment of memory problems, dementia and chronic headache – with practical support for families and caregivers. Ekkyam Clinic, Majura Gate or Karma Clinic, Adajan.
Forgetting where you kept your spectacles is normal. Forgetting that you have already asked the same question four times in an hour is not. The difficulty is that families usually cannot tell the difference, so months or years pass before anyone seeks an assessment.
That delay matters, because a meaningful proportion of memory problems are reversible – caused by vitamin B12 deficiency, thyroid disorder, depression, sleep apnoea or medication side effects – and are missed simply because they were assumed to be old age.
Some causes of memory loss can be corrected. That is why the assessment matters.
Dr. Kalpesh Suryavanshi provides cognitive assessment and dementia treatment in Surat, along with the behavioural management and caregiver guidance that families usually need even more than the diagnosis itself.
Normal Ageing or Something More?
Usually normal ageing
- Occasionally misplacing keys or glasses
- Taking longer to recall a name, then remembering it
- Forgetting one appointment, remembering later
- Being slower at new technology but able to learn it
Needs assessment
- Repeating the same question within minutes
- Getting lost on a familiar route
- Difficulty handling money or paying bills
- Forgetting recent major events entirely
Behaviour changes to note
- Suspicion that family is stealing money
- Personality change, apathy or aggression
- Confusion and agitation in the evening
- Withdrawal from conversation and hobbies
Functional decline
- Unable to cook a meal once cooked routinely
- Neglecting bathing, grooming, clothing
- Leaving the gas on, taps running
- Taking medicines twice or not at all
Memory Loss That Can Be Reversed
Before any diagnosis of dementia is made, these are systematically checked – because treating them can restore cognition substantially:
- Vitamin B12 deficiency – common in Indian vegetarian diets and readily corrected.
- Hypothyroidism – causes slowness, low mood and forgetfulness that reverse with treatment.
- Depression in older adults (pseudodementia) – presents as poor memory and concentration, and improves considerably when the depression is treated.
- Medication effects – sedatives, older antihistamines, some bladder and Parkinson's medicines, and polypharmacy in general.
- Obstructive sleep apnoea – chronic oxygen dips impair memory and attention.
- Alcohol-related cognitive impairment and thiamine deficiency.
- Vitamin D deficiency, anaemia, electrolyte and kidney problems, and uncontrolled diabetes.
- Normal pressure hydrocephalus – memory problems with unsteady walking and urinary incontinence, which is surgically treatable.
Types of Dementia
Alzheimer's disease
The commonest form. Gradual onset, with recent memory affected first while older memories are preserved until later.
Vascular dementia
Caused by strokes or small-vessel disease, often with a step-wise rather than gradual decline. Controlling blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol is central to slowing it.
Lewy body dementia
Fluctuating alertness, visual hallucinations and Parkinsonian features. Certain antipsychotics are dangerous in this type, which is why accurate diagnosis matters.
Frontotemporal dementia
Presents in younger patients with personality change, disinhibition or language difficulty rather than memory loss.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
Measurable decline that does not yet affect independence. Not everyone with MCI progresses to dementia, and this is the stage at which managing risk factors has the greatest value.
The Memory Assessment
- History from the patient and from a family member. The informant's account is essential – patients frequently under-report their difficulties, not out of denial but because the illness affects insight.
- Cognitive testing using standard instruments such as MMSE, MoCA or HMSE, which give a baseline score that later visits can be compared against.
- Blood investigations – B12, thyroid function, vitamin D, haemoglobin, blood sugar, liver and kidney function, and electrolytes.
- Brain imaging – MRI or CT where indicated, to identify strokes, tumours, hydrocephalus or patterns of atrophy.
- Medication review – every current medicine is checked for cognitive side effects, which alone often produces improvement.
- Diagnosis and plan explained to the family, including what to expect and what can be done at each stage.
Treatment and Ongoing Care
Medication
Cholinesterase inhibitors (donepezil, rivastigmine) and memantine do not cure dementia, but they can slow decline and improve day-to-day functioning for a period. Their realistic benefits and limits are explained honestly rather than oversold.
Managing behavioural symptoms
For most families, agitation, suspiciousness, night-time wandering and aggression are harder to live with than the memory loss. These are managed first through non-drug approaches – identifying triggers, fixed routines, adequate light in the evening, treating pain or constipation that the person cannot report – and medication is used at the lowest effective dose only where necessary, given the known risks of antipsychotics in elderly patients with dementia.
Risk-factor control
Blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, hearing loss, physical inactivity, smoking and social isolation are all modifiable factors that influence the rate of cognitive decline. Addressing them is part of the treatment plan, not general advice.
Caregiver support
Caregiver depression and burnout are extremely common and are treated as a clinical concern in their own right. Practical guidance is given on home safety, daily routine, managing repetitive questions without conflict, legal and financial planning while the patient can still participate, and how to arrange respite so that the caregiver does not collapse.
Chronic Headache and Cognitive Complaints
Persistent headache with poor concentration and "brain fog" is a common presentation, and it is frequently not primarily neurological. Chronic tension-type headache is strongly linked to anxiety, depression and disturbed sleep, and improves when those are treated.
Another frequent and under-recognised cause is medication-overuse headache – taking painkillers more than about ten to fifteen days a month produces a headache that the painkillers themselves sustain. The treatment is a supervised withdrawal of the analgesic along with proper preventive treatment.
Headaches with sudden severe onset, fever and neck stiffness, neurological weakness, or onset after age 50 are referred for neurological evaluation rather than managed here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is memory loss just a normal part of getting old?
Some slowing of recall is normal with age, but forgetting recent conversations, repeating questions, getting lost on familiar routes, or being unable to manage money is not. Those changes warrant assessment. Assuming it is 'just age' is the single commonest reason reversible causes are missed.
Can dementia be cured?
Alzheimer's disease and most other degenerative dementias cannot currently be cured, but decline can be slowed with medication and risk-factor control, and quality of life can be improved substantially through behavioural management and caregiver support. Where memory loss turns out to be due to B12 deficiency, thyroid disease, depression or medication, it is often largely reversible – which is why proper assessment matters.
At what point should we bring an elderly parent for assessment?
As soon as a change is noticed rather than after a crisis. Early assessment identifies reversible causes, allows medication to be started when it is most useful, and gives the family time to plan legal and financial matters while the person can still take part in those decisions.
My father is convinced we are stealing his money. Why?
Delusions of theft are one of the most common behavioural symptoms of dementia. They arise because the person cannot remember where they kept something, and the mind supplies an explanation. Arguing or proving otherwise does not help and usually escalates the situation. Practical strategies – a fixed place for valuables, a small decoy amount of cash, calm redirection – work better, and medication is considered only where distress is severe.
Is dementia hereditary?
Most Alzheimer's disease is not directly inherited, though having a close relative with it modestly increases risk. Rare early-onset forms caused by single genes exist but account for a very small proportion of cases. Managing blood pressure, diabetes, hearing loss, activity and smoking influences your risk considerably more than family history does.
Can you help with the strain on the family?
Yes, and it is a core part of the consultation. Caregiver depression, exhaustion and guilt are treated seriously. Guidance covers dividing responsibilities among family members, arranging respite, home safety, and recognising when the caregiver themselves needs treatment.
Do you treat chronic headache?
Yes, where it is linked to stress, anxiety, depression, disturbed sleep or overuse of painkillers – which covers a large proportion of chronic daily headache. Headaches with alarming features or clear neurological signs are referred for neurological evaluation.
Book a Memory Assessment in Surat
If an elderly family member is repeating questions, losing track of money, or has changed in personality, an assessment will identify what is treatable – and a meaningful proportion of memory problems are.
Please bring a list of all current medicines and any previous reports, and have a family member come along.
Ekkyam Clinic – Majura GateC-9, Swaminarayan Complex, Majura Gate, Surat 395002Karma Sex & Psychiatric Clinic – Adajan401, Suhas Building, above Mahalaxmi Juice Center, Adajan, Surat
Dr. Kalpesh Suryavanshi consults at both clinics. Book an appointment on WhatsApp, or call 84602 48445.
Book Appointment 84602 48445