Pat Summitt is a legendary coach and achiever. She has won more major college basketball games than any other coach in the history of the game. She announced yesterday that she has had memory problems, at least over the past year. Furthermore, she announced that she has a family history of dementia. Her story will hopefully encourage others to seek early assessment and treatment for memory issues.

However, the condition she described is not a dementia. Dementia means cognitive impairment that compromises the ability to work and live independently. Ms. Summitt would not be able to continue to coach if she were already demented. Her condition would be more appropriately referred to as a confusional state or forgetfulness. She is still in control of her future and can plan to compensate for memory changes and continue to work. She has a substantial risk of becoming demented in time. I am concerned that using the word dementia in articles written about her will scare others from seeking assessment as there is an implication of hopelessness.

It is interesting how we tend to avoid assessing the health of our memory. It is common to get annual physicals but people shy away from assessing how their memory is actually working. A thorough memory assessment should be as routine as an annual physical. There is so much you can do if you catch changes early when you are still in control of your future. I hope Ms. Summitt’s revelation helps us all treat our memory as we would our blood sugars. It is important to assess, monitor, and make a proactive plan to protect your future.

If you are 60 or older, have a memory assessment – not a screening – by a memory expert. If you have significant risk factors such as family history (especially with early onset) or past head injury, consider assessing your memory at an earlier age. This establishes a baseline for future monitoring. Early in the course of progressive memory disorders, memory may be better than norms but poorer than is used to be. For example, a client came to me for a memory assessment because of having Alzheimer’s disease in her family. On the first assessment, she was able to recall all of the words from a long list. Over the course of the next ten years, we monitored her memory and it progressively declined to the point of her having a normal memory – a progressive decline. We would never have known if we did not have a baseline and compared scores over the succeeding years.

I often hear that there is no point knowing as there is nothing you can do. Ms. Summit proves this wrong. She is acting before she forgets that she forgets. She is planning strategies for working longer than if she just let things happen because she did not sit back and wait. She is taking control while she still can. Hopefully, her plan includes directions for living a good life even when she can no longer coach and she can make the decision of when it is time to retire rather than be told it’s time. I hope she provides a role model for early detection and proactive planning. Memory assessments are as necessary as annual physicals.