---

Episode Summary

If you have ever lost a word mid-sentence or blanked on why you walked into a room, your mind may have jumped straight to the worst-case scenario. You are not alone. For women in perimenopause and postmenopause, those cognitive hiccups can feel alarming, especially when dementia runs in the family. In this episode we break down the most common types of dementia in plain, approachable language so you can tell the difference between a temporary hormonal shift and something that truly deserves a closer look.

Understanding the types of dementia is not about feeding fear. It is about replacing fear with clarity. When you know what each type actually looks like, you stop catastrophizing every forgotten name and start making informed decisions instead. We also walk through the red flags that separate normal aging and menopause brain fog from genuine warning signs, and we share new research showing that a surprising percentage of dementia risk may actually be within your control.

By the end of this conversation you will have a practical framework, plus five concrete steps you can take this week whether you are worried about your own brain health or supporting someone you love. This is part one of a two-part series, so stay tuned for a deeply personal follow-up episode next week.

---

Why This Episode Matters for Women in Midlife

Cognitive changes during the menopausal transition are well documented in research. However, most women never hear the reassuring part of the story. Large longitudinal studies show that the dip in verbal memory many women experience during perimenopause tends to bounce back after the transition is complete. Brain imaging research suggests the brain is actively adapting, not simply declining.

Still, dementia itself is very real, and women are affected at higher rates. That is why learning the different types of dementia matters so much. A vague label like “memory trouble” can lead to the wrong medications, the wrong caregiving plan, and missed opportunities to treat conditions that are actually treatable. In this episode we unpack why the specific type changes everything.

What You Will Learn About Types of Dementia

We cover the five major categories you are most likely to encounter, from the most common form that accounts for roughly two-thirds of cases to an under-recognized type where certain medications can cause dangerous reactions. Each one has a distinct pattern, and recognizing those patterns can be life-changing for you or someone you care about.

Beyond the types of dementia themselves, we also explore why midlife is the ideal window to take action. Recent evidence points to over a dozen modifiable risk factors, and the protective habits you build now can pay dividends for decades to come. One overlooked risk factor in particular deserves a spot on every woman’s health checklist, and it is probably not the one you would guess.

Key Takeaways

• Menopause brain fog is usually temporary. Long-term research shows that most women’s cognitive scores return to baseline after the menopausal transition, so that word-finding trouble is more likely a hormonal shift than a preview of dementia.
• Dementia is not one disease. Just as you would ask “what kind?” with a cancer diagnosis, the specific type of dementia determines treatment, safety, and caregiving strategy.
• Self-awareness is actually a reassuring sign. If you notice your own cognitive slips and they bother you, that awareness suggests a healthy, self-monitoring brain rather than an early warning of decline.
• A significant portion of dementia risk is modifiable. Movement, sleep, blood sugar management, cardiovascular health, hearing protection, and social connection all play a role in reducing your risk.
• A quick memory screen is not a full workup. Advocating for comprehensive evaluation, including detailed testing and imaging when appropriate, can uncover treatable causes that mimic cognitive decline.
• Persistence is protective, not difficult. Speaking up at medical appointments, asking follow-up questions, and requesting referrals can change the entire course of care for you or a loved one.

Separating Normal Aging From Genuine Red Flags

One of the most empowering sections of this episode digs into where the lines fall. Normal aging might look like temporarily blanking on a name and then remembering it later. Menopause brain fog layers on top of that with word-finding issues, slower processing speed, and mental fuzziness that tends to improve over time. True red flags, on the other hand, involve a pattern of increasing frequency, progression, and interference with daily life. We walk through specific examples so you can gauge where your own experience falls.

Understanding these distinctions matters because it is easy to take a statistic about late-life risk and accidentally turn a midlife word-finding moment into a belief that you are on a direct path to decline. The current research does not support that leap. What it does support is using midlife as a launchpad for the protective habits that make a measurable difference later.

The Overlooked Risk Factor Worth Adding to Your Checklist

Dementia prevention conversations often focus on exercise, nutrition, and sleep, and rightly so. Yet one of the largest modifiable risk factors rarely makes the headline: untreated hearing loss. Research has identified it as a significant contributor to cognitive decline, and a simple hearing evaluation is one of the easiest action items you can put on your calendar. Supporting your hearing is supporting your brain.

Five Steps You Can Take This Week

Rather than giving you a list that collects dust, this episode offers five doable action steps designed to move you from worry to clarity within days. Whether you are concerned about your own cognition or watching a parent or partner change, these steps will help you document what you are noticing, ask the right questions at medical appointments, and advocate effectively for the people you love. Each step is simple on its own, yet together they form a powerful foundation for informed decision-making about brain health.

---

Resources and Links Mentioned

• The SWAN Study (Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation)
• 2024 Lancet Commission report on dementia risk factors

Products I Recommend

I only recommend products and tools I personally use or have thoroughly vetted. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps keep this podcast running.

• FullScript Dispensary for professional-grade supplements at a discount
• Function Health for comprehensive lab testing that puts your numbers in your hands

---

Subscribe and Stay Connected

If this episode helped you see a clearer path forward, I would love for you to subscribe so you never miss an update. Leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women find this information when they need it most. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook at The Healthy Life Approach for daily brain health tips, behind-the-scenes content, and community conversation. Share this episode with a friend who is navigating her own brain fog or caring for aging parents, because sometimes the most powerful gift you can give someone is the relief that comes from finally understanding the different types of dementia and what to do next. 

Disclaimer

Kristen Beasley is a health coach, not a licensed medical professional. This podcast is for education and informational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please talk with your physician or a qualified healthcare provider about your personal situation. Always vet health information carefully, especially when considering new treatments or supplements. This podcast and show notes may include affiliate links. If you purchase through those links, Kristen may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, which helps support the show. As an Amazon Associate, she earns from qualifying purchases.

Full Transcript

Imagine you’re out at brunch with your daughter. She brings up your family’s blueberry muffin recipe, and you’re smiling… until your brain suddenly does something that feels impossible. For a moment, you can’t pull up her name. Not the recipe. Her name. It feels like it’s hovering right there, and still you can’t grab it. And in that split second, your stomach drops and your mind jumps to the scariest conclusion: Is this how dementia begins?

If you’re in perimenopause or postmenopause and you’ve had moments like that, I want you to hear this upfront. For most women, the research is reassuring. Menopause-related brain fog is real, and it can feel unsettling, but the best long-term evidence we have suggests it’s usually temporary. Your brain isn’t “going.” It’s adjusting.

Hi, and welcome back to the Healthy Life Approach podcast. My name is Kristen Beasley, and I am a certified functional medicine, nutrition, and brain health coach.

At the same time, dementia is also real. Women are affected in higher numbers, and learning how to tell the difference between menopause brain fog, normal aging, and true warning signs is one of the most empowering things you can do. Because when you understand what’s happening, fear loosens its grip. And that matters more than people realize, because anxiety about cognitive symptoms can actually make those symptoms worse. So clarity isn’t just comforting. It’s practical.
Today is part one of a two-part series on dementia. In this episode, we’re going to cover four big things: why learning about dementia can reduce fear instead of increasing it; the five most common dementia types in plain language; the red flags that separate normal aging and perimenopause brain fog from something that deserves medical attention; and five concrete steps you can take this week if you’re worried about yourself or someone you love.

This episode is especially for you if you’re in midlife and wondering what’s “normal,” or if you’re a caregiver, an adult child watching a parent change, or part of what people call the sandwich generation. I joined that group in 2017, when my parents moved to Auburn so my dad could live in Memory Care. At the time, I was working full-time, raising three teenagers, and trying to help my parents navigate a world that was changing fast. That experience reshaped how I think about brain health and why accurate information matters.

Quick and important note before we go further. This is education only. I’m a health coach, not a licensed medical professional. Nothing here is medical advice, and nothing here can diagnose anyone. If you have serious concerns, please ask for a full evaluation from qualified clinicians.

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: menopause, brain fog, and the fear of Alzheimer’s. If you’ve been losing words mid-sentence, rereading the same email because it won’t stick, walking into a room and forgetting why you’re there, or feeling like your brain is running on slow Wi-Fi, you’re not alone. And it makes sense that your mind would go to the worst-case scenario, especially if dementia runs in your family.

Here’s what the science says. One of the largest long-term studies tracking women through the menopausal transition, the SWAN study, found that many women experience a dip in certain cognitive skills during perimenopause, especially verbal memory. But for most women, those scores return to their earlier baseline after menopause.
Brain imaging research has found something equally interesting: during this transition, the brain appears to be actively adapting. In other words, it’s not just “declining.” It’s working around a shifting hormonal environment and, in many cases, showing signs of recovery after the transition is complete.

And when large menopause organizations summarize the data, they generally arrive at a similar conclusion: the vast majority of women remain within normal cognitive ranges throughout the transition. So, for around nine out of ten women, what feels like cognitive decline in perimenopause is more like a temporary recalibration.

There’s also a key difference that doesn’t get talked about enough: awareness. If you are intensely aware of your slips, if you notice them quickly and they bother you, that self-awareness is actually reassuring. People in the earlier stages of many dementias often do not recognize their deficits the way you do. Family members notice first. So if you’re thinking, Why am I noticing every little thing? Part of the answer is: because your brain is monitoring itself, which is something healthy brains do.

Does that mean you should ignore your concerns? No. I’m not here to tell you to brush it off. I’m here to help you understand what dementia actually looks like, so you can push for answers when you need them and release fear when you don’t.

Now, we also have to be honest about risk. A major study published in early 2025 estimated that the lifetime risk of developing dementia between ages 55 and 95 is higher than older estimates, around the low 40-percent range overall, and even higher for women who live into their 90s. That number can feel like a punch to the chest when you first hear it.

But don’t stop the story there, because the next part matters just as much. A 2024 report that pulled together a huge amount of evidence identified 14 modifiable risk factors and estimated that close to half of dementia cases might be preventable or delayable through changes we can actually make. Things like movement, sleep, blood sugar management, blood pressure, and cardiovascular health, hearing protection and treatment, social connection, and more.
And here’s another layer that affects how I think about all of this. Recently, it became clear that one of the most influential Alzheimer’s research papers of the last couple of decades was tied to fabricated data. It shaped funding priorities and pushed the field hard in one direction. That paper was eventually retracted. The takeaway for you isn’t to lose trust in science. It’s important to remember that “the story” of dementia is still being refined, and the evidence for prevention and risk reduction deserves to be front and center.

So yes, risk is real, especially as we age. And yes, women have higher rates largely because we live longer, and risk increases dramatically after the mid-80s. But there’s also a lot you can do, and you’re not powerless here.

Let’s define what we’re even talking about. Dementia isn’t one disease. It’s a syndrome, meaning a cluster of symptoms that reflect a severe decline in thinking abilities that interferes with day-to-day life. Memory can be part of it, but dementia can also involve language, planning, judgment, personality, behavior, and movement.

If you want a simple comparison, think about the word “cancer.” If someone says, “She has cancer,” you immediately ask, “What kind?” because the type changes the treatment, the outlook, and what you do next. Dementia is the same. The type matters. Mislabeling it can lead to the wrong medications, the wrong caregiving plan, and missed opportunities to treat issues that are treatable.

So let’s walk through the five major categories you’re most likely to hear about.

First: Alzheimer’s disease. This is the most common cause of dementia, making up roughly two-thirds of cases. In Alzheimer’s, abnormal protein changes in the brain build up over time and gradually disrupt communication between brain cells, eventually leading to cell damage and death.

The classic early pattern is short-term memory loss that shows up in everyday life. It’s not just forgetting a detail now and then. It’s repeating the same questions, forgetting recent conversations, struggling to keep track of what happened yesterday, while memories from decades ago can remain surprisingly clear. Over time, language becomes harder to manage, managing money gets harder, navigating familiar places becomes risky, and decision-making can decline.
One simple “anchor” to remember here is this: memory loss that interferes with daily life is not the same thing as normal aging. Misplacing your keys is common. Forgetting what the keys are for is a different category. And it’s also different from perimenopause brain fog, where you might blank on a word, then it pops back later, and you can still track your life, your responsibilities, and your routines.
Second: Lewy body dementia. This one is under-recognized and often misdiagnosed, and the correct diagnosis really matters for safety. It involves abnormal protein deposits in the brain called Lewy bodies.

There are three big signs to listen for. One is vivid visual hallucinations that can be extremely detailed, like seeing people, animals, or children who aren’t there. Another is fluctuating thinking and attention, the “good day, bad day” pattern, sometimes even “good hour, bad hour.” And a third is movement changes that can look similar to Parkinson’s, along with sleep issues, including acting out dreams during REM sleep. Sometimes those sleep symptoms show up years before a dementia diagnosis is made.

And here’s the safety point: certain commonly used medications can cause severe reactions in people with Lewy body dementia. That’s why it’s not enough to accept a vague label like “some kind of dementia.” Specific evaluation matters.

Third: vascular dementia. This is tied to brain blood flow problems, such as major strokes, small strokes, or long-term damage to blood vessels. The early signs aren’t always memory-first. Instead, people may struggle with planning, organization, processing speed, attention, and problem-solving.

A pattern you’ll often hear described is a stepwise decline: a clear drop after a vascular event, then a plateau, then another drop. That contrasts with the more gradual slope people often associate with Alzheimer’s.

Risk factors include high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and smoking history. And the hopeful part is that vascular dementia is among the most preventable types, because so many risk factors are modifiable. Heart health truly is brain health.

Fourth: frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. This affects areas of the brain tied to personality, social judgment, emotional regulation, and language. And because of that, it can look like a dramatic personality shift. Someone may become impulsive, rude, inappropriate, apathetic, or emotionally blunt. Or it can show up as language problems, like trouble finding words, understanding words, or forming speech.
FTD is also important because it often appears earlier than people expect, commonly between ages 40 and 65. That overlaps with midlife, which means it can be mistaken for depression, anxiety, burnout, or a “midlife crisis.” The anchor to remember is this: a major, persistent change in personality or social judgment shouldn’t be written off as a character flaw. It can be neurological and deserves evaluation.

Fifth: mixed dementia. This means more than one type of brain change is happening at the same time. A common example is Alzheimer’s changes combined with vascular changes. And research suggests mixed patterns are more common than we used to think, especially in older adults. It’s one reason brain health isn’t only about memory. Blood flow, inflammation, sleep, and sensory input like hearing all matter, too.

There are other conditions that can look like dementia or travel alongside it, including Parkinson’s disease dementia, Huntington’s disease, and something called normal pressure hydrocephalus. I won’t go deep into those today, but normal pressure hydrocephalus is worth mentioning because it can sometimes be treated, and it can mimic dementia symptoms. That alone is a strong argument for a thorough workup rather than relying on assumptions.

Now let’s get to the question so many of you are carrying around: What’s normal, what’s menopause brain fog, and what are true red flags?

First, normal aging. Normal aging can include walking into a room and forgetting why you went in there, temporarily blanking on a name and then remembering it later, misplacing your phone, or learning new things more slowly than you used to. It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t usually derail daily life.

Second, perimenopause brain fog. This can pile on top of normal aging and feel much more intense. It can look like word-finding problems, losing your train of thought mid-sentence, needing to reread, feeling like your mental processing speed dropped, or feeling less mentally sharp under stress. The key features are that you are aware of it, you’re bothered by it, and for most women it improves after the transition. It’s strongly connected to hormonal fluctuation, sleep disruption, and the load midlife women often carry.

Third, red flags that suggest you should pursue a medical evaluation for possible dementia or another neurological issue. The pattern here is frequency, progression, and interference with daily life. Things like regularly forgetting the names of close family members, getting lost in familiar places, putting items in very unusual locations and having no recollection of doing it, worsening language problems that disrupt communication, poor judgment with money or safety, increased vulnerability to scams, or major personality and behavior changes such as paranoia, loss of empathy, or apathy that’s clearly out of character.
This is also where I want to circle back to women and risk. Women make up a large portion of Alzheimer’s cases, and higher lifetime risk estimates can sound terrifying in midlife. But it’s easy to take a statistic about late-life risk and accidentally turn a perimenopause word-finding issue into a belief that you’re on a direct path to dementia. The current research does not support that leap. Menopause brain fog appears to be its own temporary phenomenon for most women, not a “preview” of dementia.

Those risk numbers should motivate action, not panic. Midlife is precisely when protective habits have the biggest payoff later. The same foundations that support you through perimenopause also protect brain health long-term: movement, sleep, metabolic health, cardiovascular health, stress management, and staying socially and mentally engaged.

And one risk factor I want to spotlight because it’s overlooked: hearing loss. Untreated hearing loss has been identified as one of the largest modifiable risk factors for dementia. If it’s been a while since your last hearing test, consider putting that on your list. Supporting your hearing is supporting your brain.

Even if you never develop dementia yourself, this matters because women provide a huge amount of informal caregiving. Understanding these differences doesn’t just protect you. It can help you advocate for a parent, a partner, a neighbor, or a friend.

So what can you do this week if you’re concerned?

Step one: don’t dismiss what you’re noticing. “It’s just aging” has delayed help for too many families. If something feels off, take it seriously enough to look closer.

Step two: write it down. Get specific. Dates, examples, what happened, what changed, and how often. This kind of simple log can be incredibly useful in medical appointments, because it turns a vague worry into clear data.

Step three: ask for a comprehensive evaluation. A quick memory screen is not a full workup. Ask what testing is appropriate, which can include more detailed cognitive testing, lab work to rule out treatable causes, and imaging when indicated. Many things can mimic cognitive decline, and you want to rule out treatable causes.

Step four: ask what type is suspected and why. This is not a picky question. The dementia type can change medication choices, safety, and the whole caregiving approach.

Step five: be an advocate. Go to appointments if you can, ask follow-up questions, request referrals, and seek a second opinion when needed. Persistence isn’t being difficult. It’s being protective. And because many cases go undiagnosed, one person speaking up can change the entire course of care.

Let’s bring everything together. Menopause brain fog can be scary, especially when it hits you out of nowhere, but for most women, the evidence points to a temporary change during the transition, not a straight line to dementia. Dementia, on the other hand, is a broad umbrella, and the type matters: Alzheimer’s, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and mixed dementia each have patterns that look different and require different approaches.

You now have a framework to separate normal aging, perimenopause brain fog, and red flags that deserve medical attention. And you have five steps you can take this week if you’re worried about yourself or someone you love.

If you remember one message, make it this: knowledge replaces fear with clarity. And clarity helps you function better, advocate more effectively, and make decisions from a place of strength rather than panic.

In part two next week, I’ll share the personal story behind why I care so much about getting this right. My father was a brilliant NASA engineer, and later he began experiencing vivid hallucinations, major fluctuations in thinking, and serious sleep disturbances. Looking back, the signs pointed strongly to Lewy body dementia, but for years, it was treated as generic memory trouble, and our family paid for that delay. That story is difficult, but it’s also the reason I’m committed to helping you understand what to look for and how to push for the right evaluation.
If this episode helped you breathe a little easier or helped you see a clearer path forward, share it with someone who’s worrying about their own brain fog or caring for aging parents. Sometimes the most helpful thing you can give someone isn’t a product recommendation. It’s the relief that comes from understanding what’s actually happening.
Take care of your brain, and I’ll see you next week.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please talk with your physician or a qualified healthcare provider about your personal situation. This podcast and accompanying materials may include affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, which helps support the show.