Mandy Oaklander | September 12, 2026

Dementia is one of the most stigmatized diseases. So many people are secretive about their condition when they first get diagnosed, writes Dr. Zaldy S. Tan, a specialist in memory disorders at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in his new essay for TIME.

But when people decide to open up about it, amazing things can happen—in their own care, and even in the search for a cure, he argues.

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Why we need to talk more openly about dementia

By Dr. Zaldy S. Tan

Richard Drury—Getty Images

Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, Tony Bennett, and Danny Glover have something in common. So do Margaret Thatcher, Norman Rockwell, and Sean Connery.

All had been afflicted with Alzheimer’s or dementia—the progressive neurologic disease characterized by memory and functional loss—but with an important difference. The first group chose to make a public announcement of their diagnosis during their life, and the second chose to keep their dementia diagnosis private, their condition revealed by their survivors only after their death.

Maintaining the confidentiality of one’s health information is a fundamental right, but when a public figure receives a life-limiting diagnosis, does disclosure matter? Some choose to do so as a form of farewell to their supporters and fans, others to raise public awareness of the illness that has afflicted them.

Read the full essay here.

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