Is it Alzheimer’s? Hopkins doctor compiles answers to many questions in book

By Sheilah Kast,

Published July 2, 2025 at 10:05 AM EDT

Dr. Peter V. Rabins has been studying the brain, and dementia in particular, for a half century, since before most Americans had heard of Alzheimer disease. He founded and directed the division of geriatric psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Over the decades patients have asked him thousands of questions about how memory works, what dementia is, what might stave it off, how to help someone they love.
The questions he’s asked most often he collected into a short book, called Is it Alzheimer’s? 101 Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions About Memory Loss and Dementia. Now Dr. Rabins has updated 101 Answers and joins us to talk about it.

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Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.

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Ashley Sterner is the co-host of WYPR’s On The Record. With co-host Sheilah Kast, Ashley interviews artists, scientists, community leaders, and others.

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Melissa Gerr

Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'

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