As I wrote in my book, "Real Cause, Real Cure," dementia can have many different causes — and many of them are reversible.

Dementia can be caused by a vitamin deficiency, such as low levels of vitamin B12. It can be from a drug side effect. Or a symptom of depression. Hypothyroidism can cause it. So can head trauma from a fall. Even dehydration can cause dementia.

Why aren't more older people receiving the correct diagnosis? Why are so many older folks erroneously labeled as having Alzheimer's? The simple answer: non-holistic health care.

When an older patient enters a doctor's office with a little cloudiness of mind, the quick and easy solution is to diagnose Alzheimer's and prescribe an anti-Alzheimer's drug such as donepezil (Aricept).

Those drugs are incredibly expensive — and incredibly useless. They don't improve brain function, though they may slightly slow the progress of the disease.

It takes one minute to write that prescription. But it takes about 30 to 60 minutes to conduct a proper medical evaluation that could detect the underlying and often reversible causes of dementia.