Cognitive Impairment Seems Common Among Older Men

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 26 Jan 2012 - 3:00 PST


The Mayo Clinic released its study of aging report today and announced that more than six percent of Americans, aged seventy to eighty-nine years, suffered from mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

They also state that the data show more men are affected than women, and those with only high school education seem more affected than those with some level of higher education.

MCI is an intermediary stage between a 'normal' level of forgetfulness associated with old age, and more developed dementia caused by conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

Lead author Rosebud O. Roberts, M.B., Ch.B., of the Mayo Clinic Division of Epidemiology says :

"While incidence rates for MCI have been reported previously, ours is one of the few studies designed specifically to measure the incidence of MCI and its subtypes using published criteria ...

The statistically significant difference between incidence rates among men and women represents an important finding for those evaluating patients for MCI."

"The Incidence of MCI Differs by Subtype and is Higher in Men," which was published in the Jan. 25, 2012, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, reports that 296 of the 1,450 study participants developed MCI, an incidence rate of 6.4 percent per year overall. Among men, the incidence rate was 7.2 percent, compared with 5.7 percent per year for women.

Dr. Roberts concludes that :

"Understanding the distribution of incident MCI by age, sex and other demographic variables is critical to helping us understand the cause of the condition, as well as how to prevent MCI and its progression to full-blown, irreversible dementia ...

This study advances our understanding of MCI and will help clinicians provide even better care for their patients, especially during initial evaluations."

Written by Rupert Shepherd
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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