Mild cognitive impairment is a condition that precedes dementia

Jan 27, 2012 15:11 GMT  ·  By
Older men are more likely to suffer from mildly-impaired memory than senior women
   Older men are more likely to suffer from mildly-impaired memory than senior women

An interesting study I've just come across says that older men are more likely to suffer from memory loss – primarily through the development of mild cognitive impairment – than elderly women. I think this study has some interesting implications in the long run.

Another reason why these results are interesting is that women generally tend to exhibit higher dementia rates than women. Could this suggest that men reach MCI faster than women, but that the ladies then go on to develop dementia more often?

Investigators at the Mayo Clinic, in the United States, conducted their research on 1,450 men and women, aged between 70 and 89, PsychCentral reports. None of the participants suffered from MCI or dementia (including Alzheimer's disease) at the onset of the study.

“The risk of MCI in men and women combined was high in this age group of elderly persons. This is disturbing given that people are living longer, and MCI may have a large impact on health care costs if increased efforts at prevention are not used to reduce the risk,” lead study author Dr. Rosebud Roberts says.