Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) causes a slight but noticeable and measurable decline in cognitive abilities including memory and thinking skills. A person with MCI is at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s or another Dementia. Mild Cognitive Impairment causes cognitive changes that are serious enough to be noticed by the individuals, experiencing them or to other people, but the changes are not severe enough to interfere with daily life or independent functions.
Approximately there are 15%-20% people of age 65 or more may have MCI. People with MCI have problems especially related to memory problems and they are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other types of Dementia than people without MCI.
However, MCI does not always lead to Dementia. In some persons, it was seen that MCI reverts to normal cognition or remains stable. In other cases, such as, when a medication causes cognitive impairment, MCI is mistakenly diagnosed. That’s why it is very important that people who are suffering from cognitive impairment seek help as soon as possible for diagnosis and possible treatment.
Symptoms
Psychologist classify mild cognitive impairment based on the thinking skills affected:
1) MCI that primarily affects memory is known as Amnestic MCI. With Amnestic MCI, a person may start to forget important information that he or she would previously have recalled easily, such as, old conversations, meetings, occasions or recently held programmes.
2) MCI that affects thinking skills other than memory is known as Non- Amnestic MCI. Thinking skills that may be affected by non-amnestic MCI include the ability to make sound decisions, judge the time or sequence of steps needed to complete a complex task or visualizations and perceptions.
Diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Mild Cognitive Impairment is a clinical diagnosis representing a doctor’s best professional judgment about the reason for a person’s symptoms. If a physician is facing a difficulty to confirm diagnosis of MCI or the cause of MCI, then biomaker tests such as brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid tests may be performed to determine if the individual has MCI due to Alzheimer’s.
A medical work up for MCI includes the following core elements :
1) Thorough medical history, where the physician documents current symptoms, previous illnesses and medical conditions, and any family relative’s history of significant memory problems or Dementia.
2) Assessment of free or independent functions and daily activities, which focuses on any changes from a person’s usual level of function.
3) Input from a family member or trusted friend to provide additional perspective on how function may have changed.
4) Assessment of mental status using brief tests designed to evaluate memory, planning, judgment, ability to understand visual information and other key thinking skills.
5) In office neurological examination to assess the function of nerves and reflexes, movement, coordination, balances and senses.
6) Calculation or evaluation of moods to detect symptoms of depression may include problems with memory or feelings such as foggy or unclear. Depression is widespread and may be especially common in older adults.
7) Laboratory examinations and tests including blood tests and imaging of the brain’s structure.
If the work up doesn’t create a clear clinical picture, the doctor may recommend neuropsychological testing which involves a series of written or computerized tests to evaluate specific thinking skills.
Causes and risks of Mild Cognitive Impairment
1) The causes of Mild Cognitive Impairment are not yet completely understood.
2) Experts believed that there are many cases but not all result from brain changes occurring in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or other Dementias.
3) The risk factors mostly linked to MCI are the same as those of Dementia like advancing age, family history of Alzheimer’s or another Dementia, and conditions that raise risk for Cardiovascular disease.
Treatments and outcomes of Mild Cognitive Impairment
There are no medications currently approved by the medical authorities to treat Mild Cognitive Impairment. Drugs which are approved to medicate symptoms of Alzheimer’s have not shown any long term benefit in delaying or preventing progression of MCI to Dementia.
There are some following coping techniques may be helpful for people with MCI
Some research studies suggest that these techniques may help slow decline in thinking skills, although more research is needed to confirm their effect:
1) Doing exercises on a regular basis to benefit your heart and blood vessels, which also includes the nourishment of your Brain.
2) Controlling cardiovascular risk factors to save your heart and blood vessels, including the different supporting functions of Brain.
3) Engagement in activities which are helpful in stimulating mental and social participation which may help sustain brain function.
Experts or professionals say that a person who is diagnosed with MCI be re-evaluated regularly at every six months to determine if symptoms are staying same, improving or becoming worse.
MCI has a potential to increase the risk of later developing Dementia, but some people suffering from MCI, have shown that MCI never got worse. Others with MCI, later have test results that return to normal for their age and education.
It’s not yet possible to tell for certain what the outcome of MCI will be for a specific person or to determine the hidden cause of MCI from a person’s symptoms.
Experts and researchers have hoped that increasing the power to predict or detect MCI outcomes by developing new diagnostic techniques and tools for identification and measurement of hidden brain changes attached to specific types of Dementia.
For better prevention, a person must be stay informed and vigilant about research related to investigation of MCI as well as Alzheimer’s and other types of Dementia.
