What is Mild Cognitive Impairment?
What is Mild Cognitive Impairment?
Healthy people experience a slow decline in cognitive abilities as a normal part of aging. I just read a study that says the decline starts at age 40 and picks up speed after that! Mild Cognitive Impairment (known as MCI) is the middle stage between occasional forgetfulness & a more serious decline of dementia. These individuals have some problems with their memory, language, thinking or judgement but not severe enough to interfere with everyday life. Research shows that people with MCI have an increased risk of developing dementia; about 10-15 per cent of this group will develop dementia each year. However, MCI can also be caused by other conditions such as anxiety, depression, physical illness and side effects of medication. Because of this, some people with MCI do not necessarily go on to develop dementia. Some symptoms of MCI are:
Forgetting recent events or important events.
Being easily distracted or losing your train of thought.
Feeling overwhelmed by decision making or planning, or difficulty understanding instructions.
Taking longer than usual to find the right words.
Difficulty judging distances.
Becoming impulsive or starting to show poor judgement.
Difficulty with everyday tasks like paying bills, managing medications or driving.