A new study shows about one in five Americans over 70 years old has a mild cognitive impairment without dementia, and a large part of them can progress to dementia.
"These discoveries illustrate that almost all families are faced with the challenges of caring for a family member with some form of memory commitment," says Brenda Plassman researcher, PhD, associated research professor of Duke University psychiatry in a news version.
"Even among people from 71 to 79 years, a considerable number had cognitive compromise," says Plassman. "This is an age when most people expect to have many productive years ahead."
Based on the results of this study, they estimate that 5.4 million adults (22.2%) age 71 or older take cognitive compromise that does not meet the level of dementia. This may include problems with memory, attention, language, judgment or communication. But it is not serious enough to affect your ability to complete daily activities and may not be noticeable. This is beyond the 3.4 million estimated Americans who have dementia, which is a more severe form of memory loss that affects the ability to function independently.
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The researchers say that although dementia has been widely studied, it is not clear how many older people have lighter forms of loss Memory related to age or cognitive impairment. Previous studies in other countries have estimated that 3% -29% of the elderly are affected by the cognitive impairment without dementia.
In the study, they examined 856 participants in the national health and retirement study over a period of almost five years.
The results, published in the anais of internal medicine, show that 22% of the participating elderly had cognitive impairment that did not meet the criteria for dementia.
The study also shows that 12% of those with mild cognitive impairment progressed to dementia and 8% died annually.
Researchers estimate that almost a quarter of cases of mild cognitive impairment are linked to chronic medical conditions underlying diabetes and heart failure. Researchers write that their discoveries "suggest that the number of individuals with cognitive impairment without dementia in the United States is about 70% higher than with dementia ..."
"As the population ages and works longer, understanding the extent of cognitive commitment in the older population is critically important," says Richard Suzman, PhD, director of the National Institute of the Behavioral and Social Program of Aging, which financed the study .
"The research is now beginning to suggest that the interventions - such as controlling hypertension and diabetes or perhaps cognitive formation - can help maintain or improve mental skills with age," says Suzman.
