MCI -The Depressing Half-Way House

Robert W. Griffith, MD

MCI is short for mild cognitive impairment, the condition of slightly lessened mental functioning that represents a stage between normal and Alzheimer's disease. In particular, the type of MCI known as amnestic MCI is more likely to progress to Alzheimer's over time. As people worry whether their forgetfulness is actually MCI, there's been pressure to find a way of diagnosing it without doing a brain biopsy. A test has been described that seems promising.

Now there's a report of structural brain changes that can occur before MCI develops. It was published this month in the journal Neurology. People with MCI (and Alzheimer's) have loss of volume in certain areas of the brain. They did magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams on 136 normal people over 65 and then examined them clinically (including extensive neurological and cognitive testing) for the next 4-5 years. The 23 persons who developed MCI and the 9 who went on to develop Alzheimer's were found to have decreased gray matter volumes in parts of their brain at the baseline MRI exam. Transition to MCI occurred in this study at an average age of 83.

This research becomes important once there's a way to slow or stop the development from 'normal' to MCI to Alzheimer's. A healthy lifestyle goes some way towards this goal, but a major breakthrough (medication, vaccine?) is urgently needed, in view of the rapidly growing number of dementia patients as the world ages.

Source
HealthandAge Blog

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