MENU

Cognitive Decline Treatment Cape Town

Call: +27784100680

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 function.

Experts classify Mild cognitive impairment based on the thinking skills affected:

  • 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 appointments, conversations or recent events.
  • MCI that affects thinking skills other than memory is known as "nonamnestic MCI." Thinking skills that may be affected by nonamnestic MCI include the ability to make sound decisions, judge the time or sequence of steps needed to complete a complex task, or visual perception.

The causes of mild cognitive impairment are not yet completely understood. Experts believe that many cases — but not all — result from brain changes occurring in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.

The risk factors most strongly linked to MCI are the same as those for dementia: advancing age, family history of Alzheimer's or another dementia, and conditions that raise risk for cardiovascular disease.

The following coping strategies may be helpful for those with MCI. Some studies suggest that these strategies may help slow decline in thinking skills, although more research is needed to confirm their effect.

  • Exercise on a regular basis to benefit your heart and blood vessels, including those that nourish your brain.
  • Control cardiovascular risk factors to protect your heart and blood vessels, including those that support brain function.
  • Participate in mentally stimulating and socially engaging activities which may help sustain brain function.

Experts recommend that a person diagnosed with MCI be re-evaluated every six months to determine if symptoms are staying the same, improving or growing worse.

MCI increases the risk of later developing dementia, but some people with MCI never get worse. Others with MCI later have test results that return to normal for their age and education.