Everyone forgets something every day, and although some people’s brains are more responsive than a computer, we still forget. People usually forget trivial things or things they don’t need to remember, but as they get older, they start to forget more than usual. Our memory starts to fade and we wonder, “Do I have Alzheimer’s or amnesia?
1. Is mild cognitive impairment a normal part of aging? No, it is an early manifestation of dementia
Old man Zhang retired to live with his children, usually do some fitness, sports, read the newspaper, life is quite sunny. In the last year, his partner found that he was a bit “forgetful”, he had already bought food and went home, but after a while he said he was going to buy food, and only after she reminded him, he remembered that he had already bought it. Such “forgetfulness” occurs almost every day, and sometimes despite repeated reminders, he still can’t remember.
This makes Zhang old man very worried, his great pride when he was young is a good memory, now what happened? Accompanied by his partner, he went to the hospital for a memory screening and learned that it was not as simple as “forgetfulness”, but that he was suffering from “mild cognitive impairment”.
Mild cognitive impairment is an early manifestation or prelude to Alzheimer’s disease and should not be taken lightly. Alzheimer’s disease has a developmental process, namely normal state – mild cognitive impairment – early Alzheimer’s disease – middle Alzheimer’s disease – late Alzheimer’s disease, that is to say, mild cognitive impairment is a necessary stage of Alzheimer’s disease, and is a transition state between normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease. A transitional state.
Of those with mild cognitive impairment, 10-15% will progress to dementia each year; after 6 years, 80% will progress to dementia. “Given enough time, all patients with mild cognitive impairment will definitely develop dementia.”
In recent years, the international medical community has begun to reconceptualize mild cognitive impairment. It used to be considered a normal part of human aging and therefore was not given special attention. only in recent years has the medical community begun to recognize that it is actually an early manifestation of Alzheimer’s. in 2011, the United States began to include mild cognitive impairment in the early stages of Alzheimer’s to be treated.
2.What are the differences and similarities with Alzheimer’s disease? Independent living, but irreversible brain damage already started
People with mild cognitive impairment, like Mr. Zhang, can do simple things and live independently, but they are forgetful and make many mistakes when doing complex things (such as paying for food, cooking or shopping).
Mild cognitive impairment is different from Alzheimer’s disease. For example, both have intellectual impairment, but mild cognitive impairment has less intellectual impairment and therefore less impact, and the patient can still live independently; Alzheimer’s has deep intellectual impairment and a large impact, which affects the patient’s ability to live.
Often, people assume that not being able to remember things is normal for older people, so they generally don’t pay much attention to it. Therefore, recognizing mild cognitive impairment as an early manifestation of dementia is clinically important. “Because dementia, once it happens, is irreversible, all people can do is slow down the degree of progression of dementia.”
In the earliest stages of dementia, although the symptoms of dementia are not yet prominent, the patient’s brain has undergone changes, such as the death of brain nerve cells has begun, but the number is relatively small, so the manifestation of dementia is a little lighter. Slowly the brain cell death intensifies, the brain begins to shrink, and the intellectual damage tends to be severe. Therefore, the treatment of early dementia is based on the changes of neurotransmitters. For mild cognitive impairment, the conservative view is that it should be closely observed; the radical view is that since there is already a reduction of chemicals in the brain, why not start replenishing it, so some medicine should be used at this stage.
3.How to recognize mild cognitive impairment?
How to recognize mild cognitive impairment? The following points can be observed.
(1) Losing things and memory loss.
(2) Difficulty in doing things that were familiar before, needing more time to do things that could be done easily and skillfully before, or even forgetting how to do them.
(3) Difficulty expressing oneself verbally, often forgetting words or not being able to find the right words.
(4) Difficulty in comprehension, not being able to respond to something that looks or sounds familiar, such as seeing a TV remote control and not being able to relate the word “remote control” to the object.
”These manifestations vary from person to person, with some showing mainly loss of words and others showing mainly word expressions. Once these situations occur, be alert.”
4. does mild cognitive impairment require treatment? Depends on memory screening + brain test results
Once you notice that you or an older person in your family has become particularly forgetful and can’t recall things even after repeated reminders, go to the memory clinic of the relevant hospital for a memory screening and brain-related tests.
The results of these tests are a key factor in whether or not treatment is indicated. If the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment is confirmed, no medication can be used for the time being, but memory needs to be reviewed every 3-6 months; if it has progressed to dementia, enter treatment as dementia.
Even if mild cognitive impairment is not diagnosed, memory function should be reviewed annually. Regular monitoring of changes in memory function can help detect the first signs of suspicion in time and intervene early if necessary, which can greatly delay the degree of dementia progression.
5.How can I help myself? Intensive training to slow memory decline
Although mild cognitive impairment can be suspended without medication, it does not mean that patients can only passively wait for the inevitable onset of dementia. At this time, patients should actively respond by doing some self-training to strengthen their memory and slow down the process of memory decline.
Self-training is based on the laws of human memory-forgetting. One of these laws is that compared to what has been learned before, what has just been learned is forgotten quickly, and what has been learned before is forgotten later. Another law is that what has just been learned is forgotten particularly quickly. Therefore, after continuous and repeated learning, so that the memory is strengthened and fixed in the brain for a longer period of time, it will be relatively difficult to forget.
The following are some very useful self-training methods.
Strengthen attention training: such as repeating what you have to do several times, or saying out loud what you have to do.
Keep notes, common memos: write down what you have to do in a notebook to remind yourself at any time.
Use your brain more: such as reading, quizzing, quiz games, reciting, playing solitaire, playing mahjong.
Make good use of aids: often look at calendars, clocks, newspapers, and make marks on things you have already done.
Active physical exercise: walking or Tai Chi, etc. can promote brain blood flow and enhance brain metabolism.