Study Examines Risk of Early Death for People with MCI

One of the first studies to look at a relationship between death and the two types of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) suggests that people who have thinking problems but their memory is still intact might have a higher death rate compared to those who have no thinking or memory problems. For the study, 862 people with thinking problems and 1,292 with no thinking problems between the ages of 70 and 89 were followed for nearly six years. People with MCI with no memory loss had more than twice the death rate during the study than those without MCI, while people with MCI with memory loss had a 68 percent higher death rate during the study than those without MCI. “Exploring how memory may or may not be linked with the length of life a person has is of tremendous significance as the population ages,” said study author Maria Vassilaki, MD, with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. To learn more about the study, click here.