Seniors With Mental Declines May Face Earlier Death, Study

Patients with mild cognitive impairment were 80% more likely to die over a 6-year period than cognitively normal patients.

The risks were significantly elevated for both patients with amnestic and nonamnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Dr. Maria Vassilaki and her colleagues reported in a study released April 23 in advance of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

This study found those who have thinking problems but still a good memory have a higher death rate than those who do not have memory or thinking problems. To find this out they looked at more than 800 people with thinking problems and compared them to 1300 without. People in the study were between 70 and 90 years old.

Participants were followed for six years and the study showed people with both types of MCI had an 80 percent higher death rate. But people who had thinking problems and no memory loss had higher death rates than those without MCI.

Nobody is certain as to why but we do know what’s good for the heart is good for the head. So reducing weight, blood pressure, heart disease risks and upping activity can help both. When heart disease risk goes up you also may see a higher death rate from complications. So yet another reason to protect against both of these.

Agencies/Canadajournal