According to a study published on September 7 in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, these memory disorders are at the root of Alzheimer’s disease in particular.
The study involved 2,050 people aged 70 to 89 in the town of Olmstead County, Minnesota in the United States. They were questioned by researchers, led by Dr. Ronald Petersen, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, on the state of their memory and their health report. Tests on their memory and thinking skills were also carried out.
The results of the study show that 14% of participants revealed mild cognitive impairment, 10% dementia. 76% of them showed normal memory activity and thinking skills.
When categorizing the patients by gender, the researchers found that 19% of those affected by mild memory impairment were male compared to 14% female.
Another observation, people who had a low level of education or who were not married, had the highest rates of mild cognitive impairment.
