Rising Cases of Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Warning Sign for Dementia

[이데일리 이순용 기자] As the number of patients with degenerative brain disease dementia increases every year, the number of missing persons also increases every year. In particular, the number of patients with mild cognitive impairment, which is the pre-dementia stage, is increasing significantly, and the possibility of suffering from dementia is nearly 10 times higher than that of the general population, so family members and people around them need to pay special attention to abnormal signs.

According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’s statistics on diseases of interest to the public, the number of dementia patients exceeded 600,000 in 2021 from about 460,000 in 2017. The number of patients with mild cognitive impairment increased from about 180,000 in 2017 to 300,000 in 2021. It is known that about 1-2% of normal people suffer from dementia due to problems with the cognitive function of the brain, and 10-15% of patients with mild cognitive impairment progress to Alzheimer’s disease.

Park Jung-hoon, head of the neurology center at Incheon Himchan General Hospital, said, “Even if the brain degenerates during the normal aging process, dementia does not appear immediately. If you pass , dementia appears,” he explained.

◇ Mild cognitive impairment, not feeling serious

If you get old and have forgetfulness, you may worry that you may have dementia. Dementia begins with forgetfulness, but not everyone who has forgetfulness becomes dementia. Stress can make anyone forgetful. Forgetfulness does not interfere with daily life because orientation and judgment, which are the ability to remember forgotten information and correctly recognize time, place, situation and environment, are normal when hearing hints.

However, dementia causes not only memory loss, but also various disabilities such as language ability, time and space understanding ability, calculation ability, and personality change. In particular, it is difficult to recognize the symptoms and often strongly denies it. There are more than 100 types of dementia. Representatively, there are Alzheimer’s disease with memory problems, vascular dementia caused by cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke or cerebral infarction, and Lewy body dementia caused by the accumulation of toxic substances in the brain. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common and accounts for 50-80% of causes.

Mild cognitive impairment is an intermediate stage between amnesia and Alzheimer’s dementia. Memory, cognitive ability, calculation ability, and language ability are reduced, but normal daily life is possible, so in the early days, it is mainly felt by the person and not noticed by others in many cases. Even if family members or people around them are aware of cognitive impairment, they may not feel the seriousness because they do not have any problems in their daily life. In fact, as a result of a public awareness survey conducted by the Korean Dementia Society, 6 out of 10 people did not know the term itself, and more than 7 people did not recognize that mild cognitive impairment is an important time to prevent dementia.

In the case of dementia, the prevalence of dementia increases rapidly from the age of 75, so it is important to be aware of the symptoms of mild cognitive impairment if you are in the high-risk group. Short-term memory loss occurs, forgetting recent events, repeating the same words or wandering without finding one’s way. They get confused about time and place and cannot easily remember the names of frequently used objects. In addition, mild cognitive impairment can be suspected even if comprehension and expression are lower than in the past.

◇ Prevention of dementia through active examination and management

Since it is difficult for the general public to distinguish between forgetfulness, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia with only a few symptoms such as memory loss, if mild cognitive impairment or dementia is suspected, visit a hospital and get a diagnosis after examination.

To test for dementia, a simple 5-10 minute screening test (CIST) is conducted. In addition, through a cognitive function test, under the same conditions of age, education, and gender, it is considered that 85 out of 100 people have the possibility of dementia. The type of dementia can be diagnosed by looking at the shape of the brain, such as brain MRI and CT. In most cases, three tests are performed, including a blood test to check the physical condition. It is not necessary to undergo all dementia tests with only mild symptoms or suspicions, but if you are over 60 years of age, you can receive an early dementia test at each local dementia care center, so it is good to use it. Park Jeong-hoon, director of the center, said, “Even with mild cognitive impairment, 25 to 30 percent of them can be restored to normal cognitive function if treated early.”

Above all, lifestyle changes are necessary to prevent dementia. Alcohol and cigarettes have a negative effect on dementia, so drinking increases the incidence of dementia by 2.8 times and smoking by 5 times. So, stay away from alcohol and cigarettes, and take good care of diseases that cause dementia, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. In addition, regular exercise at least three times a week will help maintain cognitive function. It is also important to have a balanced diet, so eat fresh vegetables and fruits rather than high-fat foods. According to one study, it is said that the power of the hands and face is great for stimulating the brain. So, it is good to do a lot of hand exercises to prevent dementia. Hobbies such as computer use, playing musical instruments, and art activities are also helpful for prevention.