According to new research men may have more memory problems than women

GHN Editor - "Where did I put my keys?" may be just simple forgetfulness, but it also
may indicate cognitive decline.  Researchers believe that mild mental
decline may impact men more than women.


The American Academy of Neurology has just published new research
indicating mild cognitive impairment to effect more men than women.
This is a condition that is not explained by the simple aging process.
The recent study finds that men are 1.5 times more apt to have memory
deficits of this kind than women.

“This is the first
study conducted among community-dwelling persons to find a higher
prevalence of MCI in men,” said study author Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD,
with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “If these results are
confirmed in other studies, it may suggest that factors related to
gender play a role in the disease. For example, men may experience
cognitive decline earlier in life but more gradually, whereas women may
transition from normal memory directly to dementia at a later age but
more quickly.”

2050 people
were evaluated for the study using tests and medical history.
Individuals involved ranged in age from 70 to 89 with 14% testing with
mild cognitive impairment.  10% of the people in the study had dementia
and 76% normal memory. A total of 19 percent of men had mild cognitive
impairment, compared to 14 percent of women.

“Our results,
showing combined rates of MCI and dementia at 22 percent highlight the
public health impact these conditions have and the importance of
finding treatments for them,” said Petersen.   Those with less
education or who were never married showed more decline than the others.