Senior Living and Cognitive Impairment
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is defined as a degree of mental or cognitive impairment that is not normal for the person's age. It may also be used to describe the set of symptoms commonly associated with certain medical conditions or diseases. MCI is often referred to as a pre-Alzheimer's stage of dementia, although not everybody with MCI will develop Alzheimer's. MCI has also been called "the place between slight forgetfulness and Alzheimer's".
Many time the signs and symptoms of MCI may not even be apparent to the individual suffering from it, but they will be more apparent to family and friend. Unlike dementia which affects a large range of cognitive skills and severely limits daily activities, MCI predominately affects memory and may have slight to moderate impact on daily life and functioning. …show more content…
Seniors may not know what is happening to them and be anxious or even panicked about their eventual deterioration. Sadly, this stress often leads to more serious medical complications that the MCI ever would have. In fact, seniors who face an MCI alone often develop depression which can lead to dementia, heart disease, stroke, and so forth.
The good news is that help is available. The first step, however, is identification. Since seniors often don't know what to look for or how to describe their symptoms, they often suffer in silence. This means it is up to those around them to notice. Seniors who are in a senior living arrangement are fortunate since the staff are typically trained to look for early warning symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms include forgetting to take medication, failure to follow through on balanced diets, forgetting to pay bills, missing appointments, forgetting names and places, and loss of short-term
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is defined as a degree of mental or cognitive impairment that is not normal for the person's age. It may also be used to describe the set of symptoms commonly associated with certain medical conditions or diseases. MCI is often referred to as a pre-Alzheimer's stage of dementia, although not everybody with MCI will develop Alzheimer's. MCI has also been called "the place between slight forgetfulness and Alzheimer's".
Many time the signs and symptoms of MCI may not even be apparent to the individual suffering from it, but they will be more apparent to family and friend. Unlike dementia which affects a large range of cognitive skills and severely limits daily activities, MCI predominately affects memory and may have slight to moderate impact on daily life and functioning. …show more content…
Seniors may not know what is happening to them and be anxious or even panicked about their eventual deterioration. Sadly, this stress often leads to more serious medical complications that the MCI ever would have. In fact, seniors who face an MCI alone often develop depression which can lead to dementia, heart disease, stroke, and so forth.
The good news is that help is available. The first step, however, is identification. Since seniors often don't know what to look for or how to describe their symptoms, they often suffer in silence. This means it is up to those around them to notice. Seniors who are in a senior living arrangement are fortunate since the staff are typically trained to look for early warning symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms include forgetting to take medication, failure to follow through on balanced diets, forgetting to pay bills, missing appointments, forgetting names and places, and loss of short-term