Gender differences in cognition problems
changes in the brain one or two decades before the first symptoms appear
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Older men may be at risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often a precursor to Alzheimer's disease, earlier in life than older women, according to a study appearing today in Neurology.
Primarily funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, the study raises the question of whether there may be a gender difference in the development and progression of MCI.
Scientists evaluated the cognitive health of 1,969 dementia-free older people and found 16 percent showed signs of MCI, a condition usually marked by memory problems or other cognitive problems greater than those expected for their age. Prevalence was greater among the older participants, and it was consistently higher in men than women across all age ranges.
Ronald C. Petersen, Ph.D., M.D., and his team at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., conducted the research, which was also supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), also part of the NIH. Additional funding was provided by the Robert H. and Clarice Smith and Abigail van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Program and the Rochester Epidemiology Project, also supported by NIA. "Because evidence indicates that Alzheimer's disease may cause changes in the brain one or two decades before the first symptoms appear, there is intense interest in investigating MCI and the earliest stages of cognitive decline," said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. "While more research is needed, these findings indicate that we may want to investigate differences in the way men and women develop MCI, similar to the way stroke and cardiovascular disease risk factors and outcomes vary between the sexes." Read more: nia.nih.gov
Fresh air and farm work
Doctors are prescribing a novel treatment for depression - a day out on a farm. A scheme in Suffolk encourages patients to work in the outdoors - mucking out pigs, growing vegetables and tinkering with tractors. Read more: dailymail.co.uk
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