Three of the five were already experiencing mild cognitive impairment as judged by standard memory tests.
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However, the number of tangles was higher in those with mild cognitive impairment.
Three had suffered from mild cognitive impairment - a more severe form of memory loss than that associated with ageing but less severe than Alzheimer's.
Meanwhile, the Allon Therapeutics drug helped improve some measures of short-term memory in patients with mild cognitive impairment, a condition that often leads to Alzheimer's disease.
He said more research was now needed to see whether high doses of B vitamins actually prevented the development of Alzheimer's in people with mild cognitive impairment.
While cholinesterase inhibitors are useful in many early dementias, studies have not shown that treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment, which is the condition before dementia, prevents or slows progression to dementia.
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All three companies are also looking at whether their drugs work in a condition called mild cognitive impairment--mild memory loss that may or may not be a precursor to Alzheimer's or other dementia.
After a comprehensive assessment including interviews with her and her family, neurological and psychological tests, a brain scan and blood tests she was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to the earliest form of Alzheimer's.
In the new government-funded study, volunteers ages 75 and older with either normal mental function or mild cognitive impairment took a twice-daily placebo or ginkgo biloba extract (for a total of 240 milligrams per day).
Understanding mild cognitive impairment is important in coming up with better treatments for dementia in general, because the brain hasn't deteriorated as much as in Alzheimer's, so it may not be too late to intervene, experts say.
If you have an aging parent or loved one with any form of mild cognitive impairment, early dementia or other disease that affects thinking and judgment, here are seven basic things family can do to reduce the risks of ripoff.
It's too early to say whether Targacept's drug will improve Alzheimer's treatment, but it has been given to 540 people in 12 prior trials for indications including mild cognitive impairment, which is often a precursor to Alzheimer's and age-associated memory impairment.
The concept that lifetime stressors could trigger the development of the disease, or at least facilitate the leap from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to full-blown dementia, has gained momentum in recent years, and researchers are starting to devote more resources to exploring the relationship more fully.
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