مطالعه ای چنین القا می كند كه مردان سالمند در مقایسه با زنان احتمالا در معرض خطر بیشتری برای ابتلا به اختلال های شناختی خفیف و از دست دادن حافظه قرار دارند.

پژوهشگران 1450 مرد و زن بین 70 تا 89 ساله، كه در هنگام آغاز این پژوهش هیچ مشكل شناختی نداشتند، را مورد مطالعه قرار دادند.  شركت كنندگان در آغاز و سپس در فاصله زمانی های 15 ماهه در یك دوره میانگین 4/3 ساله مورد ارزیابی های عصب شناسانه قرار گرفتند.  در پایان این دوره، 296 نفر دچار اختلال شناختی خفیف شدند.

این ابتلا با افزایش سن رابطه مستقیم داشت و بیشتر در میان مردان مشاهده شد تا زنان، به جز برای آنهایی كه در سنین 85 تا 89 ساله بودند.  كسانی كه تحصیلات بالاتری داشتند یا مزدوج بودند كمتر این اختلال را نشان دادند.  اختلال شناختی خفیف می تواند پیش درآمد زوال عقلی (دیمانس) باشد.  موردهای تازه از زوال عقلی برای مردان و زنان به ترتیب 72 و 57 نفر در هر هزار نفر بود.

[سطح پایین تحصیلات یكی از عامل های بروز اختلال شناختی خفیف است.  پرخوری، بیماری قند، و فشار خون عامل های دیگر به شمار می آید.  یافته های مطالعه های دیگر نشان داده است كسانی كه خود را در برابر چالش های ذهنی قرار  می دهند وضعیت بهتری دارند.]

ابتلا به اختلال شناختی خفیف به همراه از دست دادن حافظه در مقایسه با از دست ندادن حافظه بیشتر رایج بود.  اما در میان كسانی كه این وضعیت را داشتند، حدود 12 درصد از آنها حداقل یك بار در سال بدون هیچ نشانه ای از اختلال شناختی خفیف تشخیص داده شدند.

Older Men May Experience More Memory Loss than Women

Los Angeles Times | January 25, 2012

A study suggests that older men may be more vulnerable to developing mild cognitive impairment and memory loss compared with women.

Researchers studied a group of 1,450 men and women age 70 to 89 who, at the start of the study, had no signs of cognitive problems. They underwent neurological evaluations at the beginning of the study and at 15-month intervals after that for an average 3.4 years. By the end of the study, 296 people had developed mild cognitive impairment.

The condition increased with age and was seen more among men than women, except for those 85 to 89 years of age. Those with higher education levels or who were married had lower frequency of mild cognitive impairment. Mild cognitive impairment may be a precursor to dementia. New cases of dementia were found more among men, about 72 versus 57 cases per 1,000 people, respectively.

Having mild cognitive impairment with memory loss was more common compared with not having memory loss. But among those who had the condition, about 12% a year were diagnosed at least one time with having no sign of mild cognitive impairment.

Lead author R.O. Roberts of the Mayo Clinic said in a news release that the results, released online Wednesday in the journal Neurology, were surprising, given that women overall have higher rates of dementia compared with men. More study of the risk factors for men and women for the condition are warranted, he added.

With Age, Men May Lose Thinking Ability Faster than Women

by NANCY SHUTE | NPR | January 25, 2012

Men are more apt than women to lose thinking ability as they age, according to new research. And that mild cognitive impairment often leads to dementia.

But people can reduce their risk of mild cognitive impairment by staying healthy and educated, according to Rosebud Roberts, a professor of epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic who led the study. "There is a lot that people can do," she told Shots.

Lower levels of education is one risk factor for mild cognitive impairment. Obesity, diabetes and hypertension are others. Other studies have found that older people who challenge themselves mentally tend to do better.

The studied followed 1,450 people between the ages of 70 and 89 in Olmsted County, Minn., who were free of dementia in 2004. They went through testing every 15 months. After three years, 296 people had developed mild cognitive impairment. The study waspublished in the journal Neurology.

Men were more likely to be diagnosed, with 72 per 1,000 people developing a mild cognitive impairment; in women, the rate of diagnosis was 57 per 1,000. Overall, 6 percent were diagnosed with memory loss.

It may be that men are coming down with mild cognitive impairment earlier than women, Roberts says, because in the oldest age group, 85 to 89, the incidence was the same in men and women. Those earlier cases in men may be caused by the fact that they also tend to develop cardiovascular disease earlier than women, she speculates. But clearly, whatever protection women have evaporates by the time they are in their 80s.

Some people saw their symptoms improve from one checkup to the next, but Roberts says we shouldn't take hope from that.

"There might be variability in symptoms and how they present," she says. "MCI is a very subtle condition. Most people won't know someone has MCI from talking to them. It's only people who live with them or are close to them who will notice something a little bit different."

However, a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment doesn't mean you are fated to get Alzheimer's disease. Scientists have yet to come up with a reliable test of who's likely to go down that road.