Most people don't know these possible signs of early Alzheimer's

If you're not familiar with the term "mild cognitive impairment," you're not the only one. More than 80% of Americans aren't familiar with this condition that affects up to 18% of people ages 60 and older and can lead to Alzheimer's disease, a new survey has found.

如果你不熟悉轻度认识功能不全这一术语，你并不是唯一的一个。新的调查发现，超过百分之八十的美国人不熟悉，这一大约影响百分之十八六十岁及以上人群的病症，它能进展成阿尔海默氏病。

Mild cognitive impairment is an early stage of subtle memory loss or other cognitive ability loss, such as language or visual/spatial perception, according to research published Tuesday in the Alzheimer's Association's 2022 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report. 根据阿尔海默氏病协会周二出版研究：2022年阿尔海默氏病事实与数据报告，轻度认真功能不全是轻度记忆丧失或认真能力丧失的早期阶段，如语言或视觉空间感知能力。The signs can be serious enough to be noticed by the affected person and loved ones, yet mild enough that the affected person can maintain their ability to do most activities of daily living.这些征象既可以是严重到患者本人或爱人可以感知到的，也可以轻微到患者仍然能保留他们大部分日常生活能力。

Many people confuse this impairment, often called MCI, with normal aging, but it is different -- around one-third of people with mild cognitive impairment develop dementia due to Alzheimer's disease within five years, according to the research.研究表明，许多人把这一通常叫做MCI的功能不全与自然衰老相混淆，但是它不同，大约三分之一的轻度认识功能不全人群五年内因为阿尔海默氏病进展成痴呆。

Depending on the type of MCI people have, they might have trouble remembering conversations, keeping track of things, maintaining their train of thought during a conversation, navigating a usually familiar place or completing everyday tasks, such as paying a bill. Some individuals don't increasingly decline, and others revert to normal function, according to the report.

根据报道，按照人们MCI的类型，他们可能在记事记物、交谈时思路连贯、熟悉的地方行动或日常生活方面，如支付账单有困难。一些人并不逐渐加重，而另外一些人甚至会恢复正常

What causes mild cognitive impairment

Multiple factors can contribute to MCI, so MCI is more an umbrella term than it is one specific condition, according to the research.

研究表明，多种因素会造成MCI，因此，MCI不仅仅是一术语，而是一种特殊的病症

"It can be caused by things that are reversible, like vitamin deficiencies or medical conditions like thyroid dysfunction," said Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic in the Center for Brain Health at Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine.



详见https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/15/health/alzheimers-mild-cognitive-impairment-survey-wellness/index.html