L ike a lot of people who are getting on, I find myself wondering about my brain. If I mislay my glasses, or struggle with a name, is it just common-or-garden forgetfulness – the sort of slip I might have made well before hitting 60 – or something more worrying? Why, I think, did I have to ask my wife to remind me what we’re doing for her birthday? Why can’t I remember if I locked the front door? Why did I fail to send that email I desperately need an answer to? I don’t immediately think dementia. But look, I’ve written the word, and there’s no denying it’s at the back of my mind.
There are close to a million people living with the condition in the UK; around 6m in the US; tens of millions more across China, India, Finland, Australia, Azerbaijan ...
My mother watched her best friend get it, then developed it herself. Everyone knows someone who has or had it. Then there’s mild cognitive impairment (MCI), sometimes known as cognitive decline, which can make it hard to focus, to remember and learn things, to reason or to find the right words.
The best you can say about MCI is that there is no guarantee it will end in dementia – which normally involves a buildup of proteins in the brain and/or a restricted blood supply, possibly as a result of a stroke. MCI does not always get worse; sometimes it can even be reversed, since the causes include sleep disorders, low blood pressure, hearing loss and severe constipation. View image in fullscreen MEG manager Sian Wo.