Still worried that you are getting forgetful with age?

50% of those with mild cognitive impairment will carry on living healthily – in fact, a quarter may see their memory improve.

Neurologists are beginning to put a great deal of work into answering this question. They are concentrating on the medical condition that characterises the grey area between forgetfulness and disease — mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Experts define this as having problems with memory that are severe enough to be noticeable to the affected person or to others, but not serious enough to interfere with their daily life.

In studies, this condition has been found to affect up to 20% of people in their mid-60s. It can begin in people in their 40s and 50s, though the numbers affected are much smaller.

In fact one US study reports that the first signs of memory problems most commonly start to appear in the early 50s. The reason scientists are interested in mild cognitive impairment is that it’s recognised as a warning that a person’s brain is potentially deteriorating in a serious way.

As surveys found on a global scale that people diagnosed with it, have a significantly raised risk of premature death. This is because around half the people who have mild cognitive impairment will go on to develop Dementia.

One of the serious problems with diagnosing and treating mild cognitive impairment(MCI) is that it is often similar to normal age-related memory loss — however, the memory problems it causes are somewhat more frequent and intense.

Simple daily forgetfulness, such as forgetting where you have left your keys, does not seem to indicate problems with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).  But more profound memory lapses are more of a red flag warning sign, such as experiencing trouble finding your way around familiar streets and places.

As well as memory problems, people in danger of Dementia may have other symptoms, such as difficulty in finding the right words for something or problems seeing the reality of a situation.

In the UK, GPs can offer a test to help determine whether someone has mild cognitive impairment (MCI).  This test involves 30 questions, ranging from asking the day of the week and date, to spelling, counting backwards and recalling sets of words.

Other options are drugs to help people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Currently there are no treatments to cure Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, there is hope of a cure for vascular dementia — the second most common type, which is linked to the health of the blood vessels of the heart.

Vascular dementia is caused by brain tissue being damaged or destroyed by insufficient oxygen reaching the brain — and it tends to be preceded by mild cognitive impairment. In some cases, mild cognitive impairment may be the first sign that a person’s brain is lacking oxygen.

There is some evidence that managing blood pressure and cholesterol levels can help to slow down or prevent people developing Vascular Dementia.

According to other research, it reads that in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) the hippocampus — a part of the brain essential for memory — tries to overcompensate for its diminishing powers by becoming overactive. This in turn creates confusion in the brain.

Prevention is the best strategy for avoiding mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and helping stop it progressing into Dementia.  Exercise is the best defence as studies have shown that walking 6 or more miles each week can have huge reward.  Regular medical check-ups also help and are recommended.

According to some medical and health websites, it is also sensible that people known to be at risk get their blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked, and be tested for diabetes, which is also a strong risk factor. Poorly controlled diabetics have a high risk of developing vascular dementia.