Mild cognitive impairment: making headway by stepping backwards
Förstl, H.; Lautenschlager, N.; Bickel, H.
Seishin Shinkeigaku Zasshi 105(4): 370-380
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0033-2658 PMID: 12806897 Document Number: 558647
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a prevalent medical problem and the concept and term have become a catch-phrase for research and clinical practice. However, little is known about the most effective tools for a clinical diagnosis of MCI, its potential significance for individual patients and the best possible intervention--at least as long as MCI is considered as a diagnostic entity. We propose a simplified diagnostic and interventional algorithm for the detection and management of patients with MCI. We argue that MCI is so important, because it represents the closest call for an identification of treatable diseases or risk factors before the final manifestation of irreversible brain changes. Stepping backward by focussing on underlying disease processes and attempting causal interventions must be preferred to a mere symptomatic treatment of MCI as a preclinical form of Alzheimer's disease.