Mild cognitive impairment vs. Dementia
Today I read part of an online article about dementia and it included a short paragraph about MCI.
That got me thinking about something. I wish that the medical professionals would change some of these words. There are times when MCI can feel anything but "mild". I think that this is how I would compare MCI to dementia. I think with MCI my brain is not shrinking or dying, but with dementia that is probably happening. With MCI there is not an actual progression, but rather hills and valleys and sometimes roads that are pretty stable. During the stable moments or days, it could allow the MCI patient to think that they were incorrectly diagnosed. That is because they feel like their brain is functioning like it once was, “normal”. But then something happens and the MCI patient is drawn back into their reality of dealing with a brain that doesn’t function like it once did. I have described this MCI journey as a “roller coaster” ride. That is because there are a lot of ups and downs on this journey of memory impairment.
I was diagnosed in 2005, so I have been dealing with this diagnosis for a little over fourteen years. One of the things that I have learned is that a lot of the symptoms can be very similar. They can both have problems with short and long-term memory.
A diagnosis of MCI means that someone does not have dementia but that their brain doesn't function like most people their age. I have MCI but I experience the fog similar to someone who has dementia. Dementia will definitely progress, but with MCI some patients actually improve. That can't happen with dementia. With dementia the brain is shrinking and with MCI I don’t think that it is.
No wonder medical professionals have a difficult time in making the correct diagnosis! My first diagnosis was EOAD - Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease at age forty-seven. A few months later a second neurologist changed my diagnosis to MCI - mild cognitive impairment. In 2014, a third neurologist sent me for a neuropsychological evaluation. It confirmed the MCI diagnosis.