Mild Cognitive Impairment

Posted by Louisa Strohm in English 1 · Giknis · E Band on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 9:27 pm

Hello my name is Louisa Strohm and my You & The World project is about Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). MCI is a mild form of dementia that causes short term memory loss. According to NCBI MCI is,¨ an intermediate stage between normalcy and dementia, is characterized by fewer symptoms and less functional decline than dementia with less established biological disease processes and is an attractive target for both symptomatic and disease progression therapies.¨People with mild cognitive impairment do not have as much physical and functional decline as one with dementia or Alzheimer's disease would. Currently there is no cure or treatment for this disease but there are medications that can slow the progression of the disease.

This image was found at, Medical Daily. The bottom row shows a scan of the brain throughout the progression of Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Many people with Mild Cognitive Impairment are checked into nursing homes or assisted care facilities. Although this may seem like the best option, it may not be. Many people in nursing homes are more likely to become depressed, causing their conditions to worsen. Due to lack of familiar faces such as family and friends these people would get at home, patients tend to close themselves off. People with this depression tend to deteriorate physically and mentally.

This project is very close to home for me because my grandmother has MCI. She lives with me, my mom, and my sister. She is the mother of six children, four girls and two boys. Before she was diagnosed with MCI she worked at Roman Catholic High School as the receptionist at the front desk for over 20 years. This was a job she needed a good memory for because she was going through a lot files, sending lots of emails, knowing a lot of the children’s names, and memorizing a lot of phone numbers. I often wonder whether stressing her memory then may be a reason why her memory isn’t as good now.

This is an image of me, my sister, and my grandmother.

Among many medications my grandmother takes there are also many things we do around the house to try and keep her memory fresh. My grandmother always sits in the same spot in our living/family room, and beside that spot there is an end table. On the end table next to her spot we have put a number of things including a clock with the date, time, and temperature. This helps my grandmother remember the day and where everyone is (school, work, ect.) because if she doesn’t know these types of things she could get very confused and end up worsening her condition. Another thing that we have done is put a pack of sticky notes and a fresh pen on her table so if someone calls or she wants to tell us something when we get home, she can write it down and remember it. One thing we always have to remember is to get rid of the used sticky notes each day so she doesn’t get confused as to when she wrote which note. These are only some of the ways we help our grandmother in her struggles with MCI.

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Comments (5)

Shyann Davis

Your topic focus's on somebody you love and I really like that. I have never heard of MCI before so I am really looking forward to learning about this and your agent of change. I would like to know how long your Grandmother was diagnosed with MCI? Then through the years she has been diagnosed, has her memory quickly been fading or not as fast as others would expect?

Orlando Irizarry

I really love that your topic involves somebody you realy love. I love that you add things you do to make her day easier like showing the days, time, and notes for messages. I also like that your project is based on a specific person and that's your grandma.

Siarra Cummings

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother :( . I really like the flow of your essay. I like learning about this stuff because in the future I want to be a neurosurgeon and I heard about this. I like how this is something personal to you and I'm glad you decided to talk about it. Do you think that stressing really doesn't help with this case?

Janiya Collins

Hey Lou, I love this post and I love learning about how this connects to you and your grandmother. it is very informative because there is a lot i didn't know about MCI that I know now. I do have a few questions though. If the nursing homes make them depressed and makes their symptoms worse, then why do they still put them in nursing homes? what causes MCI? How longhas your grandmother been diagnosed?

Shaheed Williams

I suggest turning your links into hyperlinks to make your blog look neater. Pacing is done well. I appreciate the bravery that you took to do a project about your grandmother. I also like how you used a family photo to make the blog have a personal feel to it.