Study: Mild Cognitive Impairment More Prevalent In Men

Has anyone else had this experience: Your husband is standing in front of the refrigerator and yells, "Where's the milk?" You go to help him, and lo, there's a full half-gallon of it, right in front, on the eye-level shelf.

Maybe it's just me. But this recurring scenario came to mind when I read about a recent study by Mayo Clinic researchers, published in the journal Neurology, that found a higher prevalence of mild cognitive impairment in men than women (19 percent of men suffered from it compared to 14 percent of women). The findings are surprising given that women develop the much more serious condition of Alzheimer's at higher rates than men.

Researchers theorize that women might slip from normal cognition directly to full blown Alzheimer's at a later age, but faster. Still, more research is needed to figure out why this curious disparity seems to exist.

Here's Cleveland Clinic neuroscientist Bruce Lamb, who was not involved in the study, explaining the findings: