Researchers find mild Alzheimer's very common

The caduceus, a symbol of the medical profession.
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A new Mayo Clinic study finds that a milder type of mental decline that often precedes Alzheimer's disease is much more common than previously thought.

The study involved about 16-hundred people, ages 70 through 89, living in Olmsted County. All tested normal when they were enrolled in the study, but more than 5 percent had developed mild impairment when evaluated a year later. Men were nearly twice as likely as women to develop it.

MPR's Cathy Wurzer talked with Dr. Ron Petersen, the Mayo Clinic researcher who led the study.

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