Reifying Relevance in Mild Cognitive Impairment: An Appeal for Care and Caution

Abstract

Reply by the current authors to the comments made by Ronald C. Petersen (see record 2006-21958-007), Andy Hamilton (see record 2006-21958-008) and Stephen Ticehurst (see record 2006-21958-009) on the original article (see record 2006-21958-006). The authors thank the reviewers for their thoughtful comments that probe shadowy areas in our argument, and they welcome this opportunity to elucidate authors' position. The commentators have read their manuscript as suggesting that Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are different kinds, and that a diagnosis of AD is more "real" than that of MCI. The authors' paper takes up concerns that are not resolved for dementia and suggests that the nascent category of MCI is still so insufficiently defined as to be ambiguous, and as such, is in danger of identifying individuals with what will be, and has already been, linked to a debilitating and deeply stigmatizing and fatal disorder (AD). The authors are not contesting the reality that some people begin to display early signs of cognitive loss, nor are the authors suggesting that symptoms be ignored; as researchers, the authors stand behind the careful tracking of symptoms and signs in patients and research participants as an essential clinical and research practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA )