Do I Have Frontotemporal Dementia

The Future Of Ftd Treatment

Researchers are continuing to explore the biological changes in the body, including genetic mutations and proteins, that lead to FTD and identify and test possible new drugs and other treatments. They are also developing better ways to track disease progression, so that treatments, when they become available, can be directed to the right people. Clinical trials and studies are underway to advance these efforts. People with FTD and healthy people may be able to participate. To find out more, talk to your health care provider or visit the Alzheimers.gov Clinical Trials Finder.

Stage : Age Associated Memory Impairment

This stage features occasional lapses of memory most frequently seen in:

• Forgetting where one has placed an object
• Forgetting names that were once very familiar

Oftentimes, this mild decline in memory is merely normal age-related cognitive decline, but it can also be one of the earliest signs of degenerative dementia. At this stage, signs are still virtually undetectable through clinical testing. Concern for early onset of dementia should arise with respect to other symptoms.

How Common Is Frontotemporal Dementia Who Gets It

As many as 7 million Americans may be afflicted with a form of dementia. FTD may account for 2 percent to 5 percent, or 140,000â350,000, cases of dementia, and for as many as 25 percent of dementias that develop before age 65.

FTD affects men and women equally, and onset is usually after age 40 and before age 65. Approximately 40 percent of people diagnosed with FTD have a family history that includes at least one other relative with dementia. There is a strongly inherited genetic link in at least 10 percent of people diagnosed with FTD.

Additionally, a form of dementia in persons with motor neuron disease may be associated with FTD.

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How Does This Condition Affect My Body

FTD affects your brain’s frontal and temporal lobes in the early and middle stages of the disease. As FTD affects those lobes, you lose certain abilities because neurons in those areas stop working.

Your frontal lobe, located right behind your forehead, is responsible for the following:

• Changes in diet or mouth-centered behaviors.
• Loss of executive function.

Loss of inhibitions

Inhibition is when your brain tells you not to do something. Losing your inhibitions because of frontal lobe deterioration can look like any of the following:

• Loss of the filter for what you say. When this happens, you might say hurtful, rude or offensive things. For some people, this can seem like a major personality shift.
• Lack of respect for others. This often involves getting too close to people or touching them in unwelcome ways. Inappropriate sexual comments or actions are also common.
• Impulsive actions and behaviors. These are usually risky behaviors, such as reckless gambling or spending. Criminal behaviors like shoplifting are also possible.

Apathy

Healthcare providers commonly mistake apathy for depression because the two have many similarities. Apathy tends to look like the following:

• Loss of motivation.

Loss of empathy

People who have a loss of empathy may have trouble reading the emotions of others. That may look like theyre behaving in a cold, unfeeling or uncaring way.

Compulsive behaviors

Changes in diet or mouth-centered behaviors

Primary progressive aphasia

Whats The Outlook For This Condition

FTD gradually affects more and more areas of your brain, disrupting the abilities those areas control. The average life expectancy for a person after diagnosis with FTD is 7.5 years.

While FTD isnt fatal on its own, it often causes other issues that are serious or even life-threatening. One common problem that often happens as FTD gets worse is dysphagia . Having dysphagia causes problems with eating, drinking and speaking, and increases the risk of developing pneumonia or respiratory failure.

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Stage : Mild Dementia

At this stage, individuals may start to become socially withdrawn and show changes in personality and mood. Denial of symptoms as a defense mechanism is commonly seen in stage 4. Behaviors to look for include:

• Difficulty remembering things about one’s personal history
• Difficulty recognizing faces and people

In stage 4 dementia, individuals have no trouble recognizing familiar faces or traveling to familiar locations. However, patients in this stage will often avoid challenging situations in order to hide symptoms or prevent stress or anxiety.

Causes Of Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is caused by clumps of abnormal protein forming inside brain cells. These are thought to damage the cells and stop them working properly.

The proteins mainly build up in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain at the front and sides. These are important for controlling language, behaviour, and the ability to plan and organise.

It’s not fully understood why this happens, but there’s often a genetic link. Around 1 in 8 people who get frontotemporal dementia will have relatives who were also affected by the condition.

If you have a family history of frontotemporal dementia, you may want to consider talking to your doctor about being referred to a geneticist and possibly having a genetic test to see if you’re at risk.

There’s a lot of research being done to try to improve understanding of the causes of frontotemporal dementia so treatments can be discovered.

If you’re interested in helping with research, you can speak to a doctor or register your interest on Join Dementia Research.

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What Are The Symptoms And The Types Of Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia symptoms are frequently misunderstood. Family members and friends may believe that a person acts inappropriately, resulting in resentment and conflict. It is crucial to realize that people with such conditions have no control over their behaviors or other symptoms, and they are entirely unaware of their illness.

Since symptoms and the sequence in which they develop vary from person to person, it can be challenging to determine which kind of frontotemporal dementia a person has in the early stages. Also, because different areas of the brain are affected, the same symptoms might emerge across different illnesses and fluctuate from one stage of the disease to the next.

Frontotemporal diseases are divided into three categories:

1. Primary Progressive Aphasia:

2. Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia

The most frequent form of frontotemporal dementia, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, causes personality, behavior, and judgmental alterations. People with this illness may have cognitive difficulties, although their memory may be unaffected. Extreme changes in behavior and personality are the most common indications of this kind of frontotemporal dementia.Symptoms can include the following:

3. Movement Disorders

Movement issues comparable to those seen in Parkinson’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis characterize rarer forms of frontotemporal dementia. The following are examples of motor-related issues observed:

How Can I Prevent Ftd Or Reduce My Risk Of Developing It

FTD happens unpredictably, so theres no way to prevent it. But, it might be possible to reduce your risk of developing it.

The sole way to reduce your risk of developing FTD is to avoid head injuries. Having a past head injury more than triples your risk of developing FTD. A key way to avoid head injuries is to use safety equipment whenever necessary. Helmets and safety restraints can help prevent head injuries or reduce how severe they are if they happen.

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Is Ftd Worse Than Alzheimer’s Disease

FTD and Alzheimers disease are both conditions that can severely affect and disrupt a persons life. Generally, FTD affects people at a younger age than Alzheimers disease. But theres no way to define whether one condition is better or worse than the other because these conditions affect everyone differently.

Providing Care For A Person With A Frontotemporal Disorder

People living with frontotemporal disorders, sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, can have a range of symptoms, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, and difficulty walking. Caring for someone with a frontotemporal disorder can be hard, both physically and emotionally. Caregivers may face challenges with managing the medical and day-to-day care, as well as changing family and social relationships, loss of work, poor health, stress, decisions about long-term care, and end-of-life concerns.

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How Does Ftd Differ From Alzheimers Disease

Different symptoms.

FTD brings a gradual, progressive decline in behavior, language or movement, with memory usually relatively preserved.

It typically strikes younger.

Although age of onset ranges from 21 to 80, the majority of FTD cases occur between 45 and 64. Therefore, FTD has a substantially greater impact on work, family, and finances than Alzheimers.

It is less common and still far less known.

FTDs estimated U.S. prevalence is around 60,000 cases , and many in the medical community remain unfamiliar with it. FTD is frequently misdiagnosed as Alzheimers, depression, Parkinsons disease, or a psychiatric condition. On average, it currently takes 3.6 years to get an accurate diagnosis.

What Is The Outlook For Frontotemporal Dementia

In the early stages, the symptoms and signs of frontotemporal dementia can be cared for and treated with good results. Late-stage frontotemporal dementia can take years to develop. As the disease progresses, 24-hour care may become necessary.

Frontotemporal dementia shortens a persons life span. The condition will eventually cause a person to have difficulty with bodily functions such as:

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Diagnosis And Next Steps

Diagnosis often comes after a family member notices changes in behavior or language skills. No single test can determine a frontotemporal dementia diagnosis. Routine blood tests and physical exams may be performed to rule out other conditions.

A person can live with frontotemporal dementia for many years. Pneumonia is the most common cause of death in those who have frontotemporal dementia. They also are at increased risk for infections and fall-related injuries.

Currently, no treatments are available to cure or slow the progression of frontotemporal dementia, but doctors may prescribe medications to treat symptoms, such as antidepressants or prescription sleeping medications. Physical and occupational therapists can help a patient adjust to some of the changes caused by frontotemporal dementia.

Advance directives, power of attorney and other legal actions may make it easier to decide about the care of the person with dementia. Legal advice should be sought early before the person with dementia is unable to make such decisions.

Signs Of Frontotemporal Dementia

A group of disorders caused by cell degeneration, frontotemporal dementia affects the brain, specifically its areas associated with personality, behavior and language. Once considered a rare disease, FTD may account for 20-50% of dementia cases in people younger than age 65, according to the Alzheimers Association.

FTD causes cell damage that shrinks the brains frontal and temporal lobes. The disease generally starts with personality and behavior changes and may eventually lead to severe memory loss.

Often miscategorized as psychiatric illness, frontotemporal dementia typically strikes between the ages of 45 and 65. However, the Association for Frontotemporal Dementia Degeneration indicates that cases have occurred as early as age 21 and as late as age 80.

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Be A Part Of Finding Better Treatments

Do you or a family member have frontotemporal dementia? Researchers are looking for people like you to participate in a study to track disease progression and advance treatments the ARTFL-LEFFTDS Longitudinal Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Research Consortium.

How Is Frontotemporal Dementia Treated

Currently, no treatments are available to cure or slow the progression of FTD, but healthcare providers may prescribe medicine to treat symptoms. Antidepressants may help treat anxiety and control obsessive-compulsive behaviors and other symptoms. Prescription sleeping aids can help ease insomnia and other sleep disturbances. Antipsychotic medicine may reduce irrational and compulsive behaviors.

Behavior modification may help control unacceptable or risky behaviors.

Speech and language pathologists and physical and occupational therapists can help adjustment to some of the changes caused by FTD.

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How Is It Diagnosed

A healthcare provider, usually a neurologist, can diagnose FTD based on your medical history and a physical and neurological examination . Some lab tests are also possible, and imaging tests are important because they can show areas of your brain where deterioration is happening.

In addition to neurological examinations, healthcare providers will often have you do a neurocognitive assessment. In this test, you’ll do tasks or answer questions. Based on how you do on the test, providers can identify whether or not you have problems in certain areas of your brain, which can help narrow down whether or not you have FTD.

How Ftd Can Affect Work

People living with FTD may have difficulty with basic work skills, such as organizing, planning, and following through on tasks. Activities that were easy before might take much longer or become impossible. People may lose their jobs because they can no longer perform. As a result, the caregiver might need to take a second job to make ends meet, or reduce their hours, or even quit working to provide care and run the household.

An employment attorney can offer information and advice about employee benefits, family leave, and disability if needed. Workers diagnosed with FTD can qualify for Social Security disability benefits through the Compassionate Allowances program , a program that helps individuals with certain serious conditions access benefits quickly.

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Living With Frontotemporal Dementia

Coping with FTD can be frightening, frustrating, and embarrassing for the patient and family members. Since some symptoms cant be controlled, family members shouldn’t take their loved ones behaviors personally. Families need to maintain their own well-being, while ensuring that their loved one is treated with dignity and respect.

Caregivers should learn all they can about FTD and gather a team of experts to help the family meet the medical, financial, and emotional challenges they are facing.

Its important to find a healthcare provider knowledgeable about FTD. Other healthcare specialists who may play a role on the team are home care nurses, neuropsychologists, genetic counselors, speech and language therapists, as well as physical and occupational therapists. Social workers can help the patient and caregivers find community resources, such as medical supplies and equipment, nursing care, support groups, respite care, and financial assistance.

Attorneys and financial advisors can help families prepare for the later stages of the disease.

Advanced planning will help smooth future transitions for the patient and family members, and may allow all to participate in the decision-making process.

What Is The Life Expectancy Of Ftd

The average life expectancy after a diagnosis of FTD is 7.5 years. But the condition can progress faster or slower. Your healthcare provider is the best person to tell you more about the progress of the disease and the likely timeline. They can also update you throughout the course of the disease if it progresses faster or slower than expected.

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Frontotemporal Dementia Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is one of the less common types of dementia. It is sometimes called Pick’s disease or frontal lobe dementia. The first noticeable FTD symptoms are changes to personality and behaviour and/or difficulties with language.

Stage : Mild Cognitive Impairment

Clear cognitive problems begin to manifest in stage 3. A few signs of stage 3 dementia include:

• Getting lost easily
• Noticeably poor performance at work
• Forgetting the names of family members and close friends
• Difficulty retaining information read in a book or passage
• Losing or misplacing important objects
• Difficulty concentrating

Patients often start to experience mild to moderate anxiety as these symptoms increasingly interfere with day to day life. Patients who may be in this stage of dementia are encouraged to have a clinical interview with a clinician for proper diagnosis.

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What Is Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia , a common cause of dementia, is a group of disorders that occur when nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are lost. This causes the lobes to shrink. FTD can affect behavior, personality, language, and movement.

These disorders are among the most common dementias that strike at younger ages. Symptoms typically start between the ages of 40 and 65, but FTD can strike young adults and those who are older. FTD affects men and women equally.

The most common types of FTD are:

• Frontal variant. This form of FTD affects behavior and personality.
• Primary progressive aphasia. Aphasia means difficulty communicating. This form has two subtypes:
• Progressive nonfluent aphasia, which affects the ability to speak.
• Semantic dementia, which affects the ability to use and understand language.

A less common form of FTD affects movement, causing symptoms similar to Parkinson disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis .

How Do Alzheimer’s Disease And Frontotemporal Dementia Differ

As we previously mentioned, frontotemporal dementia is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease. For clarity, we’ve created a helpful, quick-reference guide.

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