Frontotemporal dementia, or frontotemporal degeneration disease, or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes. FTDs broadly present as behavioral or language disorders with gradual onsets.
With FTD, unusual or antisocial behavior as well as loss of speech or language are usually the first symptoms. In later stages, patients develop movement disorders such as unsteadiness, rigidity, slowness, twitches, muscle weakness or difficulty swallowing.
Frontotemporal disorders (FTD), sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, are the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Many possible symptoms can result, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, difficulty with work, or difficulty with walking.
While Alzheimer's disease generally affects most of the brain, frontotemporal dementia primarily affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain – the areas generally associated with personality and behaviour.
The most common signs of frontotemporal dementia involve extreme changes in behavior and personality. These include: Increasingly inappropriate social behavior. Loss of empathy and other interpersonal skills, such as having sensitivity to another's feelings.
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.
Over time, FTD predisposes an individual to physical complications such as pneumonia, infection, or injury from a fall. The most common cause of death is pneumonia. Average life expectancy is 7 to 13 years after the start of symptoms.
A new study from Lund University in Sweden found that one third of patients with frontotemporal dementia or Alzheimer's disease were physically aggressive toward healthcare staff, relatives, strangers and animals.
In approximately 50% of people with FTD, there is an abnormal form of tau protein in the brain and about 50% of people with FTD have TDP-43 protein accumulation. A small percentage, about 5%, have FUS protein accumulation. This disrupts normal cell activities and may cause the cells to die.
These include: occupational therapy – to identify problem areas in everyday life, such as getting dressed, and help work out practical solutions. speech and language therapy – to help improve any communication or swallowing problems. physiotherapy – to help with movement difficulties.
Frontotemporal dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of intellectual functions, such as memory problems, impaired abstract thinking, reasoning, and executive function, that are severe enough to hamper activities of daily living.
Administration: The examiner reads a list of 5 words at a rate of one per second, giving the following instructions: “This is a memory test. I am going to read a list of words that you will have to remember now and later on. Listen carefully. When I am through, tell me as many words as you can remember.
THE DIAGNOSIS OF FRONTOTEMPORAL DEGENERATION (FTD) GENERALLY INVOLVES: Medical history and detailed neurological examination. Neuropsychological examination to assess language, behavior, memory, executive and visual-spatial functions. Neuroimaging to determine where and how extensively brain regions have atrophied.
It is quite common for a person with dementia, especially in the later stages, to spend a lot of their time sleeping – both during the day and night. This can sometimes be distressing for the person's family and friends, as they may worry that something is wrong.
In some families, there is a single faulty gene that will definitely cause FTD if it is passed down from a parent to a child. This is known as 'familial FTD'. About 10 to 15 in every 100 people with FTD have this type. Any child of a person with familial FTD has a 1 in 2 chance of getting the same gene.
Drugs that are commonly used to treat other types of dementia are not recommended for people with FTD. These drugs, known as cholinesterase inhibitors (for example, donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine) can actually make the symptoms of FTD worse.
When both anxiety and depression were entered as variables, a significant increase in the risk of developing FTD was observed in patients who had reported anxiety on the HADS (p = 0.017; OR: 2.947, 95% CI: 1.209–7.158).
There is no cure for FTD and no way to slow it down or prevent it. However, there are ways to help manage symptoms, which include changes in behavior, speech, and movement. Managing behavior changes in FTD. Try to recognize it's the illness “talking” and accept rather than challenge people with behavioral symptoms.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) or frontotemporal degeneration refers to a group of disorders caused by progressive nerve cell loss in the brain's frontal lobes (the areas behind your forehead) or its temporal lobes (the regions behind your ears).
People with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are often misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD), psychiatric disorders, vascular dementia or Parkinson's disease. The early symptoms and the brain image are often the most helpful tools to reach the right diagnosis.
Physical problems. In the later stages, some people with frontotemporal dementia develop physical problems and difficulties with movement. These can include: slow, stiff movements, similar to Parkinson's disease.