Frontotemporal dementia

Changes in Brain in frontotemporal Dementia.

Frontotemporal dementia covers many different diseases, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Common to the diseases is that they all start at the front of the brain and therefore cause the same kind of symptoms.

Almost half of the persons with frontotemporal dementia have accumulation of tau protein in the nerve cells, which causes collapse in the nerve cells’ internal environment, just as in Alzheimer’s disease. Although the disease may be similar to Alzheimer’s at this point, it is different in that no beta-amyloid plaques are formed and the disease begins at the front of the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes. Alzheimer’s disease begins further in the back of the brain. An equally large group of persons has an accumulation of another protein in the brain’s nerve cells. This type of protein accumulation is also seen in the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and this explains that the same person often has both frontotemporal dementia and ALS.

Characteristics of Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is often abbreviated FTD. Frontotemporal dementia manifests itself in the form of gradually increasing changes in personality, behavior and / or language and differs from Alzheimer’s disease because learning and memory may be intact in the process of the disease. However, the disease means that inhibitions of impulses and situational judgment perceive or disappear and the person receives impulsive and uncontrolled behavior and indifference to social norms. For example, the person may tend to eat or drink too much. The symptoms may look like certain psychiatric diseases, and frontotemporal dementia can therefore be difficult to diagnose. For example, at the beginning of the process of the illness, the doctor may think that it is a crisis action or a mania.

The cause of frontotemporal dementia is unknown, but 40% of the cases are hereditary. Frontotemporal dementia is associated with several different brain disease processes. There are, among other things, detected shrinkage of the frontal lobes, swollen brain cells and accumulation of a particular type of protein (Tau) in the brain. In some subtypes, the temple lobe are hit before the frontal lobes. Frontotemporal dementia cannot be cured and there are no drugs that slow down the disease. Nevertheless, it is very important that the person and the family members get the right advice and support early.

Frontotemporal dementia often debuts earlier than other dementia diseases, typically between 55 and 65 years old, but it can also happen much earlier. The average survival time is from six to eight years. However, some have lived with the disease for up to 2 decades.

The most common types of dementia other than vascular dementia are neurodegenerative diseases. For example, Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal dementia or Lewy Body dementia. The diseases begin in different places and then spread in different ways.