Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a group of related conditions resulting from the progressive degeneration of the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. These areas of the brain play a significant role in decision-making, behavioral control, emotion and language.
The clinical symptoms of FTD are caused by degeneration in the parts of the brain that control decision-making, behavior, emotion and language (typically the frontal, temporal and insular regions).
In people under age 60, FTD is the most common cause of dementia and affects as many people as Alzheimer’s disease in the 45–64 age group.
There are several forms of FTD that lead to slightly different behavioral, language and/or motor symptoms. Due to the symptoms, people with FTD are often misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, psychiatric problems (such as depression, manic-depression, obsessive-compulsive disease or schizophrenia), vascular dementia or Parkinson’s disease.
Based on the distinct patterns of signs and symptoms, three different clinical syndromes have been grouped together under the category of “frontotemporal dementia” (FTD):
There is a third form of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) called logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA). At autopsy, patients with lvPPA are often found to have Alzheimer’s disease, not frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), the pathological description of FTD.
A small number of people affected by FTD also develop motor neuron disease (FTD/MND), (sometimes called FTD with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or FTD/ALS).
Corticobasal syndrome (CBS), also called corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) are two related diseases that are not classified as FTD but often share symptoms with FTD.
People with FTD typically first come to the doctor’s office because of:
At the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, we have found a small group of FTD patients who develop new creative skills in music and art as their language skills decline.
While each type of FTD produces different symptoms, all forms cause a steady decline in the ability to think and function, eventually leaving the person dependent on caregivers to get through the day. The pace of the symptoms and length of the disease can vary dramatically from person to person.
Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent or reverse the damage caused by FTD yet, but medications and lifestyle changes can help relieve the symptoms. Furthermore, researchers are actively searching for new treatments and running clinical trials to test promising new medications.
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