At what age does frontotemporal dementia usually occur?

Frontotemporal dementia affects the front and sides of the brain (the frontal and temporal lobes). Dementia mostly affects people over 65, but frontotemporal dementia tends to start at a younger age. Most cases are diagnosed in people aged 45-65, although it can also affect younger or older people.


What are the first signs of frontotemporal dementia?

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.

What is the average age of presentation of FTD?

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.


What is the most prominent symptom of frontotemporal dementia?

Other terms used include frontotemporal lobar degeneration and frontotemporal dementia, but it's important to note that with some frontotemporal disorders, the primary symptoms are problems with speech or movement, rather than dementia symptoms.

What are the odds of getting frontotemporal dementia?

Despite often being considered as a rare disease, FTD is probably the most common form of dementia experienced in people under the age of 60, with an estimated lifetime risk of 1 in 742 [1].


What is frontotemporal dementia?



How does frontotemporal dementia start?

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.

How do you delay frontotemporal dementia?

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.

What are 5 extreme behavior changes found with FTD?

Social withdrawal, apathy and limited interest in family, friends and hobbies may become evident. At times, they may behave inappropriately with strangers, lose their social manners, act impulsively and even break laws. People experiencing these changes may become self-centered, emotionally distant and withdrawn.


What can mimic frontotemporal dementia?

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.

What is the life expectancy of someone with frontal lobe dementia?

The length of progression varies from 2 to over 20 years. 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.

Is there a test for frontotemporal dementia?

There's no single test for frontotemporal dementia. Doctors look for signs and symptoms of the disease and try to exclude other possible causes. The disorder can be especially challenging to diagnose early because symptoms of frontotemporal dementia often overlap with those of other conditions.


Do people with FTD sleep a lot?

Sleep disorders appear to be frequent comorbidities in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Insomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness commonly occur in patients with FTD and significantly contribute to caregiver burden and burnout.

Does FTD run in families?

Familial genes

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.

What are the 7 stages of frontotemporal dementia?

Eight phases of FTD
  • Unexplained small things. ...
  • Driving and work problems. ...
  • Apathy. ...
  • Trouble with swallowing. ...
  • Behaviour. ...
  • Trouble with balance and mobility. ...
  • More physical symptoms. ...
  • The final days.


Can you reverse frontotemporal dementia?

There's currently no cure for frontotemporal dementia, but there are treatments that can help manage some of the symptoms.

Does frontal lobe dementia affect walking?

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.

What is the most common frontotemporal disorder?

The most common frontotemporal disorder, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), involves changes in personality, behavior, and judgment.


What disorder is most often misdiagnosed as dementia?

Depression. The symptoms of depression are often mistaken for dementia. It is not easy to define the symptoms because many people with dementia develop signs of depression, such as feelings of low self-esteem and confidence, tearfulness and appetite, concentration and memory problems.

What protein causes frontotemporal dementia?

Three types of proteins are associated with FTD: Tau, TDP-43, and FUS. In one type of FTD called Pick's disease, certain nerve cells become abnormal and swollen before they die. These swollen, or ballooned, neurons are one hallmark of the disease.

What causes death in frontal lobe dementia?

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.


Are people with FTD violent?

In Liljegren et al.,9 more than 6.4 percent of subjects with bvFTD exhibited physical or verbal violence, and in four percent of them violence was one of the first symptoms of the disease.

Does FTD affect the eyes?

Using an inexpensive, non-invasive, eye-imaging technique, the Penn Medicine scientists found that patients with FTD showed thinning of the outer retina—the layers with the photoreceptors through which we see—compared to control subjects.

How fast does frontotemporal lobe dementia progress?

Most studies show that FTD is steadily progressive, with declining function in everyday life and accumulation of social, cognitive, and neurological disabilities leading to complete dependency requiring institutional care over a course of 6–8 years[9].


What medication helps frontal lobe?

Medications such as Ritalin (also known as methylphenidate) increase frontal lobe activity in individuals who have difficulty with self-regulation and self-control.

Can stress cause frontotemporal dementia?

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).