How rare is FTD?

FTD is rare and tends to occur at a younger age than other forms of dementia. Roughly 60% of people with FTD are 45 to 64 years old. FTD is progressive, meaning symptoms get worse over time. In the early stages, people may have just one symptom.

What are the odds of getting frontotemporal dementia?

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.

Is FTD considered a rare disease?

Although FND is listed as a rare disease, researchers are finding that functional symptoms are often seen in neurological services making it a common disorder.

Is frontotemporal dementia uncommon?

Frontotemporal dementia is an uncommon type of dementia that causes problems with behaviour and language. Dementia is the name for problems with mental abilities caused by gradual changes and damage in the brain. Frontotemporal dementia affects the front and sides of the brain (the frontal and temporal lobes).

What percentage of people have frontotemporal dementia?

Frontotemporal dementia, also known as FTD, is a rarer type of dementia. It is thought to account for less than one in 20 of all dementia cases. It typically affects people between the ages of 45 and 64. However, FTD can affect people younger or older than this.

Living with fFTD: A short film

What is the average age of onset for FTD?

Symptoms typically first occur between the ages of 40 and 65 and can include changes in personality and behavior, progressive loss of speech and language skills, and sometimes physical symptoms such as tremors or spasms. FTD tends to progress over time.

What are the first symptoms of FTD?

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.

Can you slow 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 famous person has frontotemporal dementia?

Less than a year after Bruce Willis' family shared that the famed actor had the neurological disorder aphasia, they've announced that his condition has progressed and that he has a new diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia.

Do people with FTD know they have it?

Symptoms of FTD are often misunderstood. Family members and friends may think that a person is misbehaving, leading to anger and conflict. It is important to understand that people with these disorders cannot control their behaviors and other symptoms and lack any awareness of their illness.

What is FTD usually misdiagnosed as?

FTD is often misdiagnosed and, among the other neurodegenerative disorders, is commonly mistaken for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

What is the youngest age for FTD?

Most people diagnosed with FTD are between the ages of 45 and 64, but onset can begin as early as the 30s or as late as the 90s. This type of dementia is far less common than Alzheimer's disease in patients over 65.

How quickly does FTD progress?

The progression of symptoms—in behavior, language, and/or movement—varies by individual, but FTD brings an inevitable decline in functioning. The length of progression varies from 2 to over 20 years.

Should I get genetic testing for FTD?

Genetic testing is an important step for patients with FTD to determine if their disease is the result of a gene mutation. Learning whether FTD is caused by a genetic mutation may enable clinicians to intervene sooner and evaluate your treatment options.

Can I get tested for FTD gene?

Genetic testing

A specialist may recommend that a person with FTD symptoms has a genetic test. This can show if the person's condition is caused by a specific faulty gene.

What is the average survival for frontotemporal dementia?

FTD-MND is consistently associated with the shortest survival, approximately 2.5–3 years from onset.

How long do people live after diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia?

The average life expectancy for a person after diagnosis with FTD is 7.5 years. While FTD isn't 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 (trouble swallowing).

Are people with frontotemporal dementia violent?

Physical aggression among people with dementia is not unusual. A study showed that one-third of patients with the diagnosis Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia were physically aggressive towards healthcare staff, other patients, relatives, animals and complete strangers.

What is the 5 word memory test?

Abstract. Introduction: The five-word test (5WT) is a serial verbal memory test with semantic cuing. It is proposed to rapidly evaluate memory of aging people and has previously shown its sensitivity and its specificity in identifying patients with AD.

What drugs should be avoided in frontotemporal dementia?

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.

Does FTD show up on MRI?

Atrophy or shrinkage of specific regions of the brain that might be suggestive of FTD can be identified by MRI.

What can mimic FTD?

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 are the 7 stages of FTD?

Do people with FTD feel pain?

Major brain structures seen to show early changes in FTD partially overlap with brain areas known to be involved in pain pathways. Therefore, an affected perception of emotion and pain could theoretically be suspected and has also been described [1-6].