Temporal Dementia

What are some symptoms of frontotemporal dementia?

Signs and symptoms

In the past, patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) have often been confused with depression, schizophrenia or Alzheimer's disease. FTD Because some cases it may still be confused, the UCSF Medical Center for Memory and aging that it is difficult to determine the prevalence of the disease. Some believe that the disease may account for 10 percent to 20 percent of dementia cases.

The first symptoms of frontotemporal dementia generally involve personality or mood changes such as depression and withdrawal, obsessive behavior and sometimes language difficulties. Many patients lose their inhibitions and antisocial behavior. In Memory and Aging Center, UCSF, doctors have identified a small group of patients who develop an extraordinary visual and musical creativity while learning the language and social impairment.

As FTD progresses, takes a toll on mental ability, affecting memory and other functions that are more common in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. In Alzheimer's disease, an early symptom is memory loss. With FTD, unusual behavior or antisocial, as well as loss of speech or language are usually the first symptoms.

In later stages, patients develop movement disorders such as lack of stability, rigidity, slowness, tremors, muscle weakness or difficulty swallowing. Some patients develop the disease or Lou Gherig amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). People in the final phase of FTD can not take care of themselves.

Behavioral symptoms

The first signs of frontotemporal dementia can cause the following symptoms:

Apathy or reluctance to talk
Changes in personality and mood such as depression
The lack of inhibition or lack of social tact
Obsessive or repetitive behavior, such as shaving or compulsion to collect items
Unusual verbal, physical or sexual behavior
The weight gain due to overfeeding dramatic (more on the FTD and binge eating.)
Patients hygiene and neglect can resist the encouragement to participate themselves. They also may lack awareness or concern that their behavior has changed.

In Memory and Aging Center, UCSF, doctors discovered a small group of FTD patients who develop new creative skills in music and art. The artistic talents developed when the loss of brain cells are produced mainly in the left frontal lobe, which controls functions such as language. We think that the right brain controls more abstract reasoning.

Language symptoms

Language problems are less frequent but do occur in the early stages of FTD before the thought processes of others, such as memory, are affected. Patients may experience difficulty speaking or finding the correct word when naming objects. Difficulties with reading and writing, and then grow. As the disease progresses, less and less the language is used, until the patient becomes almost silent. Other patients may have a serious problem in recalling the words and understand word meaning, but still have speech otherwise normal.