Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTypes of FTDSymptomsFTD vs. Alzheimer’sCausesDiagnosisTreatmentPrevalencePrognosis
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Types of FTD
Symptoms
FTD vs. Alzheimer’s
Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevalence
Prognosis
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is atype of dementiathat has often been called Pick’s disease. The frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are affected and shrink in size (atrophy) as a result of damage to neurons.
FTD encompasses a group of disorders that affect behavior, emotions, communication, and cognition. Other names used for FTD include:
FTD typically strikes relatively young persons (45 to 64), but it has also been identified in people as young as 21 and as old as the late 80s.About 60% of cases of FTD are people between the ages of 45 and 64.
Arnold Pick first identified the abnormal tau protein collections in the brain (called Pick’s bodies) in 1892. Pick’s bodies are present in some types of FTD and can only be seen under a microscope during an autopsy.
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Types of Frontotemporal Dementia
Four disorders that fall into the FTD category include:
Frontotemporal Dementia Symptoms
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.
Communication Changes:FTD often affects the ability to communicate in bothexpressive speech(the ability to use words to express yourself) andreceptive speech(the ability to understand speech). Individuals may have troublefinding the right wordto say, speak very hesitantly and slowly, have a hard time reading and writing accurately, and not be able to form sentences in a way that makes sense.
Interestingly, a person’smemoryandunderstanding of the space around themoften remain relatively intact, especially in the earlier stages.
How FTD and Alzheimer’s Differ
In Alzheimer’s, the typical initialsymptomsareshort-term memoryimpairment and difficulty learning something new. In FTD, the memory usually remains intact initially; early symptoms include difficulty with appropriate social interactions and emotions, as well as some language challenges.
FTD and Alzheimer’s also differ in how the brain is physically affected. FTD mainly affects the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes, whereas Alzheimer’s affects the temporal lobes in early stages, but progression impacts most areas of the brain.
FTD also targets younger individuals. The average age of onset for FTD is about 60 years old. While some people have early-onset Alzheimer’s, the majority develop it after age 65 and many of those are well into their 70s or 80s.
Frontotemporal Dementia Causes
Diagnosing Frontotemporal Dementia
Similar todiagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, there is no single test that can diagnose FTD. People with possible FTD typically undergo tests such as:
Treatment for Frontotemporal Dementia
There is no medication that targets this type of dementia, so the treatment goal is to control symptoms as much as possible. Physicians may prescribe medications that are often used for the movement problems inParkinson’s disease, including Sinemet (carbidopa/levodopa) . Sometimes the behaviors of FTD are addressed with antipsychotic medications if non-drug approaches are ineffective.
Antidepressant medications, specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have shown some benefit in treating some of theobsessive or compulsive behaviorsof FTD. Some physicians will also prescribe medications usually given for Alzheimer’s, including cholinesterase inhibitors. Research, however, has not clearly shown these medications to be effective for FTD yet.
Occupational and physical therapy can also help maintain or slow the deterioration of motor and movement abilities, while speech therapy can sometimes assist with communication deficits.
About 10% to 20% of all dementias are FTD, which translates to an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 Americans.FTD is one of the more common types of dementia in adults younger than age 65, and it is more common in men than women.
The prognosis of FTD is poor. Life expectancy is typically six to eight years, sometimes longer and sometimes shorter.FTD does not cause death, but it makes fighting other illnesses and infections more difficult.
Summary
The Anatomy of the Frontal Lobe
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Fast facts about FTD.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Frontotemporal dementia.Goldman JS, Van Deerlin VM.Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: The Current State of Genetics and Genetic Testing Since the Advent of Next-Generation Sequencing. Mol Diagn Ther. 2018 Oct;22(5):505-513. doi: 10.1007/s40291-018-0347-7National Institute on Aging.Providing care for a person with frontotemporal dementia.Additional ReadingNational Institute on Aging.Types of frontotemporal disorders.Updated March 29, 2019.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Diagnosing FTD.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Disease overview.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Genetics of FTD.University of California San Francisco.Frontotemporal dementia.University of California San Francisco.Familial FTD.
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Fast facts about FTD.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Frontotemporal dementia.Goldman JS, Van Deerlin VM.Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: The Current State of Genetics and Genetic Testing Since the Advent of Next-Generation Sequencing. Mol Diagn Ther. 2018 Oct;22(5):505-513. doi: 10.1007/s40291-018-0347-7National Institute on Aging.Providing care for a person with frontotemporal dementia.Additional ReadingNational Institute on Aging.Types of frontotemporal disorders.Updated March 29, 2019.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Diagnosing FTD.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Disease overview.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Genetics of FTD.University of California San Francisco.Frontotemporal dementia.University of California San Francisco.Familial FTD.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Fast facts about FTD.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Frontotemporal dementia.Goldman JS, Van Deerlin VM.Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: The Current State of Genetics and Genetic Testing Since the Advent of Next-Generation Sequencing. Mol Diagn Ther. 2018 Oct;22(5):505-513. doi: 10.1007/s40291-018-0347-7National Institute on Aging.Providing care for a person with frontotemporal dementia.
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Fast facts about FTD.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Frontotemporal dementia.
Goldman JS, Van Deerlin VM.Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: The Current State of Genetics and Genetic Testing Since the Advent of Next-Generation Sequencing. Mol Diagn Ther. 2018 Oct;22(5):505-513. doi: 10.1007/s40291-018-0347-7
National Institute on Aging.Providing care for a person with frontotemporal dementia.
National Institute on Aging.Types of frontotemporal disorders.Updated March 29, 2019.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Diagnosing FTD.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Disease overview.The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Genetics of FTD.University of California San Francisco.Frontotemporal dementia.University of California San Francisco.Familial FTD.
National Institute on Aging.Types of frontotemporal disorders.Updated March 29, 2019.
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Diagnosing FTD.
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Disease overview.
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration.Genetics of FTD.
University of California San Francisco.Frontotemporal dementia.
University of California San Francisco.Familial FTD.
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