About Frontal Temporal Dementia

Frontal temporal dementia, or FTD, is a group of conditions that affect the frontal and temporal regions of the brain. These regions control personality, behavior and language.

Types

The three subtypes of FTD include behavioral variant FTD (or Pick's disease), semantic dementia and progressive non-fluent aphasia.

Symptoms

Symptoms are difficult to identify specifically for FTD and are often misdiagnosed as other conditions. Clusters of symptoms include behavioral changes, speech and language difficulties, and movement disorders.

Tme Frame

FTD generally occurs between the ages of 40 and 70, according to The Mayo Clinic.

Misconceptions

FTD is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or as a psychiatric problem, states the Mayo Clinic. A medical professional specializing in FTD can make an accurate diagnosis.

Treatment

There is no cure for FTD, and the condition cannot be slowed down or reversed. Focus is made on caretaking techniques, quality of life changes and medications, according to the Memory and Aging Center of The University of California at San Francisco.

References

• The Memory and Aging Center of The University of California at San Francisco
• The Mayo Clinic

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Photo Credit

Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Bart