The Association for Frontotemporal Dementias and association for caregivers. You can also go to this site and donate for research etc.
http://www.ftd-picks.org/?p=blog/archive
AFTD1616 Walnut Street, Suite 1100Philadelphia, PA 19103
Changes in behavior and speech can be early signs of Frontotemporal Dementia. Some people mask it with drinking, so family members think they are drinking all the time, when in reality they may not be drinking at all or very little.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Fronto-temporal dementia
Are you familiar with Frontal Temporal Dementia?
For years I had a brother and sister that suffered from it, both have since passed away. It was devastating to our family since none of us knew for years what was wrong with them. They had been the healthiest members of the family and then we started noticing weird behaviors; they would walk in your bedroom at night unannounced, became sexually promiscuous, craved sweets, gained weight, paranoid, slowed speech, repetitive speech patterns, aggressive behaviors, and my brother started drawing flowers and mountains, my sister became a fabulous artist over the years.
We were not patient with them and these behaviors for years because we thought they were just being rude or depressed. Once we discovered what was going on, it at least helped our family understand that these people we knew all our lives did not just one day become rude uncaring individuals…they were sick.
Doctors tell us, now is like the 1980 era was for Alzheimer’s, we are just starting to hear about FTD and know that many people suffer from it, but are misdiagnosed. It wasn’t until we pushed to get a SPECT done on my sister that we could get it diagnosed. MRI’s had been done on both and with a qualified Neurologist that knows what to look for, we might have discovered it earlier…however it was overlooked. This is important information to share with families that may have similar stories.
For years I had a brother and sister that suffered from it, both have since passed away. It was devastating to our family since none of us knew for years what was wrong with them. They had been the healthiest members of the family and then we started noticing weird behaviors; they would walk in your bedroom at night unannounced, became sexually promiscuous, craved sweets, gained weight, paranoid, slowed speech, repetitive speech patterns, aggressive behaviors, and my brother started drawing flowers and mountains, my sister became a fabulous artist over the years.
We were not patient with them and these behaviors for years because we thought they were just being rude or depressed. Once we discovered what was going on, it at least helped our family understand that these people we knew all our lives did not just one day become rude uncaring individuals…they were sick.
Doctors tell us, now is like the 1980 era was for Alzheimer’s, we are just starting to hear about FTD and know that many people suffer from it, but are misdiagnosed. It wasn’t until we pushed to get a SPECT done on my sister that we could get it diagnosed. MRI’s had been done on both and with a qualified Neurologist that knows what to look for, we might have discovered it earlier…however it was overlooked. This is important information to share with families that may have similar stories.
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