Frontotemporal Dementia (Pick's disease) - Medtick

Frontotemporal Dementia (Pick’s disease)

What is it?

Group of disorders caused by progressive nerve cell loss in the brain’s frontal lobes (the areas behind your forehead) or its temporal lobes (the regions behind your ears).

  • Pick disease is a taupathy.
  • Taupathies are syndromes that occur secondary to deposition of  abnormal forms of tau protein in the brain.
  • Various taupathies can be differentiated based on preferential areas of brain involvement and /or involvement of specific cells/cellular compartments. The frontotemporal subtypes include:
    1. Picks disease
    2. Corticobasal degeneration (CBD)
    3. Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)
    4. Globular glial tauopathy (GGT)
    5. Argyrophilic grain disease (AGD)
    6. Primary age-related tauopathy (PART)

For more information

Medscape


There are two main types:

Behaviour variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD)

  • Changes in personality and behaviour that often occur in people in their 50s and 60s, but can develop as early as their 20s or as late as their 80s.

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) 

  • Affects language skills, speaking, writing and comprehension.
  • PPA normally comes on in midlife, before age 65, but can occur in late life.
    • In semantic variant of PPA, individuals lose the ability to understand or formulate words in a spoken sentence.
    • In non-fluent/agrammatic variant of PPA, a person’s speaking is very hesitant, laboured or ungrammatical.

Difference between Alzheimer’s and Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)

  • Age at diagnosis may be an important clue. Most people with FTD are diagnosed in their 40s and early 60s. Alzheimer’s, on the other hand, grows more common with increasing age.
  • Memory loss tends to be a more prominent symptom in early Alzheimer’s than in early FTD, although advanced FTD often causes memory loss in addition to its more characteristic effects on behavior and language.
  • Behaviour changes are often the first noticeable symptoms in bvFTD, the most common form of FTD.
    • Behaviour changes are also common as Alzheimer’s progresses, but they tend to occur later in the disease.
  • Problems with spatial orientation — for example, getting lost in familiar places — are more common in Alzheimer’s than in FTD.
  • Problems with speech: Although people with Alzheimer’s may have trouble thinking of the right word or remembering names, they tend to have less difficulty making sense when they speak, understanding the speech of others, or reading than those with FTD.
  • Hallucinations and delusions are relatively common as Alzheimer’s progresses, but relatively uncommon in FTD.

Alzheimer Association

Cause

Medication

  • Regular Laxatives use in particular osmotic laxatives

Symptoms

  • Irritable and/or anxiety and/or depression?
  • Low mood and depressed?
  • Pain and difficulty swallowing?
  • Difficulty in chewing?
  • Overactive (urgency to go to toilet) or under active bladder?
  • Cannot control bladder?
  • Overactive and/or under active bowel problems?
  • Find passing stools difficult and constipated?
  • Aching, painful muscles, muscle cramps/spasms/stiffness?
  • General discomfort (muscle weakness), uneasiness or ill feeling (malaise) and/or fatigue (tiredness)?
  • Muscle weakness or wasting (loss of muscles) and/or  muscles are shrinking?
  • Arms and legs to become uncoordinated?
  • Difficulty using arms and/or body and/or  legs and/or lack of stamina, walking difficulties?
  • Changes in posture?
  • Clumsy and awkward walking?
  • Eye movements problems?

Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:

This condition can lead to:


Eye Test and Driving Authority


This condition can be mistaken for and/or  may show similar symptoms to:

Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice

Detailed Information

Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Frontotemporal Dementia (Pick’s disease) in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).

  • NHS

    Find information and advice on health conditions, symptoms, healthy living, medicines and how to get help (British National Health Service).

  • Medscape

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  • Pharmaceutical Journal

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  • Healthline

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  • Medical News Today

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  • WebMD

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  • Cleveland Clinic

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  • Mayo Clinic

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  • Drugs.com

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  • National Organisation of Rare Diseases

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  • Verywell Health

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  • Fit for Travel

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  • DR Axe

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