Dementia

[mky0105]

My father is 66 yrs old with no other abnormal medical conditions noted but he seems to be always forgetful for the past 10 years. He forgets mostly the recent and remote memories but his past memory is still intact. He has a hobby of collecting trashes putting it on an empty spaced cabinet found at our house that my mother get so upset with that and my dad is not health conscious anymore. Even with his food he doesn't care if it is clean or not. He is childish most of the time when given opinions and comments about his actions and even makes sleeping his habit. He keeps on talking same topic and repeating words like he had never said it before and my mom said he is worthless and doing nothing the whole day. I really pity my dad for what is happening to him. His memory loss is progressing slowly every year and I hope it will not progress anymore. I hope someone can help me what to do and what cure can you advice that he should take. His mother also had the same signs and symptoms maybe he had inherited the disease but not sure if it is Dementia or Alzheimer's disease I am quite confused with my Father's illness.

[rvwoods]

The symptom you are describing are common among patients suffering from one of the variants of FTD. It is not unusual for these patients to initially be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, as most physicians are not familiar with FTD. Many patients show symptoms for many years before the family Finlay acknowledges that that the affected individual is simple not acting normally. While there is no cure for FTD there are medications available to treat the symptoms and make the patient more comfortable. My wife has been suffering from a form of FDT for almost 16 years, and was not properly diagnosed for the first 12 years. At first her symptoms were very easy to overlook. As she progressed her condition degenerated to the point that it became obvious something was dreadfully wrong. She is currently 64 and her parents also suffered from this disease but were never diagnosed. A proper diagnosis usually requires an evaluation by a physician who specializes in FTD.