Category Archives: FTD

PSP and CBS excerpts from curriculum on dementia for healthcare professionals

Date
Posted by
PSP and CBS excerpts from curriculum on dementia for healthcare professionals

Someone in our local support group recently sent me this link to US Dept. of Health and Human Services’s curriculum for physicians (especially primary care physicians) and healthcare professionals (social workers, psychologists, pharmacists, emergency department staffs, dentists, etc.) on dementia. Though the web address includes the term “Alzheimer’s,” frontotemporal dementia is also mentioned in this curriculum:

Training Curriculum: Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
Health Resources and Services Administration (part of Dept of HHS)
bhw.hrsa.gov/grants/geriatrics/alzheimers-curriculum

One of the types of frontotemporal dementia is the “motor type,” which include corticobasal syndrome and progressive supranuclear palsy.

Here are some excerpts on frontotemporal dementia.

Robin

————————–

Overview of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia for an Interprofessional Team (Module 1)

Frontotemporal Dementia Types
* There are at least 3 distinctive clinical syndromes, each with heterogeneous neuropathology.
– Progressive behavior/personality decline: behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD)
– Progressive language decline: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA)
– Progressive motor decline: corticobasal syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or [progressive] supranuclear palsy. FTD with progressive motor decline is rare. FTD with progressive motor decline can involve movement problems/slowed movement, muscle rigidity (Parkinsonian symptoms), body stiffness, and changes in behavior or language.
* Behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) is the most common variant. It is characterized by marked personality changes and changes in social conduct.


Understanding Early-Stage Dementia for an Interprofessional Team (Module 5)

Early-Stage Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD): Overview
* FTD is a heterogeneous group of diseases with overlapping clinical symptoms but different causative genes and differing underlying pathologies.
* FTD is caused by damage to frontal and/or temporal lobes. Impairments generally progress quickly but memory often remains intact.
* Persons with FTD demonstrate changes in behavior and personality, language problems, and motor problems.
( Memory impairment is minimal in early stages.


Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Persons Living with Dementia (Module 12)

When to Consider Hospice Care in Persons with End-Stage FTD
* Persons with end-stage FTD are generally younger and healthier than persons with other types of end-stage dementia.
* As with other dementias, FTD is often not recognized as a terminal diagnosis.
* End-stage FTD may “look different” than other advanced dementias.

 

“How to Choose a Dementia Care Facility. Avoid My Mistakes.”

Date
Posted by

This is a very helpful article about choosing a dementia care facility.  The author is North Carolina-based Donna Plunkett St. Clair, whose husband was diagnosed with dementia in 2010 at age 59 and then with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) in 2015 at age 65.  Donna shares the mistakes she made in choosing the wrong care facility…twice.

Here are the ten lessons Donna learned:

1.  Start investigating potential facilities NOW.
2.  Learn how your loved one’s care will change as he/she declines.
3.  Learn how “problems behaviors” are defined and ask about examples of what might lead to a resident being forced to leave the facility.
4.  Know what you can afford.
5.  Assess if the facility is using innovative designs.
6.  Ask if the resident can safely go outside.
7.  Ask about safety.
8.  Inquire about staffing levels, activities, and supervision for holidays, evenings, and weekends.
9.  Ask if residents are encouraged to stay hydrated, and are offered second helpings and snacks.
10.  Check service levels and quality when the facility least expects you.

These lessons are detailed in the article here:

www.lewybodydementia.ca/dementia-care-facility-choice-avoid-mistakes/

How to Choose a Dementia Care Facility. Avoid My Mistakes.
By Donna Plunkett St. Clair
Posted to Lewy Body Dementia Canada
May 29, 2016

Robin

 

Lewy Body Dementia Info on Dementia Aide (website)

Date
Posted by
Lewy Body Dementia Info on Dementia Aide (website)

Dementia Aide, a relatively new website (dementiaaide.com), is focused on selling what it calls dementia-related products.  While a few things such as t-shirts are disorder-specific, most of the products are caregiving items.  They have pages on their website for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, and Lewy body dementia (LBD).

The LBD section, written in September 2016, won’t be added to our list of “Top Resources” but it’s worth checking out.  They seem to have pieced together information from lots of different resources (not always giving attribution every place they could.)  For example, the chart on the difference between LBD, Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s is straight from the Lewy Body Dementia Association but this is only pointed out in one place (not everywhere the chart is).

You might check out their infographic on what they say are the four stages of LBD (on the symptoms page).

The only obvious error I saw was that they don’t have an accurate description of “Lewy body dementia” within the Lewy body disease family.  They show Lewy body dementia is the same thing as Dementia with Lewy Body.  Actually, Lewy Body Dementia is an umbrella term that refers to both Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s Disease Dementia.

Here’s a link to the LBD section:

www.dementiaaide.com/pages/lewy-body-dementia

Robin

“Form of dementia suffered by Monty Python star Terry Jones is often missed by doctors”

Date
Posted by

This terrific recent article in The Independent (of Ireland) is about frontotemporal dementia (FTD).  Excerpt:

The news that Terry Jones has dementia is very sad. He, along with the other Pythons, has become a household name – at least for those of us over the age of 50.

His part as the mother of Brian in Life of Brian will be amusingly remembered. Now the news that he cannot speak any more must be heartbreaking and frustrating for a man who lived by the spoken word, by quips and by wit. And now he is silent.

The news of this broke when his family arranged an interview to publicise the condition of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from which he suffers, and about which the public know very little. His long-standing buddy Michael Palin was also interviewed.

Most people associate dementia with Alzheimer’s disease and while it is the most common, FTD is often a missed diagnosis as it is not thought about.

The full article is worth reading.  See:

www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/health-features/form-of-dementia-suffered-by-monty-python-star-terry-jones-is-often-missed-by-doctors-35642466.html

 

Robin

 

Six tips on coping with inappropriate dementia behavior; saying “I’m sorry”

Date
Posted by
Six tips on coping with inappropriate dementia behavior; saying “I’m sorry”

The Capital Gazette newspaper has a column written by Mary Chaput of the Department of Aging and Disabilities of Annapolis, MD.  A recent column had a question about frontotemporal dementia.  Ms. Chaput’s answer applies to dealing with someone with any type of dementia.

In terms of dealing with inappropriate behavior, she offers six tips:

* Don’t take the behavior or comments personally.
* Be empathetic.
* Don’t argue.
* Look for the situation(s) and environmental factors that trigger the behaviors.
* Talk with your family member’s physician about the behavior.
* Keep in mind that this, too, shall pass.

Another question was about saying “I’m sorry” to placate someone with dementia.

Here’s a link to the full column:

www.capitalgazette.com/lifestyle/ph-ac-cc-caregivers-0402-20170401-story.html

Caregivers Corner: Be patient and empathetic when dealing with frontotemporal dementia
by Mary Chaput, Correspondent
Capital Gazette
April 1, 2017

Robin