Clipping Board » Disease & Prevention ─ Understanding diseases, prevention is better than cure.
Update Date: 2009/05/16 04:09 Text by Zheng Tingwen
Mr. Chen, a 49-year-old salesman, has undergone a noticeable personality change over the past year or two. His wife observed that he shifted from being outgoing and talkative to introverted and withdrawn, barely speaking a few words throughout the day. He became indifferent to daily matters, which not only affected his work performance but also significantly reduced his interactions with family members.
Initially, the family thought his moodiness and reluctance to speak were due to poor sales caused by the economic downturn. However, Mr. Chen's other unusual behaviors eventually compelled them to seek medical help. These behaviors included collecting dozens of broken umbrellas, frequent irritability, stubbornness, repetitive actions, and an urge to pick up and fiddle with items in stores. After thorough brain imaging, neuropsychological assessments, blood tests, and neurological examinations, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), finally explaining his personality changes and behavioral abnormalities.
Frontotemporal dementia is a type of degenerative dementia that primarily affects middle-aged and elderly individuals before the age of 65, with an average onset age of 58. The disease progresses relatively quickly, typically spanning 6 to 8 years.
Unlike Alzheimer's disease, commonly known as senile dementia, patients with FTD maintain normal memory and self-care abilities in the early stages. However, their judgment in social etiquette, ability to plan complex tasks, and personality often undergo significant changes. These may include becoming less talkative, inflexibly stubborn, emotionally passive, neglectful of hygiene, craving sweets, lacking attention, and being unaware of their own behavioral shifts.
As the disease progresses, patients may exhibit excessive hoarding, impulsive anger, or disregard for social norms. Some family members have reported increased sexual demands, such as watching adult films in front of relatives or walking around the house in underwear.
These personality changes stem from the degeneration of the frontal lobe, which governs judgment and behavior. Since the deterioration occurs gradually, family members often fail to notice immediately, leading to conflicts with neighbors or friends.
Another variant of FTD primarily involves language deterioration. Patients gradually lose fluency, struggling to recall street names, people's names, or object names, requiring others to guess their intended expressions.
As the condition worsens, comprehension declines, and reading and writing abilities deteriorate, though memory and self-care remain relatively unaffected. This language decline results from temporal lobe degeneration and is often harder to detect in the early stages.
Although there is currently no cure for FTD, early diagnosis and medical intervention can help avoid unnecessary conflicts and facilitate better adaptation to living with the condition. If relatives or friends exhibit personality changes or language difficulties, seeking medical advice promptly is recommended.
(The author is a clinical psychologist at the Clinical Psychological Center and Neurology Department of National Taiwan University Hospital.)
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090516/ 78/ 1jl9t. html
Frontotemporal Dementia Turns Talkative to Introverted
Mr. Chen, a 49-year-old salesman, has undergone a noticeable personality change over the past year or two. His wife observed that he shifted from being outgoing and talkative to introverted and withdrawn, barely speaking a few words throughout the day. He became indifferent to daily matters, which not only affected his work performance but also significantly reduced his interactions with family members.
Initially, the family thought his moodiness and reluctance to speak were due to poor sales caused by the economic downturn. However, Mr. Chen's other unusual behaviors eventually compelled them to seek medical help. These behaviors included collecting dozens of broken umbrellas, frequent irritability, stubbornness, repetitive actions, and an urge to pick up and fiddle with items in stores. After thorough brain imaging, neuropsychological assessments, blood tests, and neurological examinations, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), finally explaining his personality changes and behavioral abnormalities.
Frontotemporal dementia is a type of degenerative dementia that primarily affects middle-aged and elderly individuals before the age of 65, with an average onset age of 58. The disease progresses relatively quickly, typically spanning 6 to 8 years.
Unlike Alzheimer's disease, commonly known as senile dementia, patients with FTD maintain normal memory and self-care abilities in the early stages. However, their judgment in social etiquette, ability to plan complex tasks, and personality often undergo significant changes. These may include becoming less talkative, inflexibly stubborn, emotionally passive, neglectful of hygiene, craving sweets, lacking attention, and being unaware of their own behavioral shifts.
As the disease progresses, patients may exhibit excessive hoarding, impulsive anger, or disregard for social norms. Some family members have reported increased sexual demands, such as watching adult films in front of relatives or walking around the house in underwear.
These personality changes stem from the degeneration of the frontal lobe, which governs judgment and behavior. Since the deterioration occurs gradually, family members often fail to notice immediately, leading to conflicts with neighbors or friends.
Another variant of FTD primarily involves language deterioration. Patients gradually lose fluency, struggling to recall street names, people's names, or object names, requiring others to guess their intended expressions.
As the condition worsens, comprehension declines, and reading and writing abilities deteriorate, though memory and self-care remain relatively unaffected. This language decline results from temporal lobe degeneration and is often harder to detect in the early stages.
Although there is currently no cure for FTD, early diagnosis and medical intervention can help avoid unnecessary conflicts and facilitate better adaptation to living with the condition. If relatives or friends exhibit personality changes or language difficulties, seeking medical advice promptly is recommended.
(The author is a clinical psychologist at the Clinical Psychological Center and Neurology Department of National Taiwan University Hospital.)
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090516/ 78/ 1jl9t. html