Dementia symptoms: What are the signs of frontotemporal dementia and are you at risk?

Dementia is a term used to describe symptoms that arise from damage to the brain caused by different diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. One of the types is frontotemporal dementia - but what is this, and are you at risk of it developing?

Problems with mental abilities can also occur - getting distracted easily, struggling with planning and organisation.

Another sign of frontotemporal dementia is memory problems - these only tend to occur later on, unlike more common forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The health body adds: “There may also be physical problems, such as slow or stiff movements, loss of bladder or bowel control (usually not until later on), muscle weakness or difficulty swallowing.”

There’s currently no cure for frontotemporal dementia or treatment to slow down the disease, but there are options for helping control some of the symptoms.

These include medicine to control some of the behavioural problems and therapies such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy for problems with movement, everyday tasks and communication.