Frontotemporal Dementia vs. Alzheimer’s Disease in a Patient

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Pathophysiological Comparison Between Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)

Frontotemporal dementia affects the temporal behind the forehead and is responsible for judgment in a social situation. In contrast, Alzheimer’s disease affects the hippocampus and the brain circuits responsible for memory. FTD is a group of degenerative brain disorders that mostly tend to occur at a young age and result in the progressive loss of brain nerves in the frontal and temporal regions (Goldman & Van Deerlin, 2018). This leads only to loss of function in the mentioned brain areas, such as language problems and deterioration of behavior and personality.

Moreover, Alzheimer’s disease affects hypertrophies in the hippocampus as the initial part is involved in the brain’s memory areas and spatial orientation. In addition, the neurons responsible for the brain’s behavior and perception regions are lost as the disease progresses. People with Alzheimer’s have no problems making sense of speech, unlike FTD, whose language is completely impaired. Those with Alzheimer’s are prone to hallucinations and delusions compared to FTD (Goldman & Van Deerlin, 2018).

Clinical Finding of AD as in the Case Study

In the case study, the wife complains that the patient loses memory and sometimes forgets his way back home. Memory loss is one of the key features and the initial sign and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. It is also accompanied by a lack of spatial abilities as the individual is explained to have lost the way several times and had to be brought back by the relatives. Another sign common in Alzheimer’s patients is irritability which is evident in the case study as the client gets angry and irritable when asked where he is going. Studies have shown that persons with dementia have difficulty thinking and reasoning in an abstract manner (Goldman & Van Deerlin, 2018). This is evident in the history that the patient is unable to solve problems and balance checkbooks. The progression affects the daily activities of daily living, and it is evident in the past since, at times, the sick person is unable to dress. The critical confirmation of the diagnosis is the hippocampus’s hypertrophy, as stated in the Magnetic resonance report. Also, the family history is positive for Alzheimer’s disease.

Hypothesis Behind AD

The current hypothesis is the deposit of amyloid-beta proteins in the extracellular spaces of neurons which causes vascular damage, neurofibrillary tangles, cell loss, and Alzheimer’s follow due to the deposition. Studies have shown that amyloid deposition is the trigger of the early development of disease but have necessary but insufficient in the disease’s late stages (Soria Lopez et al., 2019). In other terms, the amyloid deposits are known as senile plaques.

Staging of the AD in the Case Study

In the case study, the patient is in the moderate or middle stage of AD. This stage’s main feature is the decline in the ability to do daily living activities and irritability or withdrawn mood (Soria Lopez et al., 2019). At this stage, the individual losses abstract thinking and reason, and the spatial abilities get impaired. These features are evident in the case study as the patient needs help with daily living activities such as dressing. He is also unable to solve problems and incapable of balancing a checkbook. He is also aggressive and irritable. The wife is concerned about the patient wandering away from home. At this stage, the bladder and bowel sphincter are usually functional. The patient in the case study has a feature of moderate stage of AD.

References

Goldman, J. S., & Van Deerlin, V. M. (2018). Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia: The current state of genetics and genetic testing since the advent of next-generation sequencing.Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy, 22, 505–513. Web.

Soria Lopez, J. A., González, H. M., & Léger, G. C. (2019). Alzheimer’s disease.Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 167, 231–255. Web.

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Frontotemporal Dementia vs. Alzheimer’s Disease in a Patient

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