Answering questions about FTD, the disease that has struck TV personality Wendy Williams
TV personality Wendy Williams attends the 2019 NYWIFT Muse Awards at the New York Hilton Midtown in 2019. She has been diagnosed with FTD, which causes symptoms of early onset dementia. Credit: TNS/Lars Niki
Former television talk show host Wendy Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, according to a statement released by her representatives this week.
The condition can affect cognitive function, behavior and communication. While Williams, who was diagnosed last year, is “still able to do many things for herself” and still has her “trademark sense of humor,” the condition has “already presented significant hurdles,” the statement said.
Frontotemporal dementia, often abbreviated as FTD, affects millions of Americans, including the actor Bruce Willis.
FTD is a family of neurodegenerative diseases originating in the frontal and temporal areas of the brain, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The frontal lobes govern emotional responses and tasks like planning and sequencing. The temporal lobes help verbal and written communication and allow people to recognize objects.
Autopsies of people with FTD show atrophy in these lobes due to neuron death. They also show abnormal amounts of certain proteins that play an important role in brain function.
There are different types of FTD. Generally, these types correspond to different affected areas of the brain. Primary progressive aphasia, the type Williams’ representatives said she has, corresponds to temporal lobe changes.
Symptoms may include difficulty using or understanding words and difficulty speaking but these symptoms may vary. People with semantic aphasia lose the ability to understand single words and may struggle to recognize familiar faces or objects. People with agrammatic aphasia omit words that link nouns and verbs and may in time lose the ability to speak. People with logopenic aphasia have trouble finding words in conversation but understand words and sentences.
FTD affects an estimated 50,000-60,000 Americans, representing 10 to 20% of all dementia cases, according to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Roughly 60% of people with FTD are 45 to 64 years old. In most cases, the causes are unknown, but people who have a family history of FTD are more likely to develop the disease, according to NINDS. Those cases may be connected to hereditary genetic variations.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, a broad term that means loss of cognitive function severe enough to affect daily activities. FTD is another type of dementia. Protein pathologies characterize both FTD and Alzheimer’s disease. But Alzheimer’s disease starts by affecting the hippocampus, a different area of the brain than those affected by FTD. Unlike FTD, Alzheimer’s disease starts by affecting memory, and its symptoms typically appear later in life than FTD symptoms, experts say.
FTD diseases are degenerative. The pathology may spread to contiguous areas of the brain, meaning that someone who presents with one group of symptoms may develop different ones, said Northwell Health’s Dr. Marc L. Gordon, Chief of Neurology, Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks.
There is no cure and “we have no disease-modifying medications available to us,” Gordon said.
Speech therapy may provide some techniques for people with FTD to help them communicate. Some people with FTD can use tools for nonverbal communication like a notebook filled with names of people and objects or lists of words to which they can point.
Some people in the early stages of some FTD variants are “aware of having some language difficulties,” Gordon said. Some people may not recognize what is happening to them.
People with FTD typically live with the condition for 6 to 8 years, though progression may be years faster or slower, according to NINDS. Death is often the result of problems related to advanced disease, like falls or aspiration pneumonia.
FTD “takes a burden not only on the patient — it’s something that also affects everybody who cares about the patient,” Gordon said. Supporting those caregivers is perhaps “more important than what we can do as doctors,” he said.
Former television talk show host Wendy Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, according to a statement released by her representatives this week.
The condition can affect cognitive function, behavior and communication. While Williams, who was diagnosed last year, is “still able to do many things for herself” and still has her “trademark sense of humor,” the condition has “already presented significant hurdles,” the statement said.
Frontotemporal dementia, often abbreviated as FTD, affects millions of Americans, including the actor Bruce Willis.
What is FTD?
FTD is a family of neurodegenerative diseases originating in the frontal and temporal areas of the brain, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The frontal lobes govern emotional responses and tasks like planning and sequencing. The temporal lobes help verbal and written communication and allow people to recognize objects.
Autopsies of people with FTD show atrophy in these lobes due to neuron death. They also show abnormal amounts of certain proteins that play an important role in brain function.
There are different types of FTD. Generally, these types correspond to different affected areas of the brain. Primary progressive aphasia, the type Williams’ representatives said she has, corresponds to temporal lobe changes.
Symptoms may include difficulty using or understanding words and difficulty speaking but these symptoms may vary. People with semantic aphasia lose the ability to understand single words and may struggle to recognize familiar faces or objects. People with agrammatic aphasia omit words that link nouns and verbs and may in time lose the ability to speak. People with logopenic aphasia have trouble finding words in conversation but understand words and sentences.
Who can get FTD?
FTD affects an estimated 50,000-60,000 Americans, representing 10 to 20% of all dementia cases, according to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Roughly 60% of people with FTD are 45 to 64 years old. In most cases, the causes are unknown, but people who have a family history of FTD are more likely to develop the disease, according to NINDS. Those cases may be connected to hereditary genetic variations.
Is there a connection to Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, a broad term that means loss of cognitive function severe enough to affect daily activities. FTD is another type of dementia. Protein pathologies characterize both FTD and Alzheimer’s disease. But Alzheimer’s disease starts by affecting the hippocampus, a different area of the brain than those affected by FTD. Unlike FTD, Alzheimer’s disease starts by affecting memory, and its symptoms typically appear later in life than FTD symptoms, experts say.
How does FTD progress?
FTD diseases are degenerative. The pathology may spread to contiguous areas of the brain, meaning that someone who presents with one group of symptoms may develop different ones, said Northwell Health’s Dr. Marc L. Gordon, Chief of Neurology, Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks.
There is no cure and “we have no disease-modifying medications available to us,” Gordon said.
Speech therapy may provide some techniques for people with FTD to help them communicate. Some people with FTD can use tools for nonverbal communication like a notebook filled with names of people and objects or lists of words to which they can point.
Some people in the early stages of some FTD variants are “aware of having some language difficulties,” Gordon said. Some people may not recognize what is happening to them.
People with FTD typically live with the condition for 6 to 8 years, though progression may be years faster or slower, according to NINDS. Death is often the result of problems related to advanced disease, like falls or aspiration pneumonia.
FTD “takes a burden not only on the patient — it’s something that also affects everybody who cares about the patient,” Gordon said. Supporting those caregivers is perhaps “more important than what we can do as doctors,” he said.
