2 days Ago By Isabel Shaw
CRAVINGS for treats can hit many of us as we browse supermarket shelves - from chocolate bars, to ice cream or crisps. But changes in food shopping patterns could be a sign of frontotemporal dementia ( FTD ). This is one of the less common types of dementia caused by damage to nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.
It affects people's personality, behaviour, and ability to use language. Dementia mostly affects people over 65, but FTD tends to start at a younger age - with most cases diagnosed in those aged 45-64. Die Hard star Bruce Willis , 69, is known to be battling the disease, which reports suggest have left him with major speech issues .
Read more on dementia Bruce was diagnosed with a symptom of FTD known as aphasia - a brain disorder that affects how you speak and understand language - in 2022. The star announced he was stepping back from acting at the time and made his FTD diagnosis public the following year. His wife Emma Heming Willis recently revealed that the actor's initial symptoms were at first dismissed due to his lifelong struggle with stuttering .
It's estimated that about 31,000 people in the UK live with FTD. Most read in Health There are two broad types of the disease, behavioural variant FTD - the most common one that causes problems with behaviour and personality - and primary progressive aphasia, that affects language. According to the Alzheimer’s Society , people with behavioural variant FTD condition may crave and buy more sweet, fatty or carby foods, like chocolate or cakes.
Scientists say there are several reasons why people with the disease could feel like they need more sugar in their diet . Some people with dementia experience a loss of taste and smell, which makes food less tasty. And they may start craving sweet foods and intense flavours to make up for the loss.
Others may also have anxiety or depression , and eating sweets boosts feel-good chemicals for a short time. Unfortunately FTD cannot be cured, but it can be managed, especially if it is caught early on. People with the disease can have speech therapy and glasses or hearing aids to help combat sensory issues.
It is a progressive disease and the life expectancy of a sufferer is between two and ten years. This is usually due to the general failure of the body's systems rather than the disease itself. Sugar dangers To make matters worse, sugar is believed to increase the risk of dementia.
Adding just over two teaspoons of sugar to your daily tea or coffee could increase your risk of inflammation in the brain, which could trigger dementia. In fact, having lots of sugar in any form, including fruit juice, cakes, and chocolate, makes people 54 per cent more likely to develop the condition, a US study found. Should I be concerned? If you feel like chucking some Ben and Jerry's into the trolley every so often, this isn't a cause for concern.
But it's important to look out for other telling signs that there’s a bigger problem, one of which you can also spot while shopping. Experiencing difficulty with numbers while handling money in shops can be a warning sign, the NHS says. This occurs as the condition begins to damage the brain.
Other FTD signs Symptoms of FTD are very different from the early symptoms of more common types of dementia. For example, in Alzheimer’s disease, early changes are often problems with day-to-day memory. But in the early stages of FTD, many people can still remember recent events.
From personality shifts to physical issues, here are five signs to know. 1. Personality and behaviour changes These include acting inappropriately or impulsively, appearing selfish or unsympathetic, neglecting personal hygiene, overeating, or a loss of motivation.
2. Language problems People with the disease may speak slowly, struggle to make the right sounds when saying a word, get words in the wrong order, or use words incorrectly. Some people gradually lose the ability to speak, and can eventually become completely mute.
3. Problems with mental abilities Sufferers may get distracted easily and also struggle with planning and organisation. They may also start thinking in rigid way and lose the ability to understand abstract ideas.
4. Memory problems In patients with FTD, memory issues tend to occur later on, unlike more common forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. They may experience difficulty recognising familiar people or objects.
5. Physical issues 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. More than 900,000 Brits have dementia, and this is set to rise beyond a million by 2025.
Alzheimer’s disease is by far the most common form, accounting for about 60 to 70 per cent of cases. This number is expected to rise sharply in the coming years as people continue to live longer - ageing is a major risk factor of the disease. READ MORE SUN STORIES Like with many conditions, getting an early diagnosis is important as it gives people the best chance of managing the disease and alleviating symptoms.
Symptoms like memory loss, problems with thinking speed, language, judgement or mood can tip you off that someone might be have dementia. Dementia - the most common form of which is Alzheimer's - comes on slowly over time. As the disease progresses, symptoms can become more severe.
But at the beginning, the symptoms can be subtle or mistaken for normal memory issues related to ageing. The US National Institute on Aging gives some examples of what is considered normal forgetfulness in old age, and dementia disease. You can refer to these above.
For example, it is normal for an ageing person to forget which word to use from time-to-time, but difficulting having conversation would be more indicative of dementia. Katie Puckering, Head of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Information Services team, previously told The Sun: “We quite commonly as humans put our car keys somewhere out of the ordinary and it takes longer for us to find them. “As you get older, it takes longer for you to recall, or you really have to think; What was I doing? Where was I? What distracted me? Was it that I had to let the dog out? And then you find the keys by the back door.
“That process of retrieving the information is just a bit slower in people as they age. “In dementia, someone may not be able to recall that information and what they did when they came into the house. “What may also happen is they might put it somewhere it really doesn't belong.
For example, rather than putting the milk back in the fridge, they put the kettle in the fridge.”.
