FACTSHEET 3

What is behavioural variant FTD?

Frontotemporal dementia or FTD is a progressive disorder of the brain. It can affect behaviour, language skills and movement.

Behavioural variant FTD is one of the subtypes of FTD. It is also known as bvFTD. The first symptoms are usually changes in behaviour or a change in personality. In the early stages these changes may be very subtle and not be noticed as abnormal at first.

Symptoms can include:

Behaving inappropriately – disinhibition

Losing normal inhibitions
Losing manners
Being more extrovert than previously
Making inappropriate comments to people
Acting more impulsively such as spending excessive amounts of money
More or inappropriate interest in sex

Becoming less interested in things – apathy

Less motivation to do things
Being more passive than before
Needing prompting to do routine activities
Paying less attention to personal hygiene and dress
Loss of interest in sex

Becoming less interested in people – loss of empathy

Being less sympathetic to others than before
Interacting less with people
Withdrawing from social activities

Becoming more obsessive or repetitive in their behaviour

Being fixed in the way they do things
Having to stick to routines
Saying things repetitively
Collecting or hoarding things

Changes in the types of food eaten, such as sweet foods

Increased craving for certain foods, often sweet things
Food fads – eating one specific type of food
Binge eating
Increased consumption of alcohol or cigarettes
Eating very quickly

Usually the person will be unaware of the true extent of their problems and lack insight into what is happening to them.

As well as changes in behaviour, there may be problems with thinking as well:

In the early stages of the disease this may be problems in planning, organisation, making decisions or solving problems.
People may have difficulty concentrating on one thing and seem very distractible

As the disease progresses problems with behaviour will tend to become worse. However some behaviours such as disinhibition may become less of a problem.

Other parts of thinking may also become affected over time such as:

Finding the right word
Understanding speech
Remembering things

Does bvFTD run in families?

In about a third of cases bvFTD can be a genetic disorder and run in families. Mutations in the tau, progranulin or C9orf72 genes are the most common. See FACTSHEET 2 for more details about familial FTD.

How is bvFTD diagnosed?

Usually a diagnosis is made by a specialist rather than a GP. There is no single test that will make a diagnosis except in some people who have a genetic cause. A series of tests are usually performed including a scan of the brain – see FACTSHEET 11 for more details.

Is there a treatment for bvFTD?

There is currently no cure for bvFTD but there are some important things which can help when caring for someone – see FACTSHEET 12 for more details.

What is the prognosis of bvFTD?

The rate of progression is very variable and can range from two to twenty years. As the disease progresses, people will need help with most aspects of daily life. Continence may become a problem and people commonly develop problems with swallowing. Eventually nursing care may become necessary.