Little-known brain disease rips apart lives of victim, loved ones

[Ought Six]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,5574998.story

[linttrap]

This is better known as Pick's Disease and there is a lot more info about it if you look for it under that name. It is often the differential for Alzheimer's when people start showing early signs of dementia. There are some symptoms in common but more that aren't.

Pick's actually has more symptoms like a typical head-in-motion TBI, in that personality, impulse control, judgement and higher order reasoning are very affected.

Rapidly progressing frontal tumors also can show these symptoms but they can be quickly identified when a CAT or MRI is done.

But it resembles Alzheimer's in that it is incurable and progressively deteriorating. The onset is late, just as most Alzheimers is late in life, but symptoms in the 50s and 60s can occur.

Nasty disease, because it destroys social relationships, often a long time before it is finally diagnosed.

[LvDemWings]

My aunt had this. It is extremely hard for a family to cope with. The body becomes a shell and eventually even basic automatic responses stop functioning. Usually those diagnosed with this disease often choke to death because the ability to finish swallowing is lost.

[sandyd]

Nasty disease, because it destroys social relationships, often a long time before it is finally diagnosed.

Yep, people will be sure the person who is actually ill, is just a jerk and should 'get help'

I don't understand how so few understand who we are really IS in our brain.