How long can you live with primary progressive aphasia?
People who have the disease typically live about 3-12 years after they are originally diagnosed. In some people, difficulty with language remains the primary symptom, while others may develop additional problems including cognitive or behavioral changes or difficulty coordinating movements.
Does PPA cause death?
Although PPA itself is a life-shortening condition, people with PPA will often be affected by another illness, such as pneumonia. This is because PPA affects how the body copes with infection and with other physical problems. Pneumonia is the cause of death in up to two thirds of people with a dementia.
Is PPA hereditary?
In the vast majority of individuals, PPA is not genetic. However, in a small number of families, PPA can be caused by hereditary forms of FTLD. The most common gene implicated in these families is the progranulin gene (GRN).
What causes death in PPA patients?
What is PPA dementia?
Primary progressive aphasia is a type of frontotemporal dementia, a cluster of related disorders that results from the degeneration of the frontal or temporal lobes of the brain, which include brain tissue involved in speech and language.
What triggers PPA?
PPA arises when nerve cells in language-related parts of the brain malfunction. The underlying diseases are called “degenerative” because they cause gradually progressive nerve cell death that cannot be attributed to other causes such as head trauma, infection, stroke or cancer.
What is primary progressive aphasia in frontotemporal degeneration?
Primary progressive aphasia is a type of frontotemporal degeneration, a cluster of related disorders that originate in the frontal or temporal lobes of the brain. Primary progressive aphasia is caused by a shrinking (atrophy) of the frontal, temporal or parietal lobes in the brain, primarily on the left side.
What is the difference between PPA and Alzheimer’s disease?
While PPA is distinct from Alzheimer’s, it is not a uniform disorder but rather has been shown to have 3 variants – agramatic, logopenic, and semantic. As explained in a recent article in The Atlantic: The agrammatic variant is a problem with producing words.
What is the life expectancy of someone with logopenic progressive aphasia?
Little is known regarding the overall life expectancy of individuals with logopenic progressive aphasia. This dementia is associated with Alzheimer’s disease in the majority of cases. [6] Life expectancy for people with Alzheimer’s disease has been estimated to be between 3 to 10 years.
Can cholinesterase inhibitors help treat logopenic progressive aphasia?
So far cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine , medications used in Alzheimer’s disease, have not been proven effective in treating logopenic progressive aphasia.