Frontotemporal dementia, a type of dementia that occurs in the front part of the brain, affects between 140,000 to 350,000 people, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance. Patients with frontotemporal dementia have changes to their personality, thinking, sleeping patterns and behavior. Mayo.Clinic.com notes that no cure for frontotemporal dementia exists, and that the treatments do not slow down the progression of the disease. Instead, the treatments for frontotemporal dementia focus on specific symptoms.
Antidepressants
The University of California, San Francisco, points out that antidepressants treat some of the behavioral issues associated with frontotemporal dementia, such as aggression, cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods and impulsive behaviors. Antidepressant options include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, which increase serotonin levels in the brain by preventing the recycling of the neurotransmitter. MayoClinic.com notes that the effectiveness of SSRIs on behavioral symptoms of frontotemporal dementia is mixed. Examples of SSRIs include escitalopram, fluoxetine, citalopram, sertraline, paroxetine and fluvoxamine. Doctors may also prescribe another type of antidepressant. For example, patients may take tetracyclic antidepressants, like trazodone or mirtazapine, which affect both serotonin and norepinephrine levels. Other options include venlafaxine and duloxetine, which are serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors; and bupropion, a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor.
Antipsychotics
Doctors may prescribe another type of medication, antipsychotics, to treat behavioral symptoms of frontotemporal dementia. The UCSF website explains that antipsychotics block the effects of dopamine, another type of neurotransmitter linked to behavior and emotion. Examples of antipsychotics used for frontotemporal dementia include paliperidone, olanzapine, aripiprazole, quetiapine, ziprasidone and risperidone. MayoClinic.com warns that older patients who use antipsychotics have an increased mortality rate, related to the drugs' side effects.
NMDA-Receptor Antagonists
The UCSF website notes that memantine, a NMDA-receptor antagonist, helps patients with Alzheimer's disease and may also help patients with frontotemporal dementia. The drug works by inhibiting activity at the NMDA receptor, also called N-methyl d-aspartate. The NMDA receptor is a receptor for glutamate, another neurotransmitter. The medication helps with memory and attention problems.
Speech Therapy
For frontotemporal dementia patients who have language problems, MayoClinic.com recommends speech therapy. Language problems do not improve with frontotemporal dementia patients, so the therapists help patients express themselves nonverbally. The UCSF website lists pointing, gesturing and using aphasia identification cards as nonverbal language skills a speech therapist will teach to a frontotemporal dementia patient. Aphasia identification cards help alert other people that the patient has language difficulties. The sample card on the UCSF website reads, "I have aphasia - a language disorder. Thank you for your patience."
