Will I get Dimentia?

gordotempo

My mother was diagnosed with frontal temporal dimentia last year. I am wondering if there is a way if i can check if I will get the sam thing when Im older?

Lil' Smiler

There's various rumours about this sorta stuff. the most common one i've heard about alzheimers anyway is that it skips a generation... don't think that fairs too well for me consdiering both of my mums parents suffer from either dimensia or alzheimers!

I haven't heard of any tests to say that can check if you'll have it or anything

Bison

That term covers a group of disorders, not all of them have family history. You could talk to your GP about a referral to here http://www.genetics.ie/clinical/ if you are concerned about it. I am not sure about how much it costs, if anything.

Belfast

gordotempo wrote: »

My mother was diagnosed with frontal temporal dimentia last year. I am wondering if there is a way if i can check if I will get the sam thing when Im older?

Depends on what caused it?

Larianne

This topic was discussed on the Afternoon Show yesterday. Here's a link with some useful information and contact numbers. http://http://www.rte.ie/tv/theafternoonshow/2008/0915/medical611.html

From the website
"Alzheimers is hereditary, What Are The Statistics Regarding Future Development If A Parent Already Suffers?

Although children of people with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease may have a twofold increased risk of eventually getting Alzheimer's in later life, only early onset cases, that is, where the condition starts before age 65 are more typically genetic.

Early onset cases only account for a small proportion of all Alzheimer cases but can be highly heritable. Most people do not regard the typical form of Alzheimer's as being a purely genetic condition although genes can be a factor in some cases. Genetic testing is not commonly undertaken."

charlieroot

gordotempo wrote: »

My mother was diagnosed with frontal temporal dimentia last year. I am wondering if there is a way if i can check if I will get the sam thing when Im older?

Sorry to hear about your mum.

Just to clear things up a little - dementia is a condition defined by a significant loss of intellectial abilities such as memory capacity, concentration and judgement - severe enough to cause social and occupational functioning.

There are a number of causes. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. Its characterised by a build up of beta amyloid protein in the brain (a fragment of APP - amyloid precursor protein). Under the microscope you'll see plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in brain tissue, on a macro level you'll see atrophy and shrinkage of the brain on a CT or MRI for example.

Alzheimer's patients are generally seperated into familial and sporadic. Familial alzheimer's occurs in patients under the age of 55-60 and is generally associated with a mutation in the APP gene. The most common type mutation is PSEN1. It's autosomal dominant so all children have a 50% chance of it receiving it from a parent. Sporadic alzheimer's generally occurs in patients above the age of 60-65. There are other mutations in apolipoprotein E ( a protein which is important in the transport of cholesterol in the body) which can reduce or increase your risk of Alzheimer's. Apolipoprotein plays a role in clearing up the beta amyloid proteins mentioned above.

So, in short, if you Mum is still quite young, then it is possible that she might have one of these mutations or more than one. However, I'm not sure if it's possible to be tested for these genes? Hope this is of some help.

Firetrap

There is a certain amount of genetic testing available but it's still in its infancy. I know how you feel to a certain extent as I've got a parent who developed Alzheimer's disease at a young age and a grandparent who had it as well.

I've decided not to pursue any testing though. The way I see it, most forms of dementia are incurable now but perhaps in 10 or 20 years they'll have come up with something better. Also, even if you have the bad genes, it doesn't guarantee that you'll develop the disease.

More crucially, what good is finding out that you have a faulty gene going to do you? Really? Why ruin the next couple of decades of your life worrying about something that you might develop?

Incidentally, I recommend this site. It's a forum attached to the UK Alzheimer's Society and there are some great people on there. I found them invaluable when I was going through a very tough time.