Rare dementias rob personality, then life

CNN.COM
Life was good for Kenny Sparks. ... At 49 he had it all. But then he began to change....Kenny has a condition known as frontotemporal dementia, or FTD.
"Many patients will lose their inhibitions; they'll act totally inappropriately, leaving their families to wonder what is wrong," said Dr. Murray Grossman, a neurologist with the University of Pennsylvania. "Some patients will have no problem spending the family fortune, taking all their money and putting it into scams, get-rich-quick schemes, or going off and buying an expensive car or boat the family doesn't need. The patients lose their reasoning."
"What's particularly frustrating for family members is, the patients don't seem to have much insight into the difficulties they are having or causing for others," Grossman said.

FTD affects approximately 250,000 Americans -- about 10 percent to 20 percent of all dementia cases -- and misdiagnosis is common, according to the Association for Frontotemporal Dementias.

...When Kenny's children visit, it can be hard for them to see him slip away.

"When he has his bad days and he lashes out it makes it hurt more, and that's when you have to blame the disease," said daughter Alexandra.

Son Graham agreed. "You've got to understand your dad is actually gone, and it's the disease."

Cheryl looks at it differently.

"Our doctor says if we don't take this on with a sense of humor our family will be destroyed," she said. "In so many ways we've been blessed. So we've got to keep going with a good heart."

"There is no one hardest part," Cheryl said. "Well, for me, knowing that the man I thought I was going to grow old with -- I'm not, I guess."

Cheryl stopped, and with tears in her eyes, realized, "Yes, that's the hardest part."