Expert shares first sign of type of dementia that hits in your 30s

If someone close to you has become a heavy drinker since they hit their thirties, check in with them—a top expert has warned that it might be a sign they have dementia. 

While dementia is most often associated with the elderly, it can affect people of all ages. 

One type in particular, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), is most often diagnosed in men and women aged between 45 and 65, but there have been confirmed cases of it in people decades younger. 

The first signs of FTD are often related to changes in behaviour; people can become rude or violent, struggle with their words or communication, or start to behave in impulsive or risky ways. 

But as these behaviours are often mistaken for another health condition, or simply written off as an unpleasant blip in someone’s usually calm and collected demeanour, people can end up very, very unwell before they get the help they need. 

Paul Little, CEO of Vesper Bio, a biotech firm working to improve the lives of people diagnosed with FTD, said that a misdiagnosis can have serious repercussions. 

Speaking to the FT, he explained:  ‘There are patients as young as 29 that’s not uncommon, who get frontotemporal dementia (FTD). 

‘Often times it’s misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder or some form of midlife crisis, because in some cases, there’s a behavioural component. 

‘The patient may start drinking heavily, may get into trouble with the police and end up in the wrong form of help.’

He added that there is no cure for FTD, and that tragically it is never just the person who is diagnosed who suffers—it has massive ramifications which ripple outwards, destroying the lives and dreams of everyone close to them. 

Mr Little continued: ‘It’s invariably fatal when you get the disease, it’s catastrophic for families, because you will see changes in behaviour and changes in language that mean that the patient themselves is unable to work. 

‘It means that caregivers also have to give up jobs, and these are the most fruitful, best parts of life for earning money and building families.’ 

Figures released by the Alzheimer’s Society reveal that there are around 70,800 people in the UK living with early-onset, or young-onset, dementia, which is defined as when symptoms start before the age of 65.

The causes of dementia in younger people are essentially the same as for older patients.

In the case of Alzheimer’s, proteins build up in the brain, forming plaques and tangles.

With vascular dementia, this is caused by problems with the blood supply to the brain, and might be the result of heart disease.

FTD is a rarer form of the condition, and affects 16,000 people in the UK.

It leads to a loss of cells in the front and side of the brain which are the areas that control behaviour, hence why it might cause changes to how people interact with others, or care for themselves.

Although it can progress slowly, survival time after an FTD diagnosis is between just two and 12 years.

Concerns have been raised about a rise in cases of young-onset dementia in the UK. 

A study of GP practice records in England in 2022 revealed an alarming 69 per cent increase since 2014 (from 28,800 cases).