No. There is no cure for frontotemporal dementia and, unlike Alzheimer's disease, no drug at all that slows it. Treatment targets specific symptoms, and the medications commonly used for Alzheimer's disease are generally avoided here because they do not help and can make behaviour worse. Most of what helps is not a prescription.
No. There is no cure for frontotemporal dementia and, unlike Alzheimer's disease, no drug at all that slows it. Treatment targets specific symptoms, and the medications commonly used for Alzheimer's disease are generally avoided here because they do not help and can make behaviour worse. Most of what helps is not a prescription.
Cholinesterase inhibitors, donepezil and its relatives, are not indicated and can aggravate agitation and irritability in frontotemporal dementia. Memantine has been studied and did not help. Anti-amyloid therapies do not apply, because the underlying pathology is not amyloid. That leaves symptomatic treatment: SSRIs are used for compulsive behaviours, disinhibition, overeating and irritability, and antipsychotics only cautiously and at the lowest effective level, given their side effects in this population.
Structured routine, removing rather than arguing about triggers, simplifying the environment, managing appetite and food access, and speech and language therapy for the language variants. Caregiver education is not a soft add-on here: behaviour that is understood as a symptom is handled differently from behaviour understood as choice, and that difference determines whether a household can continue. Support groups specific to frontotemporal dementia matter because the problems are unlike those of Alzheimer's disease.
Roughly a third of people have a family history and a proportion carry a mutation in one of several known genes. Testing has real consequences for relatives and should be done with genetic counselling rather than casually. It also determines eligibility for trials, several of which target specific genetic forms, and those trials are currently the most promising line of work in this disease.
Onset is often in the fifties or early sixties, while people are working, supporting a family and holding financial responsibility. Loss of judgement can precede any memory problem, so the first casualties are frequently a job, money or relationships, before anyone suspects a neurological cause. Getting the diagnosis documented early is what unlocks disability benefits, and settling powers of attorney and financial control while capacity remains prevents damage that cannot be undone later. This is an adult practice and sees patients in exactly this age range.
Clinical Neurology Specialists has been physician-owned since 1998, when Leo Germin, M.D., FAANEM founded it. Five board-certified neurologists and four advanced practice providers see patients at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices, each with its own AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratory.
Clinical Neurology Specialists is an adult outpatient neurology practice for patients 18 and older. The practice performs no surgery and operates no imaging suite, infusion suite or interventional pain programme, and provides no emergency or inpatient care.
Physician-reviewed. Reviewed by the physicians of Clinical Neurology Specialists — board-certified neurologists, AANEM-accredited electrodiagnostic laboratories, physician-owned since 1998. Reviewed 1 August 2026. This article is general education for adults 18 and older and is not a substitute for a consultation.
Sources and further reading: National Institute on Aging: frontotemporal disorders; MedlinePlus: dementia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Adults 18 and older, at the Las Vegas and Henderson offices. Call 702-804-1212 or request an appointment online.