This was the first indication that my brain was failing when I was 49 years old.

According to a man in his 40s who was diagnosed with dementia, a little change in his ability to work was the first indication that his brain health was deteriorating. When Peter Alexander, now 56, visited a neurologist in 2018, he had no idea that he would be given a diagnosis of memory-robbing illness.

He told BBC Northern Ireland, "I was beginning to struggle to meet deadlines (at work), which had never been a problem before, and I would not be able to think of a word when speaking during meetings."

On January 14 of that year, he was sent for a scan, which identified frontotemporal dementia as the devastating source of his issues.

a form of the illness that is more frequently identified in younger people. It was difficult to adjust to, he added, "because I was essentially told that it was no longer safe for me to work because I have diminished judgement and I was losing my filter."

About one in thirty people in the UK suffers from frontotemporal dementia, a rare form of the illness. The frontal and temporal lobes, which control personality and behaviour, language, and the capacity for planning and organisation, are the brain regions that are affected, hence the term.

Patients may observe strange personality changes, such as becoming more disorganised than normal or making offensive or ridiculous remarks. Unlike other types of dementia, the memory issues that are most frequently linked to the illness only manifest in the latter stages of the illness.

This implies that before receiving a formal diagnosis, people frequently experience symptoms for years. "Even though I may not always be able to articulate it in the same manner, I remain Peter on the inside."

In a YouTube video, Mr. Alexander also discussed how his lack of filter had caused him to use more profanity and other things he called "crudities." However, he characterised this as a kind of freedom: People just ask, "Peter, why are you saying that now? You would never have said that in the past," yet there is a lack of inhibition.

which some people find incomprehensible and simply impolite," he remarked. more fluid, and it allows us to communicate in a more rhythmic manner.

Mr. Alexander wants people to understand that dementia is not a disease that exclusively affects the elderly and is currently fighting to combat the stigma associated with the illness. Hear Our Voice, a documentary about people with young-onset dementia—those who were diagnosed with the illness before the age of 65—features Mr. Alexander as part of this effort.

When multiple dangerous protein types accumulate in the brain, they damage nerve cells, leading to frontotemporal dementia. The brain eventually stops working properly due to the loss of nerve cells, which ultimately results in death.

Since it is thought to be genetic in roughly one-third of patients, scientists are still trying to figure out what causes this harmful protein accumulation.

Although medical professionals believe this varies greatly from person to person, the typical survival time for a patient with frontotemporal dementia is 8–10 years after symptoms begin.

It will worsen over time because it is progressive and incurable. Although there is no known cure, early detection is thought to be crucial since drugs and therapies can help manage the symptoms.

One of the main causes of dementia in young people is frontotemporal dementia. According to the most recent data, about 71,000 people in Britain are thought to have young-onset dementia, which makes up 7.5% of all diagnoses.

This represents a 69% increase over the 2014 figure. Although the exact causes of the increase are unknown, scientists think it might be the result of the same variables that are contributing to an increase in the condition across all age groups.

This includes the population's ageing, rising obesity rates, unhealthy eating habits, and increased knowledge of the illness, which results in more diagnoses.

An estimated one million people in the UK suffer from dementia, which can be caused by a number of conditions, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, which is caused by decreased blood flow to the brain after a stroke.