How far should you go to treat other ailments such as High blood Pressure and an inoperable aneurysm when the patient has been diagnosed with Frontal temporal Dementia? FTD gives a patient 2-6 years to live, the last of which is a horrifying no quality of life. Is it more Humane to let go and let GOD, or keep them alive under any circumstance, even if the end is so terrible?
Its never easy to deal with any type of disability - and dementia sure sounds scary. Not everyone is the same, not every doctor is right. That is why it is called the "art of medicine". They learn new things every day. Remember when ulcers were thought to happen because of stress - now they know it is a bacteria H.Pylori. They are starting to learn things that point to the brain being much better at healing itself than we were led to believe. So if you can ask your doctors to continue treating her as if she was going to live to 100, you will never have any regrets no matter what happens.
The diagnosis of FTD was made after 2 MRIs and EEG. It was initially to find out what was the cause of his not processing language. He couldn't find words that were common to him. The MRI should a Brain Aneurysm (non Operable at his age, 76) and shrinkage of the brain, along with past TIAs. The Neurologist is the one who made the diagnosis.
This is what I'm asking. If the prognosis is death in 2 to 6 years, where do you draw the line of trying to treat someone. If the quality of llife is still good I would say continue, but if the quality is at that terrible stage are we sure we are not just proloning their misery?