Frontotemporal Dementia, Current Diagnosis and Treatment Emphasis on Natural Products: A Review

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) refers to a spectrum of brain illnesses that mostly affects the frontal and temporal lobes. These regions are commonly related to personality, behaviour, and communication. It is brought on by aberrant protein aggregates, genetics and mutation. FTD most frequently affect people between the ages of 45 and 65 but can also affect young and elderly people. It is estimated that 1.0 to 15.4 per 100,000 members of the population can be affected by FTD in the near future. About 20,000 to 30,000 cases of FTD were reported in the USA alone in 2016. Presently, no specific pharmaceutical treatments for FTD have been authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration. Nowadays, various biomarkers are available for the correct diagnosis of the disease.

The present review demonstrates the risk factors, pathogenesis, pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria and treatment of FTD using a number of synthetic and natural drugs to treat the disease and focuses on natural products used to manage the disease. The literature search was done by online databases of SciFinder, Medline, Pubmed, GoogleScholar and Scopus.

Various pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions have been recorded to treat the disease. Primary treatment is a temporary reduction in the symptoms and progression of the disease. Anticholinesterase, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant compounds are gaining interest in the management of FTD. Herbal remedies and Phytoconstituents, either alone or in combination, could serve as excellent therapies for dementia with fewer adverse effects.