From: hounddog23x@gmail.com   
      
   Wife tells how her husband began 'suddenly' suffering younger onset dementia   
   in his early 50s   
      
   BY KATHERINE GREGORY   
   UPDATED WED AT 8:07PM   
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   Lyne Hansen   
   PHOTO "There's no longer any empathy, sympathy or compassion," Lyne Hansen   
   says after her husband began showing signs of dementia in his early 50s.   
   ABC NEWS   
   Lyne Hansen from near Darwin has just celebrated her 40th anniversary with her   
   husband Mark.   
      
   But the event was a sad reminder of what she lost about a decade ago, when   
   "all of a sudden, this person that I grew up with and we both knew each other   
   very well, was gone."   
      
   "There's no longer any empathy, sympathy or compassion," she said.   
      
   Mark suffers from frontotemporal dementia, a form of younger onset dementia,   
   which initially affects behaviour, language and then memory.   
      
   About 25,000 Australians suffer from younger onset dementia, with about one in   
   13 dementia sufferers under the age of 65, and some in their 40s, 30s and even   
   their 20s, according to Alzheimer's Australia.   
      
   Ms Hansen started seeing the signs of dementia in Mark in his early 50s.   
      
   His personality changed and their relationship suffered.   
      
   "The personality is eroded away early in the piece, and so, it's very sinister   
   and you don't actually notice until there are big changes," she said.   
      
   "By that time you no longer have a good relationship with the person that has   
   the disease."   
      
   She recalled a family outing to a restaurant, where Mark could not remember   
   what a prawn was.   
      
   "He was starting to use different words for things and they didn't make sense.   
   And we were starting to have arguments," she said.   
      
   It took several specialist appointments to correctly diagnose Mark, though he   
   still will not believe there is anything wrong with him.   
      
   "The problem with people like Mark is they're fit, strong and healthy, but   
   they just lose their ability," Ms Hansen said.   
      
   'People think dementia is only a disease of the elderly'   
   Professor of ageing and mental health at University of New South Wales Henry   
   Brodaty said younger onset dementia sufferers face unique challenges, since   
   they often have young families and are still working and physically active.   
      
   As such, Professor Brodaty said diagnosis and care were insufficient.   
      
   dementia scans   
   PHOTO Scientists are focusing more on younger onset dementia and have   
   developed early screening processes to detect the disorder.   
      
   ABC NEWS   
   "It's inadequately recognised. People think of dementia as only being a   
   disease of older people," Professor Brodaty said.   
      
   "We've certainly become a lot more aware of it. We've become a lot more aware   
   of the gaps these people face.   
      
   "They face gaps in diagnosis, gaps in helping them cope with this and their   
   families in particular."   
      
   The Key Worker Program is the only specialised one-to-one support service for   
   people with dementia under 65 (the national retirement age) and their carers.   
      
   It is currently federally funded.   
      
   But experts and the frontline victims of dementia are concerned it will not be   
   able to keep up with demand if it is rolled into the National Disability   
   Insurance Scheme (NDIS) from July next year.   
      
   Dementia numbers to triple by 2050   
   Graeme Samuel, the former head of the Australian Consumer and Competition   
   Commission, is also concerned about the program.   
      
   He watched his mother die from Alzheimer's.   
      
   "It was quite devastating," Mr Samuel said.   
      
   "We went through the terrible journey she went through. We watched her   
   decline."   
      
   It inspired him to become the president of Alzheimer's Australia.   
      
   He has been lobbying the Federal Government to respond to concerns about the   
   Key Worker Program.   
      
   "That program is gathering pace and we hope will continue to be funded and   
   gather pace because it provides very specialised care for people who are   
   sometimes in their mid-20s and 30s," he said.   
      
   He said it would have significant disadvantages if rolled into the NDIS.   
      
   "The Government is working with Alzheimer's Australia to find a solution and   
   preserve the unprecedented individuality and personal nature of the Key Worker   
   Program."   
      
   Mr Samuel said it was imperative to invest in programs now, given the   
   projected burden dementia will cause in the future.   
      
   Dementia currently costs the economy $6 billion a year and by 2050 the number   
   of sufferers is tipped to almost triple to 900,000 people.   
      
   Mr Samuel said the recent federal budget put aside $200 million over five   
   years into Alzheimer's research, but further investment remained a national   
   health priority.   
      
   Professor Brodaty said scientists were focusing more on younger onset dementia   
   and have developed early screening processes to detect the disorder.   
      
   "In most of the dementias it's a slow process," he said.   
      
   "In Alzheimer's it's estimated it takes 20 to 30 years of build-up in   
   pathology in the brain before it becomes manifest.   
      
   "It's like a person may be cooking a disease, or building it up in their brain   
   and are unaware of it until it reaches a threshold."   
      
   For Lyne Hansen, this is a small sign of hope.   
      
   "I've lost hope for Mark and for his generation," she said.   
      
   "But I have hope for the next generation. I hope diagnosis will happen   
   earlier."   
      
   POSTED WED AT 3:39PM   
      
      
      
   http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-11/wife-tells-how-dementia   
   affected-husband-in-early-50s/6527240   
      
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