Could it be Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common dementia in older people. Therefore, it should be one of the first diseases your doctor considers. Alzheimer's disease usually begins with memory loss while FTD is usually a behavior or language disorder.

People with either disease will show cognitive difficulties and multitask poorly. And at the end stages, AD and FTD look very similar. Doctors use the early symptoms and the brain image, usually done on a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner, to reach the most appropriate diagnosis.

• The probability of AD is strongly affected by the age of the person showing the symptoms. The odds of having Alzheimer's disease increase markedly the older you get while the odds for FTD may decrease with age.
• FTD often begins with distinct behavioral changes (socially inappropriate, apathetic, impulsive, etc.) while people with Alzheimer's in the early stages tend to remain socially graceful despite their memory problems (they may even become skilled at covering up their difficulties). In advanced AD, people generally have trouble managing their finances, show poor judgment and irritability, and may become equally difficult to manage as FTD.
• Apathy in AD patients is milder, whereas apathy in FTD patients is more pervasive and more often reflects a lack of concern for others or lack of initiative.
• AD patients have an early and profound difficulty learning and retaining new information. As the disease progresses, memory for new and old information is lost. These memory problems may lead to language problems as well, but the root is a problem remembering. In contrast, most mildly impaired FTD patients generally know the day or time and their location, and they are able to keep track of recent events. They may not test well, but that may be due to lack of concern or effort in the testing situation.