ask: What is the life span of a person with Primary Progressive Aphasia

Hi Tim

Thanks for you question and welcome!

I'm sorry to hear of your Mom's diagnosis. Thanks for looking out for her this way. How old is she?

One of our experts, social worker Darby Morhardt, states that "Primary progressive aphasia is where language, word-finding, naming, naming of objects, those are the first symptoms. Again, memory is retained and people are able to function quite normally in other aspects of their daily life. They are just having a lot of difficulty with language. "

You can read or watch the rest of her interview here: http://www.empowher.com/aphasia/content/what-primary-progressive-aphasia...

However, she does note that there is a correlation between your mother's condition and that of dementia, for a couple of reasons.
She says "...And the reason I think primary progressive aphasia is put under frontotemporal dementia is that PPA is in the, that the temporal lobe of the brain is where our language center is, and as PPA progresses, it often progresses to the frontal lobe of the brain which regulates our executive function, our ability to organize our lives, our personality, our judgment, etc."

This makes sense to why we view PPA as a form as dementia, although it's not Alzheimer's, in the strict definition of the condition.

As far as how long she may have to live, she could have 2 years or 22 years - it all depends on her general health, her care and support network, the kind of treatment she is getting and various other factors. You cannot 'die' from this, per se, but it can lead up to losing all form of speech and PPA can lead to other forms of dementia that makes a person needing full care in all aspects of their lives and can contribute to the end of life.

With regard to treatment - drugs are not generally helpful for this condition. Drugs used for Alzheimer patients were tries but were generally unsuccessful. Speech therapy and help with language are more effective.

Tim, can you tell us what kind of treatment your mother is undergoing at the moment, if any? Has the information I've given above helped you?

Yes that helped answer my question. My mother is 77 and she is on Ran Ramopril 5 mg and Ran Risperidone 0.25mg . Is there any other meds that could help her. Thanks Tim