CNN reports that Kenny Sparks was a "handsome man with a big smile." Sparks was the co-owner of a multimillion-dollar business with a wife and two kids in college. He was well-known and well-liked. Then he started to change at age 49.
"He was stumbling over words," said his wife Cheryl. "And he would forget what he was saying - but at almost 50, I think we all tend to do that."
His family thought that Sparks had Alzheimer's disease at first. He was eventually diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and his personality began to change.
"He just wasn't Kenny," said his wife.
It is said by his son Graham that "He'd tell stupid jokes all the time,". But "On [a family trip], he wasn't telling jokes. He was sitting there with a blank stare on his face."
It was also noticed by his daughter Alexandra that "He exercised all the time. He would swim constantly and he ate well. And all of a sudden he was downing gallons of ice cream. Gallons!"
He was taken to doctor by his wife Cheryl. It is confirmed from the cognitive tests that "he couldn't draw a clock and put the numbers or hands on it," she said.
The doctors told Cheryl that FTD would rob Kenny Sparks of his personality, his ability to communicate, and eventually his life. FTD refers to a group of neurodegenerative disorders that cause damage to the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain. These areas of the brain control reasoning, communication, social awareness, and memory. FTD changes the personality and leaves patients in a state of utter confusion and helplessness.
Dr. Murray Grossman of the University of Pennsylvania explains, "Many patients will lose their inhibitions. They'll act totally inappropriately, leaving their families to wonder what is wrong. Some patients will have no problem spending the family fortune, taking all their money and putting it into scams, get-rich-quick schemes, or going off and buying an expensive car or boat the family doesn't need. The patients lose their reasoning. What's particularly frustrating for family members is, the patients don't seem to have much insight into the difficulties they are having or causing for others."
On a average 250,000 Americans are affected by Frontotemporal dementia. Mostly it is misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. Almost all the experts are not sure about the cause of this dementia.
He cannot drive a car anymore. To take care of him his wife has quit her job. Four years back Kenny Sparks was diagnosed with FTD.
"His need to be with me is constant, because he feels safe," she said. "He can't read a clock, so he'll get up at 3 a.m. and that's when we start our day . . . Now he's more like a child, most times."
What's the hardest part of dealing with the dementia?
"There is no one hardest part," Cheryl said. "Well, for me, knowing that the man I thought I was going to grow old with - I'm not, I guess. Yes, that's the hardest part."
The prospect of losing your personality to dementia is frightening. Fortunately, you can take action to prevent dementia. Natural health researcher Christian Goodman has developed a simple set of exercises that prevent dementia naturally by increasing blood flow to the brain, in just minutes a day.
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