Life expectancy for FTD

susanwood

My husband has been diagnosed with FTD. I think he’s had it for at least 5 years. He is 64. I’m trying to make a decision about whether to extend his life insurance policy which will be expiring soon. Does anyone have an idea with early onset FTD what his life expectancy might be? My guess is he’s in the later middle stage. Thank you.

Jeanne C.

I’ve seen anything from 2 to 20 years. No one can predict. My husband went from mid stage to hospice in 2 years. The only staging tool I’ve seen for FTD is on Tam Cummings’ site: https://www.tamcummings.com/tools

Sorry I can’t be of more help.

Pat6177

try www.dementiacarecentral.com They used to have a life expectancy Calculator, I don’t know if they still have it. And I don’t know if it differentiated between the different types of dementia.

SDianeL

typical life expectancy 6-8 years however it could be shorter or longer. Here’s the stages: https://dementech.com/2022/11/10/what-are-the-7-stages-of-frontotemporal-dementia/

Quilting brings calm

Do you have an elder care attorney? Have you been looking into Medicaid? The reason I ask is that I think ( repeat:think). That Medicaid has some rule about life insurance and eligibility. I could be wrong, and it may only be about whole life too.

Other than that, I would think the main things to consider are 1) if you can afford whatever the premium increase would be, 2) would you need the life insurance money that would be paid to you upon his death, 3) would there be income loss after his death - loss of pension, loss of his social security, loss of yours in favor of yours, or 4) loss of assets due to his will or beneficiaries on investments?

FTDCaregiver1

On EO FTD and life expectancy, DW has it and from what I've gleaned from reading, doctors and others who've experienced it, many factors come into play such as onset age, health factors of the patient and quality of care but 5-12 years is what I've surmised. Younger ones who were in good health at onset like my wife are expected to live at the upper range. Outliers of course are shorter or longer than this.

GothicGremlin

My sister passed away earlier this year from EO Alzheimer's and FTD at age 64. She was just shy of 59 when she was diagnosed, and in hindsight, I'd say she was somewhere in stage 4 when she was diagnosed. She was relatively healthy, all of her vitals were good, and she wasn't on any medications. So in her case, it was a little more than 5 years since diagnosis. It was just scary fast.