From Care to Cure

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, theDirector of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations in the Unit, discussing how to live a life alongside FTD and related conditions, finding the things that can give life purpose (including participating in research, and how addressing modifiable risk factors can impact life for people living with FTD and their care partners.You can find your local Area Agency on Aging by enteringyour location at https://eldercare.acl.gov/home.You can find your local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association at https://www.alz.org/chapter-search.  The Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 help line is available at 800-272-3900.You can watch Katie Brandt’s keynote address at the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration’s 2025 Education Conference at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlXGpZY11E.You can learn about the Lancet Commission’s 2024 report on dementia prevention, intervention and care at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01296-0/abstract.You can learn about the US POINTER study at https://www.alz.org/us-pointer/study-results.asp.You can learn about participating in FTD research throughthe FTD Disorders Registry (https://ftdregistry.org/).The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed toproviding the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautiful music, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.  Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, the Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations in the Unit, discussing the motor symptoms that can be present in FTD and related conditions, treatments available for these symptoms and how occupational, physical and speech language therapists can help people living with these conditions and their care partners to deal with motor symptoms.You can find your local Area Agency on Aging by entering your location at https://eldercare.acl.gov/home.Learn more about What if It’s Not Alzheimers? A Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia at https://www.garyradin.com/support.The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed to providing the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.orgwww.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautiful music, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit. If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate. Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, the Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations in the Unit, about treatments for the communication challenges that come with primary progressive aphasia and other forms of FTD.  Theydiscuss the importance of treatment, compensatory communication strategies and tools as well as support and educational resources for living with PPA.Learn more about the MGH FTD Unit’s PPA program at https://ftdboston.org/diagnosis/primary-progressive-aphasia/.Learn more about aphasia from the National AphasiaAssociation at https://aphasia.org/.Learn more about AFTD’s resources for people living with PPA and FTD at https://www.theaftd.org/living-with-ftd/support-for-people-with-ftd/.Find the MGH FTD Unit’s YouTube playlist for PPA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiJvR5ijMhg&list=PLVKGfYzi1DDq9FxXGzabXetnjLTi6iFvM&pp=gAQB.Learn more about habilitation therapy with the MGH FTDUnit’s webinar with Dr. Paul Raia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9gTyp4XGj4&t=99s.The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed toproviding the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautifulmusic, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.  Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from theMassachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, the Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations in the Unit, about the behavioral symptoms that can be present in FTD and related conditions and how family caregivers can use the DICE Approach to understand and treat these behavioral symptomsYou can learn more about the DICE Approach to managingbehavioral symptoms of FTD and related dementias at https://diceapproach.com/.The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed toproviding the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautifulmusic, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.  Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from theMassachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, the Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations in the Unit, about current treatments for FTD.  They discuss the current state of disease modifying treatments for FTD as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological symptom management.The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed toproviding the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at ww.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautifulmusic, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.  Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, the Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations in the Unit.  They discuss what care planning is and what steps families should take after someone receives a diagnosis of a frontotemporal disorder or related condition to ensure the wishes and personhood of the person with FTD are respected throughout the course of the disease.If you would like to learn more about care planning, the MGH FTD Unit is hosting a four-part webinar series throughout 2025 on the Care Plan Trifecta, looking at the medical, home and advocacy communities as a framework to implement a care plan.  Learn more about it at the MGH FTD Unit’s website (https://ftdboston.org/2025/02/19/care-plan-trifecta-webinar/) and YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOht4481y8&list=PLVKGfYzi1DDoAK9q4oQizYhLizn1CX2yo&pp=gAQB).You can search for support groups appropriate to your situation at AFTD (https://www.theaftd.org/living-with-ftd/aftd-support-groups/) and the Alzheimer’s Association (https://www.alz.org/event-search?category=Support+Groups).The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed to providing the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautiful music, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.  Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  Our first episode features an interview with Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit.  Dr. Dickerson explains what drives his passion to care for and understand FTD, Alzheimer’s Disease and related conditions.  Listen to learn about what inspired Dr. Dickerson to focus his neurology practice on this young-onset and atypical population as well as the origin story of the MGH FTD Unit as the multidisciplinary specialty clinical research team it has become.The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed to providing the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautiful music, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer.  Thank you to Sam Murdock for technical production assistance.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.  Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  This episode features an interview with Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit.  Dr. Dickerson explains why it can be so difficult to diagnose frontotemporal disorders, the variety of tests that can be required to diagnose FTD, and the vital role that patient- and family-reported symptoms play in the diagnosis of these conditions.Additional details about the new clinical guidelines Dr. Dickerson described are available from the Alzheimer’s Association: https://www.alz.org/news/2024/clinical-practice-guideline-evaluation-alzheimers.You can learn more about the scales developed by the MGH FTD Unit to assess the types and severity of a patient’s symptoms at https://ftdboston.org/research/impact/measuring-and-monitoring-symptoms/.AFTD has developed checklists to help identify red flags for behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and FTD-ALS.  Learn more at https://www.theaftd.org/what-is-ftd/ftd-diagnostic-checklist/.AFTD’s Partners in FTD Care is a quarterly case study, developed by a committee of clinical nurse educators, social workers, and family and professional caregivers, with contributions from outside specialists to promote greater knowledge and understanding of FTD and share best care practices. Sign up to receive Partners in FTD Care and find a library of past issues at https://www.theaftd.org/for-health-professionals/partners-in-ftd-care/.The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed toproviding the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.org.We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautifulmusic, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD.Amy Almeida is our producer. Thank you to Sam Murdock for technical production assistance.From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.  Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.

Welcome to From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit.  This episode features an interview with Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit.  Dr. Dickerson explains what dementia is, how patient- and family-reported symptoms lead to the diagnosis of a clinical syndrome and why an accurate diagnosis is important because it provides the gateway to appropriate treatment, care and research opportunities. Additional details about the new clinical guidelines Dr. Dickerson described are available from the Alzheimer’s Association: https://www.alz.org/news/2024/clinical-practice-guideline-evaluation-alzheimers. The MGH FTD Unit clinical research program is committed to providing the highest quality of care while we work tirelessly for a cure for FTD, atypical and young-onset forms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurological disorders. You can learn more about the MGH FTD Unit at www.FTDBoston.org. We would like to thank Bernie Metzger for our beautiful music, an excerpt from Bernie’s composition Ramblings An FTD Journey, inspired by his wife Karen Zander’s journey with FTD. Amy Almeida is our producer.  Thank you to Sam Murdock for technical production assistance. From Care to Cure is made possible by generous contributions from donors to the MGH FTD Unit.  If you would like to support our work, visit www.FTDBoston.org/Donate.   Please follow, like and share From Care to Cure so that we can raise awareness, funds and hope that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today. 

The Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit is launching From Care to Cure, a podcast about frontotemporal disorders (also known as FTD).  To learn more about the MGH FTD Unit, go to www.FTDBoston.org.