How a young person could help…

The dementia It is usually associated with agingbut it does not always respond to that pattern. As reported by the BBC, Andre Yarhama 24-year-old young man who lived in the English county of Norfolk, died on December 27 due to a frontotemporal dementiaa rare form of the disease. Before dying, he decided that his brain was donated to science with the aim of contributing to research.

Yarham had been diagnosed shortly before turning 23, after detecting a protein mutation linked to this pathology. According to Dementia UKfrontotemporal dementia affects approximately one in 20 people diagnosed with dementia.

It was his motherSamantha Fairbairn, who began to notice the first changes in November 2022. Andre began to show forgetfulness and unusual behavior. “One day he went into town to buy something or he was supposed to go to the store, and he decided to take the bus.”

Initial tests at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital detected an abnormal shrinkage of the brain. Later, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, confirmed the diagnosis of dementia.

Fairbairn explained that the news provoked him “a mix of emotions, from anger to sadnesssadness for him.” The illness progressed rapidly. For a while, Andre continued to go out for walks, but later he needed personal care. His family took over his diet until it became physically impossible. In Septemberand entered a residence walkingalthough with difficulty. A little over a month later, he already needed a wheelchair.

Despite the progressive deterioration, his mother stressed that the disease did not manage to take away his character until the final stages. “It never took away his personality, his sense of humor, his laugh or his smile,” he said. Even when lost his speechAbout a month before he died, he could still be heard laughing.

Donate to better understand dementia

Andre’s brain has been donated to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for study. His mother trusts that this decision will help advance knowledge of a disease that she defines as “the cruelest” and that, he insists, “does not discriminate by age”.

“If in the future this can help a family spend a few more years with their loved onesit will have been worth it,” he said.

According to Dementia UK, frontotemporal dementia usually has a genetic componentwhich implies that other family members may be affected. The genetic testing They allow the risk to be detected, although there is currently no treatment that stops its progression.