Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a rare and underdiagnosed genetic form of dementia. An estimated 16,000 people are currently living with FTD in the UK. Including carers and families, over 30,000 people in the UK are affected.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) often begins in midlife but can strike as early as someone’s 20s, shortening not just lifespan but also reducing quality of life. It starts with small lapses like difficulty with speech or poor judgment. The disease progresses and leads to bigger changes: personality shifts, loss of interest, and trouble finding words. Eventually it takes away independence, movement, and normal physical functions.

This decline doesn’t just erase a person’s life; it reshapes the world of everyone who loves them. Families and friends often become full time caregivers, witnessing the once-effortless skills fade, with each loss landing like a small heartbreak. Over time, the condition erases so much of who that person was, often long before their body fails. Loved ones must manage daily care demands while enduring the emotional pain of letting go of someone they love.

Maria Vasko, the beloved wife of Martin Vasko and loving mother to James and Isabelle Vasko found peace in May this year after her long struggle with FTD. Her life and experience with the disease is just one of the many impacted by FTD. Across the UK and around the world, many others are facing this devastating illness and urgently need both support and a hope for the option of treatment in the future. What's particularly concerning about this disease is that it can be passed on through genetics to the affected persons children, meaning that there is a 50% chance that a child could develop the condition at a similar time in life to their parent.

Maria was a passionate advocate for helping and supporting the welfare of others in need. In memory of her loving spirit, please consider making a donation to the Rare Dementia support fund by the National Brain Appeal. All donations from this link will be used specifically to fund research into FTD at the UCL’s Dementia Research Centre.

Your donation will help the research centre study brain changes, early diagnostic markers, and potential treatments. Funding their genetics, imaging, and clinical research improves detection and management of FTD, bringing us closer to ending this devastating disease.