Table 3.

Common sense tips and strategies for the caregiver in order to maximize the effectiveness of empiric treatment strategies in FTD

Ten common sense rules for maximizing empiric treatment of FTD

The caregiver should keep a diary of symptoms (Fig. 1) Identify the key target symptom for intervention from diary The caregiver should be careful not to attribute disease fluctuations with medication side effects or lack of efficacy Target one symptom at a time with a single medication adjustment Simultaneous changes in more than a single medication will confuse our interpretation of the effects of any given intervention Allow for expected delays in therapeutic efficacy (i.e. antidepressant that may take several weeks to demonstrate efficacy) Achieving an optimal therapeutic dose is critical before deciding on the failure or success of a given therapeutic strategy A medication that has “failed” previously may work wonders at a later time point in the disease A medication that helped to control symptoms early in the disease may prove detrimental if continued in the later stages of disease when symptoms have changed Stopping a medications can be as useful as adding a new medication and also helps prevent unneeded or detrimental polypharmacy