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Degenerative disease cited as reason for Sen. Domenici's retirement

Tribune staff and wire
Originally published 07:47 a.m., October 4, 2007
Updated 12:28 p.m., October 4, 2007

WASHINGTON — A progressive disease that can cause dysfunction in parts of the brain is the reason Sen. Pete Domenici's decided not to seek re-election, according to a draft of remarks prepared for delivery today.

The disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, is marked by deterioration of brain areas important for organization, decision-making and control of mood and behavior.

"The progress of this disease is apparently erratic and unpredictable. It may well be that seven years from now, it will be stable," Domenici intends to say, according to the draft of his speech.

"On the other hand, it may also be that the disease will have incapacitated me. I am not willing to take a chance that the people who have so honored me with their trust for 40 years might not be served as well as they deserve in the United States Senate."

A copy of the draft remarks was made available to the Associated Press, and in them, Domenici, 75, says he is confident he will be able to serve the rest of his current term, until a new Senate is seated in January 2009.

Domenici spent Wednesday telling Senate colleagues that he has frontotemporal lobar degeneration, a type of dementia. Its name refers to the slow deterioration of the front and lower sides of the brain.

So far, there is no treatment or cure for FTLD, said Catherine Pace-Savitsky, executive director of the Association for Frontotemporal Dementias in Philadelphia.

Her group has been in contact with Domenici's office, and she hopes to work with Domenici to bring more publicity to the somewhat rare disorder, she said.

"The progression of the disease is very different in each person," Pace-Savitsky said. "Typically what happens is there's a change in behavior or language and that moves to other areas."

The disease affects the ability to plan, to regulate emotions and reasoning, among other things. It eventually impairs movement and many patients die from problems swallowing, she said.

"It eats the personality, and often the insight becomes compromised," Pace-Savitsky said. "They're acting inappropriately, but they don't realize they're doing anything wrong."

There are no concrete numbers, but Pace-Savitsky estimates about 250,000 Americans have the disease. It is a fatal disease, she said.

"In general guidelines, people have between six and eight years from the time of diagnosis to the time of death," Pace-Savitsky said.

FTLD affects a different part of the brain than Alzheimer's disease, so memory often is not significantly impaired until late stages.

In his prepared remarks, Domenici said that as recently as April, "the disease had not progressed." A late September checkup showed a slight progression, causing him to scrap plans to seek a new term, he said in the remarks.

"No cure for my disease exists, yet," he said. "But, if we work hard enough, we may be able to find a way to cure people with diseases of the brain in the future. That would be truly a wonderful thing."