A 68-year-old man has been having trouble finding the right words and making himself understood, although his memory seems largely unaffected. His family also noticed his difficulty in swallowing. What could be the cause?
These symptoms suggest a potential diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia, which is a type of frontotemporal dementia. It primarily affects language capabilities while other mental functions, including memory, remain intact initially. A thorough neurologic evaluation, including speech-language evaluation and neuroimaging, could help confirm the diagnosis.