The aroma of curry no longer fills Raghav Vijayapal's kitchen, replaced now by the quiet rustle of word-search puzzles he works through with his grandmother at their kitchen table.

A doctor's appointment several years ago changed everything for the Waukesha County teenager and his family.

"My mom came back with my grandma from a doctor's appointment, and then they did, like, a brain scan. They said it was frontotemporal dementia," Vijayapal said.

The diagnosis of FTD — a rare, progressive neurological disorder that affects personality, emotions and speech — robbed his family of the grandmother who once prepared elaborate meals for him as a young child.

"She's probably one of the best chefs I think I know, besides my sister," Vijayapal said.

The National Institutes of Health estimates

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