Nearly a year after announcing Bruce Willis' battle with aphasia, his family revealed his "cruel" diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The actor's wife, Emma Hemming Willis, ex-wife, Demi Moore, and kids sadly announced their patriarch's case has worsened in a lengthy statement posted on the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration website Thursday, February 16.
In the announcement, the Willis family admitted the events were painful but found relief in finally having "a clear diagnosis." They then called FTD a cruel disease, the most common form of dementia for people under 60.
Sadly, there are no treatments to cure this disease, and as the 67-year-old case's advances, they hope the media attention will instead focus on shining a light on this matter to give more awareness and research. If only the "Die Hard" star could respond to this issue, he would surely want to spread more knowledge about the illness and give it "global attention and connectedness" to other people suffering from it.
The statement is signed by Bruce's family, from Emma to Moore and his five daughters. For starters, his initial aphasia diagnosis has symptoms of struggling to speak and write and understand written and verbal language.
But despite his diagnosis, he remains optimistic, continuing life as it is by appearing in public with friends and enjoying impromptu jam sessions.
To know more about Bruce's case, New York Times noted that FTD has two main variants: primary progressive aphasia and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. The first hinders the patient's communication ability, while the second manifest personality and behavioral changes.
Dr. Bruce Miller, a professor of neurology at the University of California, said this illness hits the parts of the brain that make people the "most human." Dr. Ian Grant, assistant professor of neurology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, added that patients with FTD may "act out of character."
The families of those with this disease claim they seem like they've lost a bit of themselves. A good example is seeing a typically quiet and shy person turn into someone who's more vocal and may start cursing or give bad comments.
They may also act apathetic, seemingly losing their motivation. Some may also show a lack of empathy for people around them. In addition, people with FTD often find it hard to perform their organizational skills and fail to multitask or plan. Dr. Joel Salinas, a clinical assistant professor of neurology at NYU Langone Health, added another sign of frontotemporal dementia, like what Bruce has, is excessive gambling or impulsive spending.
