Bruce Willis has frontotemporal dementia (FTD), his family confirmed in a statement on Thursday. “For your kindness, and because we know you love Bruce as much as we do, we wanted to give you an update,” the statement said. “Since we announced Bruce’s diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce’s condition has progressed, and we now have a specific diagnosis.” (Aphasia is a neurological disorder that impacted Willis’s cognitive abilities.)
“For people under 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia,” the statement, which was published by the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD), continued, “and because getting the diagnosis can take years, FTD is likely much more prevalent than we know.”
The statement—signed by Willis’s five children, ex-wife Demi Moore, and current wife Emma Heming Willis—said the 67-year-old actor is having difficulty communicating, which is one possible symptom of FTD. The condition causes anywhere between 10 to 20% of dementia cases, according to the Mayo Clinic. Here’s what you should know about the spectrum of symptoms, as well as what treatment for FTD typically looks like.
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What are the symptoms of frontotemporal dementia?
According to the Alzheimer’s Association (AA), FTD is a group of disorders that cause nerve cell damage in the brain’s frontal lobes (which are behind the forehead) and the temporal lobes (which are behind the ears). This can lead to difficulties in using or understanding written or spoken language, as well as deterioration in a person’s behavior and personality, which can include a lack of judgment, apathy, and compulsions, among other changes. (This is one reason why FTD can sometimes be misdiagnosed as a psychiatric disorder, per the Mayo Clinic.)
Prominent behavioral and personality changes are usually associated with the most common type of FTD, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, whereas difficulty speaking, writing, and comprehending language is usually associated with the second most common form, primary progressive aphasia. (The family statement did not specify which form of FTD Willis was diagnosed with.)
According to the Mayo Clinic, other potential symptoms of FTD can include:
- Increasingly inappropriate social behavior
- Loss of empathy, interest, or interpersonal skills
- Loss of inhibition
- Difficulty finding the right word to name objects
- Making mistakes in sentence construction
- No longer knowing word meanings
- Muscle spasms, tremors, twitches, or rigidity
- Muscle weakness
- Poor coordination
- Falls or difficulty walking
FTD is not the same thing as Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. People with FTD are typically diagnosed earlier in life, between their 40s and early 60s, compared to people with Alzheimer’s, who are typically diagnosed after age 65. Memory loss seems to be more prominent in people with Alzheimer’s, while speech difficulties are more common in those with FTD.
Are there treatment options for frontotemporal dementia?
FTD should be diagnosed by a neurologist, who will first evaluate a person’s symptoms and medical history; certain neurological exams or tests, including an MRI, may also be required to determine how much the disease has progressed in the brain. Little is known about what causes FTD, though genetics do play a role: About a third of all cases are linked to a family history of the disease, per the AA.
There is no cure for FTD yet, and there are no treatments that can slow the advancement of the disease. However, some treatment options—such as speech therapy, physical therapy, and certain medications—may help a person better manage their symptoms, per Johns Hopkins Medicine and the National Institute on Aging. Since FTD progresses over time, people with the condition may eventually need full-time nursing care, such as that offered by assisted living facilities.
The Willis family said they hope more treatment options will be available in the future: “As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.” The family also recommended resources for other people taking care of someone with FTD: “Ours is just one family with a loved one who suffers from FTD, and we encourage others facing it to seek out the wealth of information and support available through AFTD.”
They also expressed gratitude for the support they’ve received during this difficult time, writing: “Bruce has always found joy in life—and has helped everyone he knows to do the same. It has meant the world to see that sense of care echoed back to him and to all of us.”
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