Actor Bruce Willis’ diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia has brought renewed attention to the disease, whose symptoms include changes in behavior, language and communication.
Willis’ family, including ex-wife Demi Moore, said in a statement on Thursday that his aphasia diagnosis, which the family announced in March, had progressed to frontotemporal dementia. Willis is 67.
Frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, refers to a collection of disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The diseases that fall under this umbrella are neurodegenerative, meaning they get worse over time.
Generally, there are two subdiagnoses, according to Dr. Paul Barton Rosenberg, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the John Hopkins School of Medicine.
“One is a behavioral variant, where people can have a change in their personality and lose their inhibitions and social graces,” Rosenberg said. “Another is primary progressive aphasia, where people have trouble finding words or expressing themselves.”
In their Thursday statement, the Willis family said that “unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces.”
“While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” the family wrote in its Instagram post, which was signed by the “Ladies of Willis/Moore” family.
Symptoms and causes of frontotemporal dementia
Frontotemporal dementia results from a buildup of proteins in the brain, which can damage and shrink the frontal and temporal lobes.
Because these areas of the brain are associated with personality, behavior and language, the symptoms of a particular case of FTD vary depending on which area is most affected, according to Dr. Gregg Day, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic’s campus in Florida.
“Difficulty with language and understanding, as well as misinterpreting instructions could be symptoms of FTD,” Day said. “But when the proteins build up in parts of the brain that govern social…
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