The family of Bruce Willis has an update on his health

Bruce, the 67-year-old star of “The Detective Knight” says he has no treatment for his aphasia

In a statement shared Thursday, the 67-year-old star’s family stated that while the news “is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.”

“Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead. 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 statement said.

The diagnosis of his aphasia was disclosed by his family, including wife Emma Heming, former wife Demi Moore and his daughters. At the time they said that the medical condition would make it difficult for him to act, and he’d be taking a break.

His diagnosis is of frontotemporal dementia and means that he has a progressive disease instead of a stroke or a piece of the brain.

The third and final movie of theDetective Knight film series is titled “Detective Knight: Independence” and was released in January of 2023. He is also making an action movie called “Assassin” which will be released next month.

Bruce Willis, 67, of Frontotemporal Dementia: A Death Sensitivity to Alzheimer and Other Motor Neuron Diseases

“Bruce has always found joy in life – and has helped everyone he knows to do the same. It has meant that he and the world saw a sense of care in all of us. “We have been so moved by the love you have all shared for our dear husband, father, and friend during this difficult time. Thanks to your continued understanding, we will able to help Bruce live as full of a life as possible.

After retiring from acting in March 2022 due to a speaking disorder called aphasia, Bruce Willis, 67, has since been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, his family announced Thursday.

An FTD diagnosis is akin to a death sentence. There is no way to stop it. There is nothing that can stop it. There is no slowing it down. People with FTD typically die within six to eight years of its onset, usually from vulnerability to infections or accidents. To be given this diagnosis is to open a door into a hellish world where medical science, as well as the health and caregiving systems, seem to collectively shrug their shoulders, shake their heads and in so many words say to patients and their loved ones, “There’s nothing we can do for you.”

Aphasia can affect the brain that control speaking, writing and comprehension. The onset of symptoms typically begins before age 65, but can occur later.

According to the National Institute on Aging, another type of motor neuron disease can cause difficulties in performing movements such as closing buttons and using small appliances, because of an inability to swallow, rigid muscles and difficulty in using hands or arms.

In the beginning, it can be difficult to know exactly which type of FTD a person has — or even whether it is FTD — because symptoms and the order in which they appear can vary from one person to another and depend on which parts of the frontal or temporal lobes are affected.

Alzheimer’s isn’t the case with fronttemporal dementia. It can leave the memory intact for quite a while. In my father’s case, he never stopped recognizing his daughters’ faces, not even at the end. Many people in their late 20s and 30s are affected by FTD. It introduces itself in pernicious ways. Some say the disease steals one’s very personhood and leaves behind nothing but shells of former selves in slowly deteriorating bodies.

In primary progressive aphasia, or PPA, the person might have trouble speaking or understanding words or might slur their speech. Over time, they may fail to recognize familiar faces and objects. Some may become mute.

“PPA may start with difficulty simply finding words, so people begin to use simpler words or more generic words for things they can’t quite recall,” Paulson said.

He said that if the language is more effortful on a day-to-day basis or the comprehension is falling, that is a sign that someone should see a doctor.

At first it is not a problem for memory, cognitive, language or behavior. The inability to control movements and issues with balance are some of the initial signs. There is difficulty with looking down or other eye movements as a sign of progressive supranuclear palsy.

“A brain MRI can tell us if certain parts of the brain are shrinking or showing signs of atrophy. He said that they would do some blood tests to make sure they were not missing any causes of cognitive impairment.

In the future, we will also do brain metabolism scans. “It’s Positron Emission Tomography or PET imaging, and that can tell us which parts of the frontal lobes or the temporal lobes are involved.”

Neurologists can’t give a timeline. Even if they’re experienced with the family of dementias and cognitive degeneration that comprise FTD, they can’t determine which symptoms will appear next or when. Even the most well-intentioned providers end up giving patients the bewildering “diagnose and adios” treatment.

A speech-language pathologist can help determine the best strategies and tools for an FTD patient struggling with language skills. Physical or occupational therapy, guided by a doctor specializing in these disorders, may help with movement symptoms.

“I’ve seen patients who completely lose their speech and yet they go out and take their camera and take beautiful photographs of the lives they’re living. They can’t say something in words, but they can say something in pictures.

“I tell all my patients, ‘Don’t let this disease own you. “You own it,'” he added. You can still work with the skills you have even if you lost some because of the illness.

Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease Using Brain Imaging: Patient’s Medical History, Symptoms, and Physical Detection

Diagnosis of FTD tends to happen between a person in their 40s and 60s, while Alzheimer’s happens at a later age. Alzheimer’s can be related to issues with spatial orientation, such as getting lost.

Doctors use brain imaging technology, such as MRIs, to diagnose FTD. The patient’s medical history and symptoms are analyzed with the results. There are no known risk factors for people who inherit the disease.

ideas42 is a global nonprofit that creates social good through applied behavioral science and has a director of communications. She is a co-editor of Behavioral Scientist magazine. The views are those of the writer. Read more opinion on CNN.

Willis, his father, and his family: the cruelest disease you have ever heard of, but none of it has ever happened to him

Thanks to Willis’ family shedding light on FTD, many are learning about this disease for the first time. Few people can comprehend what it has done. The media captured some of the story: a heartbreaking disease. “Devastating, prevalent and little understood … the cruelest disease you have never heard of.”

My family has heard about it. We’ve spent the last five years living with it as we lost my father bit by bit, adapting to its many indignities, powerless as he lost first his impulse control, then his empathy, then his speech, then his mobility and, finally, the ability to swallow and the strength to keep his heart pumping. I know what’s coming for Willis – and his family. I would never want to be friends with my enemy.

My sister and I, my father’s main caregivers, chose to tend to him at home. We were able to take advantage of some things. Even in the midst of some of the more shocking periods of decline that came with his variant of FTD – such as a lack of inhibitions, paranoia, stilted speech (until language and his voice disappeared entirely) and an eerie lack of empathy or awareness if one of us was very sick – he never became violent as can happen for those with FTD. He never said an unkind word to my sister or me, never became dangerously agitated or threatening.

As an Iranian man raised as a Muslim, my father conveyed to us through his eyes and timid posture that he was painfully embarrassed and even ashamed when it came time for his two daughters to take over his bathing and hygiene alongside the revolving door of in-home aides we struggled to keep. But with gentle pleading, he let us care for him as lovingly as we could.

My father had been in frequent contact with my sister and I as well as my father from the time I was a teenager. So we noticed his personality changes early enough that he never gambled away his life savings, lost his home, fell prey to a predatory scam, got into a dangerous accident, got fired from a job or put the lives of his family in danger – all things that can happen to people with FTD early on as the parts of the brain responsible for judgment atrophy.

According to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, there at least six known clinical trials that are active for disease-modifying drugs. There is one longitudinal study actively recruiting patients and families, the ALLFTD Study, conducted by a consortium of researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health, including input from patient and caregiver advocates like the Remember Me podcast. But it’s currently only funded through 2025.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/25/opinions/bruce-willis-frontotemporal-dementia-experience-salasel/index.html

The 40th Day of Dementia in Iran: It Could Not Be Too Late for My FTD Sister, My Children, or My Sister

It’s too late for my beloved father. On Friday, my family gathered for Chehelom, the 40th day of mourning in Iran and around the world, just as Iranians around the world celebrated Nowruz.

But maybe there’s enough time for others. FTD is has about a 50% chance of being passed on to a child. It could not be too Late for my sister, my children, and the number of potential sufferers of frontotemporal dementia if we can reach a breakthrough in treatment in the coming years.