Bruce Willis: What you need to know about frontotemporal dementia
Bruce Willis, whose condition has progressed from aphasia to frontotemporal dementia, is suffering from “a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone,” the actor’s family said in a statement on Thursday.
Frontotemporal dementia is a condition that can change a person’s behavior and hampers their communication skills. So, what is this complicated disease that now affects the 67-year-old “Die Hard” actor?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, frontotemporal dementia — also known as FTD — is a group of disorders that occur when nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are lost. This causes the lobes to shrink.
On its website, the Mayo Clinic said that some people with FTD experience dramatic changes to their personalities and become socially inappropriate, impulsive, or emotionally indifferent. Other people lose the ability to use language properly.
“It hits the parts of the brain that make us the most human,” Dr. Bruce Miller, a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, told The New York Times.
There are two types of FTD, according to the newspaper. One is primary progressive aphasia, which hampers a patient’s ability to communicate, while the other is behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, in which a person exhibits personality and behavioral changes.
There is a less common variant of FTD, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. It affects movement and causes symptoms similar to those experienced by people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Because Willis originally had difficulty speaking, he would have had primary progressive aphasia, Dr. Henry Paulson, a professor of neurology and director of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the University of Michigan, told CNN.
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“Aphasia really means problems with language, and that can vary from having trouble finding your words to understanding what people say,” Paulson told the cable news network. “It can occur because of a tumor on the brain, a stroke or from a progressive neurodegenerative condition.
“Because his diagnosis is frontotemporal dementia, Mr. Willis clearly has a progressive, neurodegenerative disease as opposed to a stroke or a tumor or some other lesion on the brain.”
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According to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, FTD commonly affects people younger than 60, although there are cases — such as Willis’ — where people much older can be affected.
There are no approved treatments for FTD, and there is no cure, the association said on its website. People diagnosed with FTD face a life expectancy between seven and 13 years.
“Just like Alzheimer’s, at this time, there is no disease-modifying therapy, no curative therapy,” Chi-Ying “Roy” Lin, a neurology professor at Baylor College of Medicine, told The Washington Post.
Approximately 50,000 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with the condition, Susan Dickinson, the chief executive of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, told the Times.
However, Dickinson told the newspaper that the figure could be higher because the condition can be challenging to diagnose.
People suffering from the behavioral variant of FTD “seem like they’ve lost a bit of their filter,” Dr. Ian Grant, an assistant professor of neurology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told the Times. Some people may also display a lack of empathy for people around them, Grant told the newspaper.
Patients with the behavioral variant rarely have memory issues, CNN reported. However, they do have organizational issues and have trouble setting their priorities, according to the National Institute on Aging.
Losing language: What is aphasia?
In primary progressive aphasia, a person may have trouble speaking or understanding words and might even slur their speech, CNN reported.
“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 told the cable news network. “Now that also comes with the territory of aging, but when the language is more effortful on a daily basis, or the comprehension is going downhill, that’s a sign that someone should see a doctor for an evaluation.”
While FTD may appear to mirror Alzheimer’s disease, there are some differences.
Memory loss is more prominent in early Alzheimer’s patients than with people affected by FTD, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. People who have problems with spatial orientation — like getting lost in familiar places — are also more common to Alzheimer’s patients.
Hallucinations are more common for Alzheimer’s patients than for those with FTD, the website noted.
Are there hereditary risks of being diagnosed with FTD? According to John Hopkins Medicine, a family history of FTD is the only known risk. However, most people with FTD have no family history of that condition or other types of dementia.
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Frontotemporal dementia used to be called Pick’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. It was named for Arnold Pick, a physician who in 1892 first described a patient with distinct symptoms affecting language. Some doctors still use the term “Pick’s disease.”
Even though the disease can progress, patients can continue to lead an active lifestyle, Paulson said.
“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,” Paulson told CNN. “They can’t tell me in words, but they can tell me in pictures.
“I tell all my patients, ‘Don’t let this disease own you. You own it.’ Sure, you’ve lost some skills because of the illness you have, but you still have lots of skills left and you work with the skills you have.”
March 1995.Bruce Willis And Samuel L.Jackson Star In The New Die Hardd Movie. (Photo By Getty Images)
March 1995.Bruce Willis Stars In The New Die Hardd Movie. (Photo By Getty Images)
1997 Bruce Willis stars in the new movie "The Fifth Element"
9/14/97- The 49th Emmy Awards- Bruce Willis with Demi Moore.
1998 (L To R) Steve Buscemi, Will Patton, Bruce Willis, Michael Duncan, Ben Affleck, And Owen Wilson Star In "Armageddon." (Photo By Getty Images)
Ben (Bruce Willis) And Stan (Rob Reiner) Discuss Their View On Marriage In The Romantic Comedy, "The Story Of Us." (Photo By Getty Images)
1999 Haley Joel Osment And Bruce Willis Star In "The Sixth Sense." (Photo By Getty Images)
1999-2000 David Schwimmer, Bruce Willis (who plays Paul) guest starring on "Friends"(the one where Ross meet’s Elizabeth’s dad). Photo Credit: Paul Drinkwater NBC
Actor Bruce Willis announces the new star-packed entertainment channel "PlanetHollywood.com" July 17, 2000 at Planet Hollywood in New York City. (Photo by George De Sota/Getty Images)
BERLIN – JUNE 18: Actor Bruce Willis attends the German photocall to Die Hard 4.0 June 18, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – JUNE 27: Actor Bruce Willis (L) and Director of the National Museum of American History Brent Glass (R) pose with objects from the "Die Hard" series of films that Willis donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History June 27, 2007 in Washington, DC. A selection of "Die Hard" items will go on display in the new acquisitions case in the museum’s "Treasures of American History" exhibition at the Smithsonian. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
ROME – OCTOBER 15: Actor Bruce Willis attends the Italian premiere of the movie "Live Free Or Die Hard" at Auditorium Conciliazione October 15, 2007 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11: Actor Bruce Willis (R) and wife Emma Heming attend the Erin Wasson x RVCA Spring 2010 Fashion Show at Bryant Park on September 11, 2009 in New York, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for IMG)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 24: Actor Bruce Willis and daughter, actress Rumer Willis arrive at the premiere of Touchstone Pictures’ "Surrogates" at the El Capitan Theatre on September 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 24: Actor Bruce Willis arrives at the premiere of Touchstone Pictures’ "Surrogates" at the El Capitan Theater on September 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – DECEMBER 17: Emma Heming (L) and actor Bruce Willis attend the New York premiere of "Sherlock Holmes" at the Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on December 17, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 17: Actor Bruce Willis speaks before the screening of "Armageddon" during AFI & Walt Disney Pictures’ "A Cinematic Celebration of Jerry Bruckheimer" held at the Mann Chinese 6 on May 17, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images for AFI)
SAN DIEGO – JULY 22: Actors Helen Mirren (L) and Bruce Willis attend the "Red" press line during Comic-Con 2010 held at the San Diego Convention Center on July 22, 2010 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO – JULY 22: (L to R) MTV News host Josh Horowitz, actor Bruce Willis and actor Karl Urban at the MySpace & MTV Tower at Comic Con on July 22, 2010 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for MySpace)
NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Actors Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis attend The Cinema Society & OC Concept screening of "RED" at The Museum of Modern Art on October 3, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JANUARY 16: Actors Bruce Willis and Tilda Swinton attend the InStyle and Warner Bros. 68th annual Golden Globe awards post-party at The Beverly Hilton hotel on January 16, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 26: Actor Bruce Willis speaks onstage at the First Annual Comedy Awards at Hammerstein Ballroom on March 26, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – FEBRUARY 11: Bruce Willis poses with his wife Emma Heming-Willis after being awarded Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres at Ministere de la Culture on February 11, 2013 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 28: Actors Bruce Willis and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures’ "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" at TCL Chinese Theatre on March 28, 2013 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 19: Actors Bruce Willis (L) and Josh Brolin pose at the after party for the premiere of Dimension Films’ "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For" at the Roosevelt Hotel on August 19, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 22: Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf onstage during the first Broadway performance curtain call of ‘Misery’ at the Broadhurst Theatre on October 22, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 14: (L-R) Emma Heming, Rumer Willis, Tallulah Willis, Bruce Willis and Scout Willis attend the Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis at Hollywood Palladium on July 14, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images For Comedy Central)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 14: Bruce Willis performs onstage during the Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis at Hollywood Palladium on July 14, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 09: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and James McAvoy attend the UK Premiere of "Glass" at The Curzon Mayfair on January 09, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 04: Bruce Willis performs the 17th Annual A Great Night In Harlem at The Apollo Theater on April 04, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
