Actor Bruce Willis’ daughter has shared a rare health update about her father’s battle with a rare and aggressive dementia.
Rumer Willis, 35, suggested her 69-year-old father is in good spirits, the newspaper said Show today simply: ‘He’s so good.’
She added that he continues to be a great grandfather to her daughter Louetta, loves music and spending quality time with his family.
Although the family has not said it publicly, doctors tell DailyMail.com that the tragic reality is that patients with Willis’ condition are usually mute within two to three years of diagnosis.
Bruce, father of five children, has been suffering from frontotemporal dementia since spring 2022.
Actor Bruce Willis’ daughter Rumer (pictured) has given the public an update on the health status of her father, who has a rare form of dementia that affects his ability to speak. He said: ‘He’s so good’
Willis is pictured with his daughter Scout in early 2024. The Willis family has said that the actor’s daily life consists of quality time with his loved ones, having his thoughts and listening to familiar music.
FTD differs from the better-known form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease. But unlike Alzheimer’s, memory isn’t the first to go.
Aphasia – difficulty speaking and expressing thoughts – is the first symptom for most. Willis has been dealing with this for two years.
FTD also distorts people’s personalities, as it affects the area of the brain responsible for mood regulation, giving rise to sudden violent outbursts, inappropriateness in public, a lack of self-awareness and anxiety.
People with FTD typically die within about eight to 10 years after diagnosis. About 80 percent of FTD patients who experience behavioral changes have died after eight years.
Dr. Chris Winter, a neurologist practicing in Virginia, told DailyMail.com: Once symptoms start, there is usually a fairly steady progression over the next few years.
“Generally there is a prognosis of five to 10 years when they are diagnosed, but when it comes to the disability, it is within a few years that many people are simply not communicative.”
Playing music for someone with FTD, especially music they typically recognize, is known to increase their sense of familiarity with their surroundings and prevent the mood swings that are so characteristic of this type of dementia.
Dr. Winter said: ‘It’s interesting that the way we encode music can be different than language, so often these individuals can sing along to a song and have difficulty speaking. So music is very useful.’
Bruce’s daughter Tallulah Willis, one of three he shares with ex-wife Demi Moore, said on the Drew Barrymore Show in November 2023: ‘I see love when I’m with him, and it’s my dad, and he loves me .
“Playing music… and being in that and this energy of love, it’s really special.”
Willis also has two daughters, Mabel and Evelyn, 12 and nine respectively, with current wife Heming Willis.
With Willis’ resources, he can receive the highest caliber of care, including constant monitoring to prevent fatal falls or infections, and help from a neurologist to monitor the progression of the disease.
Helping Willis with the aphasia variant of FTD requires speaking slowly and in simple sentences, and asking for clarification if the caregiver doesn’t understand what the person is saying.
During an appearance on Today, Rumer Willis raved that her dad is a real “girl daddy,” as she described seeing him with her little girl Louetta.
Family: Willis and wife Heming Willis also have two daughters, Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, eight, together
Dr. Keith Vossel, a dementia specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told DailyMail.com: ‘It is a slightly more rapidly progressing disease than Alzheimer’s, which generally lasts 10 years in terms of from the time of diagnosis to the need for long-term treatment, 24 hours a day. concern.
“(With FTD) it takes more than three to five years from diagnosis that 24-hour care is needed.”
It may also be helpful to use gestures and photo albums to communicate with the person with FTD.
Supporting someone like Willis with FTD also requires the help of a GP – the type you would go to for a check-up – as well as a nurse, a psychiatrist, a speech therapist, a neurologist and a social worker. .
Movement problems may also require the help of a physiotherapist or occupational therapist. This can help prevent falls that can lead to broken bones or fatal head injuries.
Although Willis will most likely never need a feeding tube or assistance with eating, many people with FTD will crave sweet things and unhealthy foods because of the areas the disease affects.
Dr. Vossel said: ‘In terms of eating habits, people usually maintain their ability to eat during the course of the disease, but they may need some supervision of what they eat because there can be cravings for sweet things and picky food choices, so they’ If you don’t eat a well-balanced diet.
The damage to the frontal lobes affects self-control and the ability to regulate behavior, such as binge eating or lack of control over one’s food choices. In this case, Willis will likely get the help of a dietitian and personal trainer to keep herself healthy as these symptoms worsen.
He added: ‘Often the treatment regimen will change from month to month depending on the behavior or cognitive symptoms.’
Establishing a routine that the person can follow and become familiar with is critical to preventing behavioral changes and anxiety.
Ever since Willis’ family revealed that the actor suffered from primary progressive aphasia, an aspect of FTD, the condition has been on the public’s radar.
Devastating: Bruce Willis’ family revealed last year that the actor had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) – less than a year after he quit acting due to his battle with speech-destroying symptom aphasia
FTD falls under the same broad umbrella of dementias that includes Alzheimer’s disease, but is much less common, with an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 cases occurring at any one time in the US, the majority of whom are between the ages of 45 and 65.
Caring for someone with FTD comes with the knowledge that he or she will never be the same again. Two years after being diagnosed with aphasia, Willis can no longer speak as he used to in his blockbuster films.
Because there are no treatments to slow the progression of the disease, which causes personality and speech changes over three to five years, care often involves stimulating the person’s mind and making them as comfortable as possible the person.
FTD itself does not kill the person who has it. People very rarely die from FTD, rather than dying from it, Dr. Winter added.
It can weaken the body so much that it becomes acutely susceptible to disease. Pneumonia is the most common cause of death.
Gait changes are also characteristic of FTD, including changes in a person’s motor skills. This greatly increases the risk of falling.
Dr. Winter said, “It’s disturbing that their decision-making is poor, their gait is unsteady, they fall, they break their hip, they go to the hospital, they get an infection and they die.”
People with FTD typically first exhibit emotional and behavioral problems, such as stealing, swearing, inappropriate comments in public, impulsiveness, and repetitive behavior. Many people with the condition are diagnosed early on with mood problems, such as depression and bipolar disorder.
Aphasia is also an important symptom, and there is a specific variant of FTD in which primary progressive aphasia is a marker for the progression of the disease.
The brain is a complex organ made up of several areas that control a range of different but specific human functions.
The frontal lobe is strongly involved in behavior and personality. It is also called the ‘executive center’ because it is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as problem solving, planning and decision making.
The temporal lobes are located on each side of the brain above the ears, which are critical for auditory processing and understanding spoken and written language, and for remembering what words mean, resulting in the progressive loss of speaking ability.
These areas are also crucial for interpreting emotions in a person’s voice and face, recognizing faces, and remembering verbal information.
The parietal lobe is located towards the back of the head. It processes sensory information such as pain and temperature, interprets words and language and determines spatial insight.
The occipital lobe, located just above the base of the brain, processes what the eyes see. It mainly processes visual information, depth and color perception, shape and movement.