McHenry County Opinion

Oliver: Beloved actor’s condition puts spotlight on lesser-known form of dementia

Frontotemporal dementia nearly as common as younger-onset Alzheimer’s

As a fan of actor Bruce Willis, the news that he had been suffering from aphasia was a bit of a shock.

As a caregiver for someone who no longer can communicate with speech, I was heartbroken.

Now Willis’ family has announced that the actor’s condition has worsened into frontotemporal dementia. My heart truly goes out to his family.

Dementia – in all of its forms – is a challenging, grief-filled journey. Like Alzheimer’s, frontotemporal dementia has no cure and is progressive.

If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of frontotemporal dementia. It’s far less common than Alzheimer’s disease, which my husband has, and vascular dementia, which is what my mother had before she died at age 86.

Frontotemporal dementia refers to group of disorders that are caused by nerve cell loss in the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes, according to information from the Alzheimer’s Association.

When those parts of the brain are compromised, it can lead to changes in behavior and personality, as well as difficulty with producing or comprehending language.

Willis, who is 67, was having problems with his job as an actor, which requires memorizing scripts and being able to speak lines. No doubt the first clues about his condition came while he was working.

Interestingly, frontotemporal dementia used to be called Pick’s disease, which was named after Dr. Arnold Pick, who in 1892 was the first to describe a patient with distinct symptoms affecting language.

Frontotemporal dementia conditions are far less common than Alzheimer’s disease in people over age 65. Yet, they are nearly as common as younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease for those in the 45 to 65 age range. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there could be 50,000 to 60,000 people with the main types of frontotemporal dementia in the U.S., the majority in that younger range.

So how can one tell if they’re dealing with frontotemporal dementia or early-onset Alzheimer’s? Here are a few key differences, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Memory loss tends to be a more prominent symptom in early Alzheimer’s than in early frontotemporal dementia. Sadly, though, memory problems develop over time with frontotemporal dementia, too.

Behavior changes are often the first noticeable symptom with the most common form of frontotemporal dementia. With Alzheimer’s, the behavior changes tend to be later in the disease.

Problems with getting lost in familiar places are more common in Alzheimer’s.

Speech problems are more common in frontotemporal dementia. Although people with Alzheimer’s may have trouble thinking of the right word or remembering names, they tend to have less difficulty making sense when they speak. They also have less trouble understanding others or reading.

As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, hallucinations and delusions become more common. They are relatively uncommon with frontotemporal dementia.

Like other forms of dementia, frontotemporal dementia gets worse over time and how rapidly that decline happens varies from person to person.

More information about all the forms of dementia can be found on the Alzheimer’s Association website at alz.org. There’s also a nonprofit organization, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, that is dedicated to the condition. That website is theaftd.org. There you can read the entire announcement from Willis’ family.

As someone who has dealt with different forms of dementia for the past decade, I know firsthand what a journey it can be.

May Willis and his family be surrounded by peace and love, and may they know that they aren’t alone.

Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.

Joan Oliver

Joan Oliver

A 30-year newspaper veteran who has been a copy editor, front-page editor, presentation editor, assistant news editor and publication editor, as well as a columnist and host of an online newspaper newscast.