Almost a year after the family of the American star Bruce Willis announced that he had retired from acting after it was confirmed that he had aphasia, his family now says that his “condition has deteriorated.”
In a statement published Thursday, the family of the 67-year-old star said that Willis had been diagnosed with a rare and serious disease known as frontotemporal dementia.
“As painful as this is, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis. It is a cruel disease that many of us have not heard of and can affect anyone,” the statement read.
Last March, Willis’s family said that his loss of the ability to speak affected his cognitive abilities, as the condition causes him to lose the ability to understand or express speech.
In a statement Thursday, his family said the communication challenges were just one symptom of frontotemporal dementia.
The statement also said, “There are no cures for this disease, a fact that we hope will change in the coming years. As Bruce’s condition evolves, we hope that any media attention will focus on shedding light on this disease, which needs more awareness and research.”
The statement was posted on the website of an association concerned with research into the disease, and was signed by Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis, his ex-wife Demi Moore, and his five children, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel and Evelyn.
Over the course of 4 decades of work, Willis’ films have generated more than $ 5 billion at the box office worldwide, and his most famous films are “Die Hard” and “The Six Sense”.
