The family of Bruce Willis has announced that the actor will step away from his career due to a diagnosis of aphasia, which is affecting his cognitive abilities.
“As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him,” his family said, without revealing what might have caused Willis’ condition.
SanamHafeez, PsyD, an NYC-based neuropsychologist and director of Comprehend the Mind, told Healthline that strokes are the most common cause of aphasia, and affect up to 40 percent of stroke survivors.
“It can happen suddenly,” she said. “After a stroke, head injury, or gunshot wound — but may develop slowly if there is a brain tumor, infection, or progressive neurological disease.”
What is aphasia?
Hafeez explained that aphasia is caused when there is damage to the language-dominant side of the brain, usually the left side, and can be brought on by:
- Stroke
- Head injury
- Brain tumor
- Infection
- Dementia
“The symptoms of aphasia can vary from person to person, depending on which type they have,” she said.
There are different types of aphasia
According to Hafeez, aphasia symptoms vary depending on which part of the brain is affected.
Hafeez pointed out that that part of the brain is also essential for motor movements, so people with expressive aphasia often suffer from right-sided weakness or paralysis of an arm or leg.
Receptive and global aphasia severely affect communication
Another type is called Wernicke or receptive aphasia.
This makes people tend to speak in long confusing sentences, add unnecessary words or create new words, and have difficulty understanding what others are saying, said Hafeez.
But global aphasia may affect our ability to communicate even more severely.
“People with global aphasia may find it difficult to speak or comprehend language as a whole,” she said.
