Bruce Willis receives frontotemporal dementia diagnosis as health worsens

Actor retired from decades-long career after he was found to have aphasia

US actor Bruce Willis at the European premiere of 'Glass' in central London. AFP

Bruce Willis in a scene from the movie 'Glass'. Photo: Universal Pictures

Bruce Willis in a scene from the 'Sixth Sense'. Photo: Spyglass Entertainment

Bruce Willis in 'Pulp Fiction'. Photo: Miramax

Bruce Willis in 'Breakfast of Champions'. Photo: Warner Bros

Bruce Willis in a scene from 'Motherless Brooklyn'. Photo: Warner Bros

Bruce Willis stars as Captain Sharp in Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom'.

Bruce Willis in 'Die Hard' (1988). Photo: IMDb

Bruce Willis stars as the original GI Joe in this sequel. Photo: Paramount Pictures

From left, Steve Buscemi, Will Patton, Bruce Willis, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ben Affleck and Owen Wilson in 'Armageddon'. Photo: Touchstone Pictures

Bruce Willis attends the premiere of 'Motherless Brooklyn' during the 57th New York Film Festival. Invision / AP, File

Bruce Willis's health has deteriorated and he has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, nearly a year after he was found to have aphasia, his family announced on Thursday.

The family said on Thursday that the actor, 67, had a more specific diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia as his “condition has progressed”.

“While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” their statement read.

“FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of, and [it] can strike anyone.”

Last March, Willis’s family said his aphasia had affected his cognitive abilities and that he would retire from acting. The condition causes the loss of the ability to understand or express speech.

His family said communication challenges were only one symptom of frontotemporal dementia.

“Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead,” they said.

“As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.”

The statement was posted on the website for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration and signed by Willis’s wife, Emma Heming Willis, his former wife Demi Moore, and his five children, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel and Evelyn.

The Associated Press contributed to this report