The revelation by American actor Bruce Willis’ family that he had been diagnosed with dementia has meant thousands more visitors to the Alzheimer’s Society website, the charity said.
Pulp Fiction star, 67, was recently diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), with news shared by his family on Instagram on Feb. 16.
He followed up with the announcement in March 2022, which he was suffering from aphasiaa condition that affects language and speech.
Alzheimer’s Society chief executive Kate Lee said Alzheimers.org.uk saw 12,000% more visitors between 14/15 February and 16/17 February.
Ms Lee was speaking as the charity, which provides support to carers and Alzheimer’s patients, launched a campaign to highlight the changing nature of intimate relationships following a dementia diagnosis, which has received celebrity support .
The campaign features an emotional TV and radio spot, narrated by Academy Award-winning British actor Colin Firth.
Comes after Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, asked the paparazzi not to yell at the actor and said members of the press attempted to talk to her husband while he was having coffee with friends.
Sharing her experience as a caregiver, she said in an Instagram video: “If you’re someone who cares for someone with dementia, you know how difficult and stressful it can be to bring someone into the world and just to navigate safely, if only to take a coffee”.
She asked photographers and ‘video people’ to ‘keep their own space’ and asked other healthcare professionals or dementia care specialists to share their tips and advice on how to get their loved ones ‘out into the world safely’.
Heming Willis has already spoken about how he put his family’s needs above his own took a “toll” after her husband’s diagnosis of aphasia.
In an interview with Bump’s site last year he said, “I struggle to find time to take care of myself every day. I put my family’s needs above my own, which I’ve found doesn’t make me a hero.
“That amount of caring for everyone else in my family had taken a toll on my mental health and my overall health, and it served no one in my family.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
“A difficult diagnosis” for Bruce Willis
The NHS says FTD causes changes in personality, behaviour, speech and movement, due to the areas of the brain it affects, the front and side of the brain.
It mainly affects people between the ages of 45 and 65.
As with other forms of dementia, the onset of the disease is slow at first but gradually gets worse.
There is currently no cure for FTD, but treatments such as medications, therapies, and memory activities can help control some of the symptoms.
