Bruce Willis loses ‘language skills’ amid dementia battle

Bruce Willis has lost his “joie de vivre” and some “language skills”, since being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, according to his friend Glenn Gordon Caron.

In February, Willis’ family revealed that the “Die Hard” actor had been given a diagnosis for a degenerative illness that can cause memory loss and communication difficulties, among other symptoms.

Frontotemporal dementia, also known as FTD, is a degenerative condition that is the most common form of dementia in people under 60, and often begins between the ages of 40 and 65, according to the Mayo Clinic.

FTD occurs when nerve cell damage begins to affect areas of the brain behind the forehead (the frontal lobe) and behind the ears (the temporal lobes). These are the parts of the brain that control language, behavior, and personality.

In an interview with Page Six, Glenn said: “My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am. He’s not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader – he didn’t want anyone to know that – and he’s not reading now.”

“When you’re with him you know that he’s Bruce and you’re grateful that he’s there, but the joie de vivre is gone,” he added. “If you’ve ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he.”

The Daily Mail reports that the Die Hard actor has stopped reading – although in the past he was known to love books.

His wife Emma Heming Willis is taking care of the 68-year-old actor. The 45-year-old model, who has two daughters with Willis, has been posting on social media about some of her experiences taking care of her husband when he was ill.