Approximately 180,000 Americans are diagnosed with the language disorder every year.
Bruce Willis is stepping away from Hollywood because of a neurological disorder that impairs the ability to communicate. We’re unpacking what’s known about aphasia and how common the condition is.
What is aphasia?
The disorder can affect one’s ability to produce and interpret speech or writing. It occurs when the language areas in the brain are damaged, either by a stroke, traumatic brain injury, infection, or progressive conditions like Alzheimer’s. The condition varies widely in severity: Some patients may have trouble retrieving the names of certain objects, while others are rendered completely unable to communicate.
What’s known about Bruce Willis’ health?
Willis’ family revealed his diagnosis on Wednesday in a post on Instagram. They wrote that the 67-year-old would be “stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him” because the disorder is “impacting his cognitive abilities.”
Willis has given many iconic performances across a career that’s spanned decades, from his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard films to his leading role in The Sixth Sense.
What are the different types of aphasia?
The two broad categories of aphasia are fluent and nonfluent, according to the National Institutes of Health. In fluent aphasia, a patient may speak in long, complex sentences that don’t make any sense and is often unaware that what they’re saying is unintelligible. They may also have trouble understanding speech. Fluent aphasia commonly occurs when a part of the brain called Wernicke’s area is damaged.
People with nonfluent aphasia may still be able to read and comprehend what’s spoken to them, but struggle to talk and will only use short phrases. Damage to a region called Broca’s area often triggers this form of aphasia.
Damage to large portions of the brain’s language areas can result in global aphasia, which severely limits the ability to speak or understand.
How common is aphasia?
Aphasia is most common among people of middle age and older. According to the National Aphasia Association, about 1 million people in the U.S. are living with the disorder and about 180,000 people are diagnosed with it each year.
Aging and aphasia
When aphasia is caused by a stroke or a head injury, it can occur suddenly. But one form, primary progressive aphasia (PPA), develops gradually and is caused by the degeneration of the brain’s nerve cells. Many people with PPA have only minor language problems for years, and don’t have any issues with memory or focus, so they often put off seeking treatment.
Some symptoms for this type of aphasia include mispronouncing words, slowed down or halting speech, using abnormally short phrases, difficulty spelling, substituting similar letter sounds (like a “t” for a “d”), and more.
