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DOCTOR GETS CANDID ABOUT BRUCE WILLIS' DIAGNOSIS AND RECOVERY - EXCLUSIVE
By KATHLEEN WALSH
The announcement that Bruce Willis would be stepping away from his acting career due to a health diagnosis left fans with a lot of concerns — and questions. In her Instagram post making the announcement, Willis' ex-wife and mother of his children, Demi Moore, wrote that the actor had been diagnosed with aphasia.
We wanted to learn more about the condition and what fans and supporters of Willis can hope for in terms of recovery. We went to an expert, Dr. José Morey, M.D., who told Nicki Swift that aphasia is “an umbrella term” for conditions that lead to “lack of speech or thoughts of speech.”
Dr. Morey added that the condition can have a number of causes, but it is typically due to "trauma or other insult to the regions of the brain which control speech." However, trauma or insult to the brain doesn't necessarily mean getting hit in the head, as there are “inflammatory and malignant” causes of aphasia as well.
Dr. Morey said that the family’s best plan of action is “support and love.” He added, "This will be a journey. Recovery can happen, depending on the cause, but it may take time and [he] may never return fully."