According to his family, the actor was recently "diagnosed with aphasia, which is affecting his cognitive abilities."
Bruce Willis' decision to end his more than four-decade-long acting career following a recent aphasia diagnosis has shone a light on the relatively uncommon disorder.
Aphasia is a neurological disorder that impairs a person's ability to communicate verbally or in writing. According to the National Aphasia Association, it affects an estimated 2 million people in the United States, with nearly 180,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
Rumer Willis, Willis' daughter, stated on Instagram on Wednesday that her father's "cognitive abilities" have been impacted by the condition.
"As a result of this, and with much thought," the post said, "Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him."
Demi Moore, Rumer Willis' mother, also issued a statement.
Aphasia is most commonly caused by brain damage caused by a stroke, but it can also occur as a result of a head injury, brain tumour, infection, or degenerative disease such as Alzheimer's.
Willis' family did not provide any information about the cause of his aphasia.
Willis, an Emmy-winning actor who has appeared in blockbusters such as "Die Hard" and "The Sixth Sense," turned 67 this month.
What factors contribute to aphasia?
According to the National Institutes of Health, aphasia is caused by damage to one or more areas of the brain that deal with language.
According to Adam Boxer, a professor of neurology at the University of California — San Francisco, aphasia frequently occurs after a head injury or stroke, which cuts off blood flow to areas of the brain responsible for speech.
Aphasia can also develop gradually as a result of the progression of a brain tumour, neurological disease, or infection, according to Boxer.
"A lot of people have a slow and insidious onset of aphasia," Boxer explained.
What are the symptoms of aphasia?
The severity of aphasia symptoms varies. According to the National Aphasia Association, the condition can "make communication with the patient almost impossible" in the most severe cases.
When aphasia is mild, it may only affect one aspect of language use. A person with mild aphasia may struggle to remember the names of objects, or may struggle to read or put words together into clear sentences.
Because most people experience mild memory loss as they age, mild aphasia can be difficult to distinguish, according to Boxer: "Is it just ageing, or is it something else?"
Is aphasia curable?
Some forms of aphasia, according to Boxer, can be treated and reversed if the underlying cause is identified early.
According to Boxer, a stroke patient with aphasia may regain the ability to speak. However, if symptoms persist two or three months after a stroke, complete recovery is unlikely, according to the National Aphasia Association.
Nonetheless, the NAA stated that "some people continue to improve over years and even decades."
Slower aphasias, on the other hand, will typically be treated with a brain scan to rule out a tumour pressing on the speech section of the brain or another neurological cause, according to Boxer.
A neurologist, according to Boxer, will concentrate on "what we can fix," such as a vitamin B-12 deficiency or a thyroid imbalance that may be contributing to the condition.
Once the underlying cause has been identified and addressed, the patient will work with a speech therapist to regain as much speech as possible.
If the person has primary progressive aphasia, or PPA, their loss of speech is caused by the "deterioration of brain tissue" caused by Alzheimer's or dementia, and "other problems associated with the underlying disease, such as memory loss, frequently occur later," according to the National Aphasia Association.
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