A health update on Bruce Willis has been disclosed by doctors as his family released rare photos to commemorate his 70th birthday amidst his battle with a debilitating condition.
The beloved American action hero disclosed two years ago that he had received a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a type of dementia that results in a gradual deterioration in the regions of the brain associated with personality and language functions.
Although Willis has predominantly remained away from the public eye following his diagnosis, images uploaded by his former spouse Demi Moore and his five children on the occasion of his birthday showcased Willis smiling and encircled by his family.
Viewing the photos, posted on March 19, physicians — who are not involved in the actor’s care — noted he appeared to have a ‘masked expression’ and had a ‘little less emotion,’ both features attributable to his disease.
Doctors also said he appeared to be constantly looking away from the camera and off to the side, another symptom of FTD.
Comparing the latest images to those from his 69th birthday, they saw only minor changes — which may show his treatment regimen is helping to ease symptoms of the disease — but doctors pointed out that they would expect to see few physical changes in someone with this form of dementia, saying its impact occurs inside the body, not visibly on the outside.
Dr Stuart Fischer, an emergency medicine physician in New York City, told DailyMail.com: ‘The tragic thing to me is that these Instagram photos are deceptively normal. That is the real tragedy of Bruce’s situation.
‘This illness, it really doesn’t effect the outside of the body. It is what’s going on inside the body that is causing it.’
Bruce Willis is pictured above with part of his family in a post shared by ex-wife Demi Moore for his 70th birthday
The doctors did not examine Willis in person, and said they were only relying on a few photos — which could paint an incomplete picture of the situation.
Frontotemporal dementia is one of the less common forms of the disease, with about 50,000 to 60,000 sufferers in the US.
Overall, more than 7million people nationwide are estimated to have some form of dementia.
Frontotemporal dementia affects the frontal lobe of the brain, crucial for high-level cognitive functions like planning, decision-making and personality and expressive language, and the temporal lobes, crucial for processing sounds and memories.
Symptoms start as a loss of empathy, difficulty understanding others and trouble with language, but can progress to being unresponsive to loved ones, becoming mute and having trouble with movement and swallowing.
There is no cure for the disease, but some drugs and therapies may be prescribed that can help to ease symptoms by boosting chemicals like dopamine in the brain.
The doctors said it was possible he was receiving regular therapy to help with his speech and cognition. However, on average, patients die about seven years after their diagnosis.
The latest photos of Willis were shared by ex-wife Demi Moore, who wrote in the caption: ‘Happy birthday, BW! We love you.’
The post has been liked more than 760,000 times and has been flooded with comments from well-wishers.
Assessing Willis’ health in the photos, Dr W Chris Winter, a neurologist from Virginia, said: ‘He… appears to have a bit of a masked face that has a little less expression.
‘He looks good, and it is good to see him surrounded by his family, but he is kind of frozen a little bit.’
Bruce Willis is pictured above in another post the following day. America’s favorite action hero is suffering from frontotemporal dementia
Bruce Willis is shown above in a picture shared on Instagram for his 70th birthday
He added: ‘I had a family member with this condition, and all the pictures that we took with him he too was looking off to the side.
‘He wasn’t engaged in the photo-taking process, so he was just a little bit more disconnected.’
Dr Ozan Toy, a psychiatrist in New Jersey, added: ‘It is very challenging to ascertain how well a patient is doing from photos or video clips alone.
‘[But] there are ups and downs in patients with FTD, some days can be better than others.’
Willis’ diagnosis with frontotemporal dementia was first revealed in February 2023, and followed it being revealed he had aphasia, a condition that affects language, in March 2022.
Experts later said aphasia can be a symptom of his form of dementia, rather than a cause of the disease.
In an interview about his health in December, Demi Moore said: ‘He’s in a very stable place at the moment.
‘I’ve shared this before, but I really mean this so sincerely — it’s so important for anybody who’s dealing with this to really meet them where they’re at.’
His daughter Tallulah added in September: ‘He’s doing stable, which, in this situation, is good and is hard.
‘There’s painful days, but there’s so much love.’
She added: ‘It’s really shown me to not take any moment for granted, and I really do think that we’d be best friends. I think he’s very proud of me. You have to be in the moment. You have to be present.’
Asked in the same interview if Willis was aware of what was going on, his current wife Heming Willis said: ‘It’s hard to know.’
