Overview

• US media outlets report that Willis can no longer speak, read or walk without assistance as his frontotemporal dementia advances.
• He first displayed language difficulties in 2022 with an aphasia diagnosis and was formally diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023.
• In April his family released a statement saying his condition remained stable and highlighting their unified support.
• Frontotemporal dementia is a rare early-onset neurodegenerative disease affecting an estimated one in 100,000 people aged 55 to 65.
• Roughly half of cases are hereditary, frequently linked to mutations on chromosome 17q21-22 that disrupt tau proteins.