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Emma Heming WIllis says husband Bruce "doesn't know" he has frontotemporal dementia
The Die Hard star "never connected the dots," she tells Cameron Oaks Rogers on the Conversations with Cam podcast
She shared that she's "really happy" that he doesn't know
Bruce Willis"never connected the dots" that he has been diagnosed withfrontotemporal dementia, his wifeEmma Heming Willissays.
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at Emma's conversation with Cameron Oaks Rogers on the Jan. 28 episode of her podcast,Conversations with Cam,during which Emma, 47, gave an update on her husband's ongoing struggle — and shared that "Bruce never, never tapped in."
"I think that's like the blessing and the curse of this, is that he never connected the dots that he had this disease, and I'm really happy about that. I'm really happy that he doesn't know about it," she shared about Bruce, 70.
Emma Heming Willis/ Instagram
Bruce — like others with similar conditions — has anosognosia, she explained. Per theCleveland Clinic, it's a condition where "your brain can't recognize one or more other health conditions you have," and is commonly seen in people with mental health disorders.
As Emma put it, "it's where your brain can't identify what is happening to it," so theDie Hardactor, and others with anosognosia, "think this is their normal."
"People think this might be denial, like they don't want to go to the doctor because they're like, 'I'm fine, I'm fine,' actually, this is the anosognosia that comes into play. It's not denial. It's just that their brain is changing. This is a part of the disease."
The action star's family shared that he'dbeen diagnosedwith frontotemporal dementia, or FTP, in 2023. It's a catchall term for a group of brain disorders that cause thefrontal and temporal lobes of the brainto atrophy, which creates speech issues, emotional problems and changes in personality.
Sophie Sahara
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Other symptoms can include loss of motor skills — problems walking, swallowing or muscle spasms. It's a progressive disease, and it is the most common form of dementiafor people under 60.
As Emma shared, Bruce is "still very much present in his body" and explained that as his dementia has progressed, "we have progressed along with him. We've adapted along with him."
"He has a way of connecting with me, our children that might not be the same as you would connect with your loved one, but it's still very beautiful," she shared. "It's still very meaningful. It's just — it's just different. You just learn how to adapt."
Read the original article onPeople
