What You Need To Know About Aphasia

The team of former talk show host Wendy Williams recently announced that she has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.

The diagnosis may sound familiar because of actor Bruce Willis, who also lives with the condition. In 2022, his family announced he was diagnosed with aphasia, which then progressed to frontotemporal dementia. His diagnosis led him to step away from his acting career.

As for Williams, her eponymous talk show ended in 2022 and she has largely been out of the public eye since. In a press release about her condition, her team said the conditions “have already presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life.”

So what is aphasia? And what causes it? Here’s what you need to know.

Aphasia is a condition that affects communication.

Aphasia is a disorder that stems from damage to parts of the brain responsible for communication,the Mayo Clinic explains.

“Aphasia is simply difficulty speaking, with using language right — there are a number of different manifestations of aphasia,” Dr. Joseph Masdeu, the director of the Nantz National Alzheimer Center at Houston Methodist Hospital, told HuffPost. “For somebody like Wendy Williams, communication was critical and that’s probably why this was diagnosed… and has been made public recently.”

It often occurs after a sudden emergency, like a stroke (when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted) or head injury. But aphasia can also come on more slowly over time. It can affect people of any age, but is most common in those middle-aged and older. Estimates say roughly 180,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with aphasia every year.

The specific communication challenges people face can vary.

With aphasia, some people may