Wendy William’s care team announced Thursday that the talk show host was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, adding to the list of celebrities who suffer from the aphasia.
The announcement drew comparisons to Bruce Willis who also suffers from both aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.
Other celebrities have announced their diagnoses including actresses Emilia Clarke and Sharon Stone. About 2 million people in the United States suffer from aphasia, according to the National Aphasia Association.
“My full name is Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke. But now I couldn’t remember it,” Clarke told the New Yorker about the process of her diagnosis. “Instead, nonsense words tumbled out of my mouth and I went into a blind panic. I’d never experienced fear like that—a sense of doom closing in. I could see my life ahead, and it wasn’t worth living. I am an actor; I need to remember my lines. Now I couldn’t recall my name.”
The disease affects a person’s ability to speak and understand speech, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Here are some of the celebrities who have been diagnosed with aphasia.
Aphasia is a disease that effects speech and language comprehension caused by head trauma or a brain tumor, according to the Mayo Clinic.
According to the Clinic, symptoms of the disease can include:
Ability to understand different parts of language affected in different ways for people with the disease.
The Mayo Clinic recommends seeking immediate medical attention if a person shows signs of the disease.
