Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia as well as the language disorder aphasia, her healthcare team announced in a press release Thursday morning.
Her team confirmed that “after undergoing a battery of medical tests,” Williams was diagnosed with both conditions in 2023, and that they have “already presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life.”
Frontotemporal dementia is the same condition that actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with last year; the progressive disorder impacts behavior and cognitive functions. Aphasia is a condition that affects language and communication abilities, and involves the gradual loss of the ability to speak, read, write, and understand what others are saying.
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According to the press release, Williams’ team has decided to share her diagnoses with the public “to correct inaccurate and hurtful rumors about her health.”
“Over the past few years, questions have been raised at times about Wendy’s ability to process information and many have speculated about Wendy’s condition, particularly when she began to lose words, act erratically at times, and have difficulty understanding financial transactions,” the press release reads.
The release ends with an optimistic note about the former talk show host’s current condition: “Despite the diagnoses, Wendy is still able to do many things for herself. Most importantly she maintains her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed. She is appreciative of the many kind thoughts and good wishes being sent her way.”
Williams’ latest health news comes just days before the premiere of the Lifetime documentary Where Is Wendy Williams?, which follows the host’s attempt to launch a comeback with a podcast, but ultimately ended up capturing her struggles with alcohol addiction and health issues including Graves’ disease and lymphedema.
Ahead of the doc’s release, Williams’ family spoke to People about her current condition, revealing that she has been in a facility to treat “cognitive issues” since April 2023. They also said that because of Williams’ legal guardianship, her family members have not been able to call or visit her.
“The people who love her cannot see her,” Williams’ sister Wanda told People. “I think the big [question] is: How the hell did we get here?”
According to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD), up to 60,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with FTD. Susan Dickinson, the CEO of AFTD, told The Daily Beast on Thursday that the condition affects both the frontal lobe of the brain—which controls personality, empathy, and our ability to connect with other people—and the temporal lobe, which predominantly controls language and a person’s ability to communicate.
The length of progression in people with FTD varies from two to over 20 years, and the average life expectancy is seven to 13 years after the start of symptoms.
“It’s a degenerative condition. There are currently no disease-modifying treatments. There are some symptomatic treatments, but we have no way right now to slow or stop or prevent the disease,” Dickinson said. Still, she stressed that it’s an “incredibly hopeful time” because of the research being done. “We have eight drugs in clinical trials right now. So we have more promising therapeutic candidates than we’ve ever had before.”
As Williams’ press release indicated, there are often stigmas associated with FTD, which Dickinson says usually stem from misunderstandings and even misdiagnoses of the disease.
“It can take on average up to four years to get a diagnosis of FTD, and most people accrue misdiagnoses along the way,” she explained. “If you think of the symptoms, a lot of people are misdiagnosed with depression, with bipolar disease. Some with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. And along the way, there are things that really damage relationships. If I no longer have empathy toward other members of my family, or if I start making mistakes at work and lose my job, or if I spend the kids’ college fund and buy a Jaguar—and these are all things that absolutely happen when you lose your frontal capabilities—that’s going to damage relationships. So the longer it takes for people to realize this is a medical condition, it’s not just a midlife crisis, it’s not just my spouse being a jerk, or whatever people might infer, the more damage is done to the community of people around a person.”
“Sadly, given those symptoms I described, all the stigma that society attaches to any kind of psychiatric diagnosis, can also be at play with people with FTD,” she added.
The key, Dickinson stressed, is to get an early and accurate diagnosis.
“As difficult as this diagnosis is to deal with, being able to have a label and a reason and a validation is huge,” Dickinson said. “And it does give you a pathway to finding a compassionate and supportive community, to finding accurate information, and being able to take some control. There are ways to manage these symptoms, and there are opportunities to contribute to research and make sure that the future is brighter than the one we can provide today.”
