Wendy Williams diagnosed with PPA and FTD

GothicGremlin

I know about her because when her talk show was still on the air, I'd see it when I was on the treadmill at the gym. The volume was always turned down, so I can't tell you the format of the show, only that it seemed fun and was kind of high energy.

So today I saw the news about her. Here's the article I saw. She's the same age that my sister was when she was diagnosed. Makes me sad for her and her family.

My question ... we are always told that FTD/PPA is rare, which I'm sure it is, but it seems like I'm seeing more articles in the news about it. Is that because I'm so close to it that my brain just zeroes in on it and I see it everywhere? Or that it's actually becoming more common? (and if so, why?)

Wag91

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/68259/wendy-williams-diagnosed-with-ppa-and-ftd

I was reading in the news earlier...before my husband was dx with this, I had never heard of it, because of the rarity...I agree, seems to be in the news a lot more, maybe because celebrities are becoming ill with this horrible disease 🤔

Jeanne C.

I wonder if it's being diagnosed more because of the increased awareness. Or, like you said, we're just more aware because it impacts our lives.

The Wendy Williams Show was one of my guilty pleasures. She was irreverent, audacious, and fun. I recall that she had some illness (Graves disease, maybe) as well as substance abuse issues. Toward the end of the show, she seemed to more erratic and they had guest hosts for a long time. Such a shame to see anyone deal with this. I hope she has good people supporting her.

CStrope

My daughter and I were just discussing whether there are more instances of PPA FTD or why it seems to be more prevalent. My theory is that since there are now better tests for identifying EOAD that now they can say, hmm....it's not EOAD so it must be FTD. I know Bob's dr. diagnosed him as having EOAD for quite a while before he knew it was actually FTD.

FTDCaregiver1

Not sure if its more common/prevalent now than in the relative past but rather we are becoming more aware of this form of the disease that's always been with us and recently in the news with both Bruce Willis and now Wendy W. being diagnosed. In olden days, folks were lumped into just being senile. With the advance in medicine, particularly diagnostics, there are now well over 100 different forms of dementia and subvariants like PPA first diagnosed in 1982 which makes this classification relatively new.

GothicGremlin

I know that this is how the progression goes, still it makes me sad.

Wendy Williams is 'cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated,' guardian says