American media personality, Wendy Williams diagnosed with aphasia, dementia

Popular American media personality and talk show legend, Wendy Williams Hunter was diagnosed last year with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Her team made this known to the public adding that the information was “to correct inaccurate and hurtful rumours about her health”.

Williams is popular for hosting the nationally syndicated Wendy Williams Show for over a decade, which ended in 2022 amid the health struggles she has been facing.

According to BBC, the 59-year-old received news of her diagnosis a day after a People Magazine cover story.

“As Wendy’s fans are aware, in the past she has been open with the public about her medical struggles with Graves’ Disease and Lymphedema as well as other significant challenges related to her health,” her care team wrote in a statement on Thursday.

“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.”

Aphasia is a nervous system syndrome that affects the ability to communicate, with patients often struggling to express thoughts and even losing their ability to speak or write.

FTD is an incurable brain disorder caused by damage to the left side of the brain that affects language and communication abilities.