Bruce Willis' wife Emma makes important clarification about actor's memory: 'Does he remember you?'

Emma Heming Willis is clearing up common misunderstandings about her husband Bruce Willis' health scare.

​As the retired actor was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in February 2023, one year after his aphasia diagnosis, his wife of 17 years addressed the common question she was getting asked, if Bruce recognizes her and their daughters.

​The mom of two explained that dementia disease has "three different variants" and in Bruce's case he does not suffer memory loss.

​Emma said on the Bossticks podcast, during its 15 June episode, "The one that Bruce has affects language. But there's another variant that will affect behavior and another one that could affect movement."

The 47-year-old stressed that Bruce's condition does not affect his memory, as Emma shared Bruce does remember her, their children, his daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah from his previous marriage to actress Demi Moore.

​"That's a different part of the brain. So when people say, 'Oh, does he remember who you are?' Well, he does because he doesn't have Alzheimer's, he has FTD," Emma clarified.

​She added, "I think that's a very common misconception that, when you think of dementia, we think of memory loss."

As for how difficult it is for a person who takes care of a dementia patient, Emma shared, "It's grieving someone who is alive and that is what many people who are caregivers to someone with dementia experience, because your person is there physically but maybe not mentally or emotionally."

Emma added that dementia "take(s) and they take and they take, sometimes very slowly," which means families often face repeated feelings of loss.