Ted Turner, billionaire founder of CNN, battling brain disease

[SirLinksALot]

SOURCE:

URL: https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/ted-turner-billionaire-founder-of-cnn-battling-brain-disease

By Stephen Sorace


Ted Turner, the media mogul and cable news trailblazer, revealed in an interview set to air this weekend that he’s coping with a brain disease known as Lewy body dementia.

Turner, 79, opened up to “CBS Sunday Morning” at his 113,000-acre ranch near Bozeman, Mont., saying while his disease isn’t fatal like Alzheimer’s, it leaves him tired, exhausted and, most of all, forgetful.

“It’s a mild case of what people have as Alzheimer’s. It’s similar to that. But not nearly as bad. Alzheimer’s is fatal,” Turner told CBS. “Thank goodness I don’t have that. But, I also have got, let’s – the one that’s – I can’t remember the name of it.”

Turner continues after a pause: “Dementia. I can’t remember what my disease is.”

Lewy body dementia is a type of progressive dementia that leads to a decline in thinking, reasoning and independent function, due to abnormal microscopic deposits that cause brain cell damage over time, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Mayo Clinic says that symptoms can include visual hallucinations, changes in alertness and attention, and Parkinson's disease-like symptoms such as rigid muscles, slow movement and tremors. Risk factors include being over 60, male, and having a family member with the disease, according to the clinic.

The late comic Robin Williams suffered from the disease.

(Excerpt) Read more at above link ...

[Frank Cannon]

Hope it's painful.

[Bigun]

That's been obvious for as long as I can remember!  Why else would he hook up with Hanoi Jane?

[dfwgator]

How could you tell?

[mountaineer]

My father had Lewy body dementia. Yes, it is fatal. He died at age 69.

[Sanguine]

That headline wrote itself.

[Applewood]

I'm not going to hate on Ted now.  Brother of a friend of mine has had LBD for several years now. He was once a scientist -- now he just sits in a chair and shakes.  Sad.

[kalee]

My father had Lewy body dementia. Yes, it is fatal. He died at age 69.

My father-in-law died of it last year. It is not a mild case of Alzheimer's and  if Turner's doctor said it is, he needs a new doctor.

[mountaineer]

My father-in-law died of it last year. It is not a mild case of Alzheimer's and  if Turner's doctor said it is, he needs a new doctor.

Exactly.  My father's decline was rapid and heartbreaking. He lost the ability to speak,  walk, swallow and even cough,  which is why he technically died of pneumonia.

[Free Vulcan]

Okey dokey!

How 'bout them Red Sox!?!

[Machiavelli]

Hope it's painful.

I don't. I dislike the man intensely. However, my darling wife died of brain cancer. I hope he has a peaceful ending.

[jmyrlefuller]

A couple possibilities:

1. The disease is progressing slowly enough that his doctors think he'll likely die of something else before the dementia catches up with him.
2. Turner is purposely understating the severity of his diagnosis. (Lou Gehrig, for example, gave himself a fairly rosy prognosis after being diagnosed with ALS--within a few years, he might need a cane--and died two years later).

When it comes to eccentric billionaires like Turner, though, were they ever really sane? I have to give him credit for building an empire like the one he did.

[WarmPotato]

Reminds me of that South Park episode where they cured AIDS by throwing money at it.

[Right_in_Virginia]

This is a dreadful way to die.