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Was Wendy Williams’ dementia caused by alcoholism? Experts share insights

Published

2 years ago

February 24, 2024

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Was Wendy Williams’ dementia caused by alcoholism? Experts share insights

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Former TV talk show host Wendy Williams, 59, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and aphasia, which impairs the ability to communicate, in 2023, a representative confirmed on Thursday.

Given Williams’ reported history of alcoholism, experts are speaking out about the potential link between her alcohol abuse and current cognitive issues.

Thursday’s announcement of Williams’ diagnosis came ahead of a new Lifetime documentary — titled “Where Is Wendy Williams?” — that will premiere on Saturday, as her representative aims to “correct inaccurate and hurtful rumors about her health.”

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Williams entered a facility in April 2023 to allegedly treat “cognitive issues” reportedly due to alcohol abuse, as her family communicates with her through a court-appointed legal guardian.

“In 2023, after undergoing a battery of medical tests, Wendy was officially diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD),” Williams’ care team stated in a press release.

Wendy Williams attends a private dinner at Fresco By Scotto on Feb. 21, 2023, in New York City. The former TV talk show host has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and aphasia. (Getty Images)

“Aphasia, a condition affecting language and communication abilities, and frontotemporal dementia, a progressive disorder impacting behavior and cognitive functions, have already presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Williams’ team requesting additional comment.

Link between alcohol and brain health

Dr. Suzette Glasner, PhD, a psychologist in Los Angeles, California, has not treated or examined Williams but said heavy drinking and alcoholism can cause damage to both white and gray matter in the brain, and over time can lead to deteriorating cognitive functioning, including dementia.

“These neurocognitive impacts are a result of a combination of alcohol’s direct neurotoxic effects, depletion of nutrients in the body, impacts on liver functioning and disruption of communication between nerve cells in the brain,” Glasner told Fox News Digital.

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When heavy and chronic alcohol use leads to brain damage, an individual can experience problems with their attention, memory and reasoning, the expert said.

“In many cases, individuals who misuse or are addicted to alcohol and drugs struggle with overlapping chronic medical and psychiatric conditions, and this can make it very challenging to determine the etiology or cause of neurocognitive symptoms such as those observed in Wendy Williams,” Glasner said.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms including cognitive impairment are common in Grave’s Disease, an autoimmune disorder Williams has spoken about battling over the years.

“Those symptoms often improve with treatment; however, like other chronic diseases, alcohol or drug use can complicate or interfere with treatment response, making improvements less likely,” noted Glasner.

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Elizabeth Landsverk, M.D., a geriatric and dementia expert in San Francisco, also has not treated Williams but said that substance misuse has been previously linked to cognitive decline. She also noted that the extent of its impact isn’t clear.

“Not enough research has been conducted on the matter to give us precise data,” she told Fox News Digital.

“What has been noted is that alcohol abuse — as well as taking a number of other medications — does increase the risk of developing dementia.”

What amount of alcohol is dangerous?

Brain damage and neurocognitive impacts can occur with heavy drinking in individuals with moderate or severe alcohol use disorders, Grasner said — “so there is a wide variation between individuals in the quantity of alcohol that leads to these neurotoxic effects.”

“The specific reasons that some individuals develop alcohol-related dementia whereas others do not are not well understood, so we don’t currently have guidelines specifying that if you drink a certain amount, you are likely to experience cognitive impairments,” she added.

Brain damage and neurocognitive impacts can occur with heavy drinking in individuals with moderate or severe alcohol use disorders, an expert said. (iStock)

Women are generally more vulnerable to the damaging effects of alcohol on the brain and body, Glasner noted, which means the onset can occur at a younger age than it would in men.

“Expert evaluation of the contribution of substance use and other underlying medical conditions such as Grave’s Disease to cognitive symptoms would be very important for Williams to ensure that she receives the right treatments at the right time,” Glasner recommended.

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“Often involving a family very closely to evaluate the symptoms and the timing of their emergence relative to alcohol or other substance use can be helpful as part of determining an accurate diagnosis and plan of care,” she added.

Abstinence from alcohol is a crucial part of treatment for alcohol-related neurological deficits, noted Glasner.

“In many cases, individuals who misuse or are addicted to alcohol and drugs struggle with overlapping chronic medical and psychiatric conditions.”

If the condition is caught in time, abstaining from alcohol can at least partially, if not fully, reverse the symptoms, according to the expert.

Living with FTD and aphasia

While symptoms of FTD can vary depending on what part of the brain is affected, most people with the condition experience some common symptoms, as listed on the Johns Hopkins Medicine website.

Behavior or personality changes are often the most obvious indicators. These may include public outbursts or socially inappropriate actions.

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People with FTD also tend to have impaired judgment, a lack of empathy and lower self-awareness, Johns Hopkins states.

This type of dementia is also marked by a reduced ability to understand or formulate language.

Heavy drinking and alcoholism can cause damage to both white and gray matter in the brain, and over time can lead to deteriorating cognitive functioning, a psychiatrist said. (iStock)

People may struggle to remember the names of objects, string words into sentences or even recall the meanings of words they used to know.

The condition can also lead to agitation, irritability and drastic mood swings.

There is no treatment for FTD other than managing symptoms and educating family members and caregivers, according to Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute in New Jersey.

Some aphasia symptoms can be managed with speech therapy.

“The specific reasons why some individuals develop alcohol-related dementia whereas others do not are not well understood.”

“Treatment focuses a great deal on family education,” said Reena Gottesman, M.D., a behavioral neurologist at the Center for Brain Loss and Memory Health at Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute, in a press release.

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Approximately 50,000-60,000 people may have FTD, per data from the Alzheimer’s Association, a nonprofit group based in Chicago.

Recently, actor Bruce Willis’ FTD diagnosis brought new attention to the rare condition.

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Health

Matt Damon’s Gluten-Free Diet Helped Him Lose 18 Pounds

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8 hours ago

January 8, 2026

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Matt Damon’s Gluten-Free Diet Helped Him Lose 18 Pounds

Matt Damon’s Weight Loss: Actor Drops 18 Lbs with This Diet | Woman’s World

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Health

Deadly cancer risk could drop with single 10-minute workout, study suggests

Published

9 hours ago

January 8, 2026

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Deadly cancer risk could drop with single 10-minute workout, study suggests

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A single 10-minute workout may trigger blood changes that help fight colon cancer.

That’s according to new research from scientists at Newcastle University, who found that exercise quickly changes the blood in ways that affect colon cancer cells in the lab.

In the study, the U.K. researchers exposed colon cancer cells to human blood serum collected immediately after exercise, finding that the cells repaired DNA damage faster and showed gene activity patterns linked to slower growth.

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The blood samples came from 30 adults who had just completed a short, high-intensity cycling workout that lasted about 10 to 12 minutes, according to a press release.

Even a 10-minute burst of intense exercise may send protective signals through the blood that affect colon cancer cells, researchers say. (iStock)

Samuel T. Orange, an associate professor at Newcastle University and one of the study’s authors, spoke with Fox News Digital about the findings.

“Our findings show that exercise rapidly triggers molecular changes in the bloodstream that can act directly on colon cancer cells, reshaping gene activity and supporting DNA damage repair,” he said.

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The results suggest that even brief activity can make a difference. “Every movement matters. Exercise doesn’t need to last hours or happen in a gym,” Orange added.

The research suggests that exercise quickly triggers changes in the blood that affect colon cancer cells and helps support DNA repair. (iStock)

One of the most surprising findings, according to the researcher, was how strong the biological response was after even a single workout.

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“Exercise altered the activity of more than 1,000 genes in colon cancer cells,” he shared.

Even brief bouts of activity can make a difference, the researcher said. (iStock)

The study findings suggest that the effect is driven by exercise-triggered molecules released into the bloodstream, sometimes referred to as “exerkines,” which act like chemical messengers and send signals throughout the body.

“Each time you exercise, you trigger biological signals that support health and resilience to diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease,” Orange said.

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The researchers cautioned that the study was conducted using cancer cells grown in the laboratory, not in patients.

The findings are based on experiments using colon cancer cells grown in the lab, not studies conducted in people, the researchers noted. (iStock)

The study involved 30 healthy male and female volunteers between the ages of 50 and 78. Their blood samples were used to carry exercise-triggered signals to cancer cells grown in the lab.

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“These findings now need to be replicated in people with cancer,” Orange said. “We also need to better understand the longer-term effects of repeated exercise signals over time.”

Despite the limitations, the researcher said the findings strengthen the case for exercise as an important part of colon cancer prevention.

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“Each time you move your body and get a little breathless, you’re contributing to better health and may help influence biological processes linked to bowel cancer,” he added.

Kelly McGreal is a production assistant with the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.

Health

Brain Health Challenge: Try a Brain Teaser

Published

20 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Brain Health Challenge: Try a Brain Teaser

Welcome back! For Day 4 of the challenge, let’s do a short and fun activity based around a concept called cognitive reserve.

Decades of research show that people who have more years of education, more cognitively demanding jobs or more mentally stimulating hobbies all tend to have a reduced risk of cognitive impairment as they get older.

Experts think this is partly thanks to cognitive reserve: Basically, the more brain power you’ve built up over the years, the more you can stand to lose before you experience impairment. Researchers still don’t agree on how to measure cognitive reserve, but one theory is that better connections between different brain regions corresponds with more cognitive reserve.

To build up these connections, you need to stimulate your brain, said Dr. Joel Salinas, a neurologist at NYU Langone Health and the founder and chief medical officer of the telehealth platform Isaac Health. To do that, try an activity that is “challenging enough that it requires some effort but not so challenging that you don’t want to do it anymore,” he said.

Speaking a second language has been shown to be good for cognition, as has playing a musical instrument, visiting a museum and doing handicrafts like knitting or quilting. Reading is considered a mentally stimulating hobby, and experts say you’ll get an even bigger benefit if you join a book club to make it social. Listen to a podcast to learn something new, or, better yet, attend a lecture in person at a local college or community center, said Dr. Zaldy Tan, the director of the Memory and Healthy Aging Program at Cedars-Sinai. That adds a social component, plus the extra challenge of having to navigate your way there, he said.

A few studies have found that playing board games like chess can be good for your brain; the same goes for doing crossword puzzles. It’s possible that other types of puzzles, like those you find in brain teaser books or from New York Times Games, can also offer a cognitive benefit.

But there’s a catch: To get the best brain workout, the activity should not only be challenging but also new. If you do “Wordle every day, it’s like well, then you’re very, very good at Wordle, and the Wordle part of your brain has grown to be fantastic,” said Dr. Linda Selwa, a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School. “But the rest of your mind might still need work.”

So play a game you’re not used to playing, Dr. Selwa said. “The novelty seems to be what’s driving brain remodeling and growth.”

Today, we want you to push yourself out of your cognitive comfort zone. Check out an online lecture or visit a museum with your challenge partner. Or try your hand at a new game, below. Share what novel thing you did today in the comments, and I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 5.