Heston Has Alzheimer's-Like Disease

Aug. 9, 2002 -- NRA President Charlton Heston, the star of film classics Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments, announced today that he suffers from neurological symptoms "consistent with" Alzheimer's disease, but that he was "neither giving up nor giving in."

"I believe I am still the fighter that Dr. [Martin Luther] King and JFK and Ronald Reagan knew, but it's a fight that I must someday call a draw," Heston, 77, said of his diagnosis in a taped announcement.

An estimated 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's, a degenerative brain disease for which there is no cure.

Heston's announcement was addressed to his friends, colleagues and fans.

"I've lived my whole life on the stage and screen before you," he said, adding, with an allusion to his role as Moses in The Ten Commandments, "I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you, which is why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life."

Most recently known for his role as president of the National Rifle Association, Heston did not indicate that he would be stepping down from that position. "For now I am not changing anything. I'll insist on work when I can. The doctors will insist on rest when I must."

Nancy Reagan, wife of former President Ronald Reagan, who has been battling the disease, reacted to the news in a statement. "I'm extremely sad he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. However, I applaud his going public with the information."

A Diagnosis of Exclusion

"If you see a little less spring in my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you'll know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway," said Heston of the memory loss that is characteristic of Alzheimer's.

"Most people develop memory and thinking problems that are initially thought to be normal," says Dr. Steven DeKosky director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh. "Those diagnosed with Alzheimer's have severe memory problems, spatial and language problems. We live in a verbal society, so it's much more easy to detect verbal abnormalities than nonverbal."