Ted Turner reveals he's battling Lewy body dementia in exclusive interview.

[Cattledog]

CNN founder Ted Turner says he is battling Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder which affects memory and other cognitive functions. He opened up about his health struggle in an interview with Ted Koppel set to air on "CBS Sunday Morning" on September 30.

"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 Koppel at his 113,000-acre ranch near Bozeman, Montana. "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."

After a pause, Turner said, "Dementia. I can't remember what my disease is."

Asked what his symptoms are, Turner replied, "Tired. Exhausted. That's the main symptoms, and, forgetfulness."



Turner was known for going through euphoric highs and dark lows, which were initially diagnosed as symptoms of manic depression. But Turner said that was a misdiagnosis.

The creator of CNN and the Turner Broadcasting System also said he doesn't watch the news much anymore, though he still watches CNN occasionally.

"I think they're stickin' with politics a little too much," he said. "They'd do better to have – a more balanced agenda. But that's, you know, just one person's opinion."

Turner also revealed that he once thought about running for president.

"Well, the closest I came to running for office was when I was married to Jane Fonda. And when I discussed it with her – she was married to one politician," Turner tells Koppel. "And she said, you know, 'If you run for, for office, you run alone.'"

Koppel's full interview with Ted Turner will air September 30 on CBS Sunday Morning at 9:00 a.m. ET.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-turner-reveals-hes-battling-lewy-body-dementia-in-exclusive-interview/

[hlthe2b]

1. Like Robyn Williams. so very very sad to hear.

Be well, Ted.

[VMA131Marine]

2. Lewy body dementia is what Robin Williams had

My father-in-law passed away from it a couple of years back. He hid the symptoms for a long time, but eventually he had to be institutionalized as my mother-in-law could not take care of him.

[LisaM]

3. I know someone who just recently died from that.

His wife said the worst part was the delusions. She kept it under wraps for a while, but apparently he was in a rage and having delusions about things that weren't there for months.

His ultimate cause of death was pneumonia, but he couldn't fight it, and went fast. It was sad - he and his wife had been high school sweethearts, married for more than 50 years, very much still in love - and the way she hid it from everyone for a while was nothing short of heroic. I don't think that she was relieved that he died, but her life had been very difficult trying to take care of him.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Sorry to here this,

Mother in Law suffered from the same. And the personality changes over time, are heart breaking. Watched her go from a very Passive person to a angry violent person all in a five year time span.

[Lady_Chat]

5. So sad to hear this.

[kwassa]

6. my mother in law has this.

Dementia is a bit like autism in that it covers a spectrum of symptoms.

My MIL suffers occasional delusions, much memory loss from all periods of her life, and has almost no sense of balance. Lewy bodies is often conflated with Parkinsonian dementia, which has similar symptoms, only the onset with the physical symptoms with Parkinsonian.

The main difference is that she has gone from a non-stop talker to near mute. She appears to have aged greatly within a year. She lost about 100 pounds of weight the year prior to us taking her in due to the disappearance of her appetite. (She needed to lose this weight). She still has no appetite ever, but dutifully eats everything on her plate. She is 79 and looks 20 years older. The saving grace is that she has become quite passive, rather than the difficult person she has been at times.