‘It was very sad’ the actor said. Anne-Marie Duff has spoken out about her brother Eddie’s devastating diagnosis of young-onset dementia. The Bad Sisters star’s sibling, who is now 56, was diagnosed with the condition nine years ago while in his 40s. However, the actor believes her brother’s symptoms began roughly 14 years ago.
![[Sarah Greene, Eva Birthistle, Sharon Horgan, Duff, and Eve Hewson in ‘Bad Sisters’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/08/29/13/newFile-3.jpg)
Duff said she noticed Eddie began struggling with his daily routine and arriving to work late or getting the wrong bus. Eventually, he lost his job as a researcher. The actor was between performances at the National Theatre when her brother’s GP called her to tell her Eddie had experienced what appeared to be a panic attack and hadn’t known where he was.
![[Duff described the care system as a ‘mess’ and said finding her brother specialist care has been a ‘nightmare’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/30/22/ccf9d336c61715b6796e339b134d971bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM1MjEyOTY4-2.48564268.jpg)
Eddie was then referred to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen’s Square, London, where he stayed for three weeks before his diagnosis. “It was sad, because he couldn’t accept it and he couldn’t fully comprehend it. It’s quite aggressive when it’s very early onset,” Duff said.
“He just said, ‘OK, when I get to the other side of this …’ It was very sad,” she added. Dementia is described as ‘young onset’ when symptoms develop before the age of 65, according to Dementia UK – the specialist dementia nurse charity. There is no cure for the disease.
On average, people live between eight to 10 years after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. However, some live for a further 20 years or more. Young-onset dementia is often discovered late due to doctors attributing symptoms to the menopause or stress, experts at the Alzheimer’s Society have warned per The Sunday Times.
