纽约市资深新闻主播比尔·里特分享他的新经历阿尔茨海默病在...之后宣布他在接受诊断后离开了主播台。
里特尔自2001年以来一直主持美国广播公司WABC站下午6点的新闻节目早安美国他大约在两年前开始出现阿尔茨海默病症状，当时他正在主持晚间5点、6点和11点的新闻节目。
“我意识到我正在忘记人、名字和地点，”76岁的里特在“GMA”的现场采访中说“我不知道为什么会这样。我老婆也注意到了。”
里特说，他减少了工作，希望减少压力和更多的睡眠来帮助他的症状，但注意到他的健忘仍然存在。
“情况并没有好转，所以就在那一刻，就像那样，我们说，‘你知道吗，我必须接受测试，’”里特说。“这真的是一件非常重要的事情。”
阿尔茨海默病是最常见的痴呆症，即丧失记忆、解决问题和思考能力。这是一种进行性疾病，开始时有轻微的记忆丧失，最终无法治愈，根据美国疾病控制和预防中心。
在他的广播声明中，里特说，他被诊断患有早期阿尔茨海默氏症，并补充说，他的医生告诉他，他正在接受的治疗目前为止使疾病“处于海湾”。
里特说，当他被诊断出患有老年痴呆症时，由于家族病史，他的第一反应是恐惧。他已故的父亲患有路易体痴呆，这是一种可以引起运动、行为、思维和情绪并发症的痴呆，根据疾病控制中心。
“我的第一反应是我想到了我的父亲，那是立即的——他突然出现在我的脑海里，然后几秒钟后，我害怕了，”里特说。“我不介意说这很可怕。”
里特说，他的想法立即转向了他的妻子和孩子，以及他的诊断对他们的影响。
“老年痴呆症是...一种吞噬家庭的东西，而在这种情况下，家庭是最难对付的，”里特说。“我的孩子们说，‘爸爸，你对这一切都很勇敢’，而我不是那个勇敢的人。勇敢的是我的孩子和妻子。这才是这里的真实情况。”
自从在6月12日晚上11点的广播中宣布他的诊断后，里特说他被爱和支持淹没了。他说，他决定在直播中分享他的诊断结果，以“诚实”面对观众，并提高对阿尔茨海默病的认识。
在美国，阿尔茨海默病是成年人死亡的第七大原因，数百万人患有这种疾病，根据疾病控制中心。
患阿尔茨海默病病的风险随着年龄的增长而增加，这种疾病通常会影响60岁以上的人。
“我认为我们有机会...直到这个周末，我才意识到有这么多的机会，”里特说。“我们被信息淹没了，人们说，‘帮帮我们’，真的。”
里特说，展望未来，他计划继续为WABC工作，担任一个新的角色，专注于团结人民。
他说:“我要去我的办公桌前，开始我新工作的第一天，那将是把人们带到帐篷里，因为我认为那是我们想要的。”
WABC-TV anchor Bill Ritter shares new details of Alzheimer's diagnosis, future at work
Veteran New York City news anchorBill Ritteris sharing new details about his experience withAlzheimer's diseaseafterannouncingon-air that he was stepping away from the anchor desk following his diagnosis.
Ritter, who has anchored the 6 p.m. newscast for ABC New York station WABC since 2001, said Monday on "Good Morning America" that he first began experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease around two years ago, when he was anchoring the nightly 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.
"I realized I was I was forgetting people, names, and places," Ritter, 76, said in a live interview on "GMA." "I didn't know why that was happening. My wife also noticed it."
Ritter said he scaled back on work, in hopes of less stress and more sleep helping his symptoms, but noticed his forgetfulness was still present.
"It wasn't getting better, and so it was at that moment, just like that, we said, 'You know what, I've got to get tested,'" Ritter said. "And that was really an important thing."
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, the loss of memory, problem-solving and thinking abilities. It is a progressive disease that begins with mild memory loss and ultimately has no cure,according tothe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In his on-air announcement, Ritter said he was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's, adding that his doctors have told him treatments he is receiving are keeping the disease "at bay" so far.
Ritter said when he received his Alzheimer's diagnosis, his first reaction was fear due to his family history. His late father had Lewy body dementia, a type of dementia that can cause complications with movement, behavior, thinking and mood,according tothe CDC.
"My first reaction was I thought about my dad, that was immediate -- he just popped into my head, and then a couple of seconds later, I was scared," Ritter said. "I don't mind saying that it was scary."
Ritter said his thoughts then immediately turned to his wife and his children and the impact his diagnosis would have on them.
"Alzheimer's is ... a thing that gobbles up families, and they're the real tough ones in this," Ritter said. "My kids say, 'Dad, you're so brave about all this,' and I'm not the one that's brave. It's my kids and my wife who are the brave ones. That's the real case here."
Since announcing his diagnosis on-air during the 11 p.m. broadcast on June 12, Ritter said he has been overwhelmed by love and support. He said he decided to share his diagnosis live on-air to "be honest" with viewers and to raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease.
In the U.S., Alzheimer's disease is the seventh leading cause of death among adults, and millions of people live with the disease,according tothe CDC.
The risk of getting Alzheimer's disease increases with age, with the disease typically affecting people over the age of 60.
"I think we have an opportunity ... I wasn't aware of the opportunity so much until this weekend happened," Ritter said. "And we were just inundated with information and people saying, 'Help us,' really."
Ritter said moving forward, he plans to continue working for WABC in a new role focused on bringing people together.
"I'm going to go to my desk and have day one of my first day of the job, the new job, and that will be to bring people into the tent, because I think that's what we want," he said.
