NYPD Blue and Deadwood creator David Milch reveals he has Alzheimer’s disease

NYPD Blue and Deadwood creator David Milch reveals he has Alzheimer’s disease

  • The 74-year-old said his symptoms began in his late 60s
  • He started struggling to focus, forgetting things, suffering from writers block, and lashing out at the smallest things
  • But it took four years for doctors to perform a scan, in 2018, that essentially confirmed he has Alzheimer’s disease 

The creator of NYPD Blue and the award-winning series Deadwood has Alzheimer’s. 

David Milch, a revered writer and producer, told Vulture in an interview published on Tuesday that he was diagnosed with the brain disease a year ago.

The 74-year-old said his symptoms began in his late 60s, when he started struggling to focus, forgetting things, suffering from writers block, and lashing out at the smallest things. 

But it took four years for doctors to perform a scan, in 2018, that essentially confirmed he has Alzheimer’s disease. 

‘As best I understand it, which is minimally, I have a deterioration in the organization of my brain,’ Milch told Vulture. 

‘And it’s progressive. And in some ways discouraging. In than some ways — in every way I can think of.’ 

David Milch, 74, said he got increasingly irritable, which led to his diagnosis last year

Milch created the hit series Deadwood (pictured), which has been turned into a movie

Milch created the hit series Deadwood (pictured), which has been turned into a movie

He got his break by creating the long-running TV show NYPD Blue (pictured)

He got his break by creating the long-running TV show NYPD Blue (pictured)

The disease is an incurable degenerative condition, which kills cells in the brain.

It can last for 15 to 20 years, but by the most advanced stages it usually last around two years.

Milch says, now that he’s experiencing the symptoms, he is certain his father had Alzheimer’s, though he never got a diagnosis. 

‘That was a while ago, and the diagnosis was not as sophisticated or specific, but in retrospect, he exhibited all the symptoms of the illness,’ Milch said. 

He has kept working despite his diagnosis, with the Deadwood movie set to hit cinemas next month. 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk