Jürgen Drews
The pop star suffers from this nervous disease
Jürgen Drews had himself tested for dementia.
© imago / Future Image
Age is also noticeable in Jürgen Drews. A dementia test was negative, but he suffers from a nervous disease.
The pop star Jürgen Drews (76) also has to struggle with the pitfalls of getting older. In an interview with the “Bild” newspaper, the singer now revealedthat he was mainly concerned with his memory and that he suffered from a nervous disease. His forgetfulness has increased in recent years: “Of course it increases with age. Anything that doesn’t interest me is gone straight away. I once said among colleagues: ‘I think I’ll get dementia.'”
Sometimes terms, names and places would no longer occur to him, then he would need a keyword and only then would the memory be back. When his driver takes him to a performance location, for example, he often doesn’t even know where he is. This is also no longer important to him. Nevertheless, he went to treatment to detect a possible brain disease at an early stage.
Suspicion of beginning dementia has not been confirmed
“I took a dementia test at the neurologist. I wanted to know if I was prone to the disease because my mother had signs of dementia at the end of her life,” says Drews openly. Fortunately, the suspicion was not confirmed with him. However, the doctor diagnosed him with a nervous disorder. He suffered from a so-called “peripheral polyneuropathy”: “The nerves no longer do what they should.”
That is why he does without his “Drews pirouette” on stage, for example, which had become very shaky due to the illness: “The Jürgen Drews of the past will no longer exist!” How long he’ll be giving concerts at all, Drews can’t say exactly: “I used to have to go on stage to prove myself. I wanted to cure my fears that way.” But today he no longer needs it. “If I stop, I’ll just be gone,” says Drews.