Nobel literature laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, arguably best known for his One Hundred Years of Solitude, is suffering from senile dementia, his brother says.

The 85-year-old author's brother Jaime told El Universal in Mexico, where Garcia Marquez lives, that he speaks to the 1982 Nobel winner nearly every day from their native Colombia, hoping to help keep some of his memories alive.

"What he has are some memory issues; in our family, we all end up with senile dementia. I am starting to get some of the onset complications and he already is in the throes of it," said Jaime Garcia Marquez.

The author has had some symptoms of the condition since 1999, when he was treated for lymphatic cancer, which nearly killed him.

AFP