Fiona Phillips reveals she has Alzheimer's at 62

Fiona Phillips has said she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's astatine the property of 62.

The writer and broadcaster discovered she had the illness a twelvemonth agone aft suffering months of encephalon fog and anxiety, she told the Mirror.

Phillips, erstwhile big of ITV meal amusement GMTV, said dementia had "decimated" her household aft her mother, begetter and uncle besides had the disease.

She added she was "getting connected with it."

The parent of two, who is simply a columnist for the Daily Mirror, told exertion Alison Phillips that she was trying to "carry on" arsenic normal, but wanted to stock her communicative to assistance others.

She said that contempt fearing she would 1 time beryllium diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it had inactive travel arsenic a daze erstwhile her doc said her trial results showed aboriginal stages of the disease.

"It's thing I mightiness person thought I'd get astatine 80", she says.

"But I was inactive lone 61 years old."

The presenter said that she felt "more aggravated than thing else" due to the fact that the illness had already had specified an interaction connected her household life.

"My mediocre mum was crippled with it, past my dad, my grandparents, my uncle. It conscionable keeps coming backmost for us," she said.

Phillips said she was undergoing trials astatine University College Hospital successful London for a cause called Miridesap, which could perchance dilatory the effects of the disease.

She besides described however her hubby Martin Frizell, the exertion of ITV's This Morning programme, has been helping her instrumentality the medication.

She said: "Poor Martin, helium has been injecting my tummy each day, helium has been brilliant.

"The drugs are marque caller and they're expecting a batch from this and truthful americium I."

In the meantime, she said, "I americium conscionable getting connected with it, I'm not taking announcement of it.

"I'm conscionable doing what I usually do. I don't privation to not work, beryllium sitting astir playing with my fingers, oregon watching telly. I conscionable similar doing things."

Ms Phillips presently writes a file for the Daily Mirror and antecedently anchored GMTV for much than a decennary from 1997.

She besides took portion successful BBC's Strictly Come Dancing successful 2005.

She has spoken publically astir her parents' battles with Alzheimer's successful the past.

Kate Lee, main enforcement astatine the Alzheimer's Society, praised Phillips' determination to stock her diagnosis, which raised "much-needed consciousness of dementia".

Hilary Evans, main enforcement of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It takes specified courageousness to spell nationalist with a diagnosis and Fiona knows amended than astir conscionable however overmuch bully that tin do.

"Awareness is captious and Fiona's bravery volition assistance untold radical who are going done their ain dementia journeys."

She added that determination were astir 70,800 radical nether 65 with dementia successful the UK.