Fiona Phillips feared she’d get Alzheimer’s years before her diagnosis after losing her parents to the disease.
The TV star, 62, was diagnosed with the disease 18 months ago. She has now publicly shared her diagnosis and revealed she’s taking part in a trial for a revolutionary new drug.
Scientists hope the drug can slow down or even reverse the illness for many of those living with it.
Over 10 years ago, Fiona made a sad confession about fearing she’d get the disease.
Fiona Phillips on Alzheimer’s
The former GMTV star lost both her parents to Alzheimer’s. Speaking to the Mirror in 2012, Fiona said: “I have that feeling now all the time that I am bound to get it. I worry. I keep thinking that I might only have five years left.
“When people say they might be around until their 80s, I just don’t think that. I suppose I feel like someone with a terminal disease who realises they don’t have long left. That’s awful because I don’t want to live like that.
“But it is making me think I’d better make the most of life so that’s positive, I suppose. I feel I’ve got to do everything now in case my mind goes. Martin [Frizell] will say to me, ‘Will you just sit down’. But I can’t, I’ve got to be on the go all the time. Even dusting.”
What has Fiona said about her diagnosis?
In a new interview with the Mirror this week, Fiona has shared that she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year. She said: “This disease has ravaged my family and now it has come for me. And all over the country there are people of all different ages whose lives are being affected by it – it’s heartbreaking. I just hope I can help find a cure which might make things better for others in the future.
I have that feeling now all the time that I am bound to get it. I worry.
“It’s something I might have thought I’d get at 80. But I was still only 61 years old. I felt more angry than anything else because this disease has already impacted my life in so many ways; my poor mum was crippled with it, then my dad, my grandparents, my uncle. It just keeps coming back for us.”
Fiona is now trying out a revolutionary new drug. Her husband, This Morning editor Martin Frizell, said of the trial: “It’s been weeks now and I like to think her condition is stabilising but I am too close to know really, that could just be my wishful thinking.”
Read more: Heartbreaking reason Fiona Phillips hid Alzheimer’s diagnosis from sons for months
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