TV presenter diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease details ‘silly’ test she did that revealed sinister symptoms
A beloved British TV presenter has revealed the ‘humiliating and silly’ tests she was subjected to before learning about her early-onset Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis.
It’s believed a staggering 55 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, according to BrightFocus Foundation.
With a person developing the neurodegenerative disorder roughly every three seconds, it’s never been more crucial for you to understand the early symptoms and get tested if you have any kind of inkling.
The Alzheimer’s Association detailed that anyone under the age of 65 experiencing memory loss, confusion or mood changes, as well as difficulty completing familiar tasks, should get checked out by a health professional ASAP.
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British journalist Fiona Phillips, 64, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2022, going public with her life-changing news in 2023 in the hopes of raising awareness.
Initially, Phillips believed she was just going through menopause, attributing mood swings and ‘a sense of anxiety that [she] could rarely shake off’ to the reduction and loss of ‘ovarian reproductive function’.
“Around this time lots of women in the public eye, such as Davina McCall and Gabby Logan, were discussing the menopause in a way it had never previously been talked about,” she wrote in her new memoir, Remember When: My Life With Alzheimer’s.
“It felt like the pieces were falling into place - why hadn't anyone told me before how debilitating the menopause could be?”
However, when hormone replacement therapy proved ineffective, the ex-ITV anchor learned she wasn’t experiencing menopause at all.
After a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan and a lumbar puncture, Phillips learned she was actually suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
In the book, the mother-of-two has also recounted the ‘humiliating tests’ she was subjected to by her consultant, Professor Jonathan Rohrer, ahead of her diagnosis.
“He started with questions like, 'Can you tell me what 86 minus 7 is?', and then it would be 79 minus 7, then 72 minus 7 - all the way down,” she wrote in an extract, published by the Mail on Sunday.
According to the TV icon, Professor Rohrer then ‘pointed to the clock and asked [her] the time’.
This apparently felt ‘a bit humiliating and silly’ for Philips. However, she remarked that telling the time also felt ‘quite difficult’.
“Finally they produced a large piece of paper and pens and I had to draw two rectangles,” she continued.
“Then I had to repeat the process, but this time the rectangles had to intersect.”
Phillips was later told that people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease ‘really struggle’ to make rectangles intersect, remarking: “I felt quite chuffed I'd managed it. Surely if my rectangles were OK, my brain must be OK too?”
Phillips, who was 61 at the time, admitted she and her husband Martin Frizell were ‘shell-shocked’ by the news that she had early-onset Alzheimer’s.
However, they vowed to ‘continue to live life "as normally as possible"’.
In another extract from Remember When, Frizell, 66, wrote that he wished his wife of almost three decades had been diagnosed with cancer instead of the progressive brain disorder.
“It’s a shocking thing to say, but at least then she might have had a chance of a cure, and certainly would have had a treatment pathway and an array of support and care packages,” he said.
“But that’s not there for Alzheimer’s. Just like there are no funny or inspiring TikTok videos or fashion shoots with smiling, healthy, in-remission survivors.”
Remember When: My life with Alzheimer’s by Fiona Phillips is set for publication on July 17 in the UK.
If you've been affected by dementia or Alzheimer's and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact the Alzheimer's Association via 800.272.3900 open 24 hours seven days a week.
Topics: Health, Celebrity, Mental Health, Dementia, Books
Ella Scott