TV presenter diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease reveals the first symptoms she noticed
A British TV presenter has detailed the first symptoms she noticed before being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's.
Early-onset Alzheimer's is the name given to to anyone who is diagnosed with the devastating disease before the age of 65.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's and dementia include memory loss that disrupts daily life, difficulty completing familiar tasks and confusion with time or place.
Journalist Fiona Phillips - who once headed up the British breakfast TV show GMTV - detailed her early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis in July 2023 and has spoken openly about it since.
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Alongside her husband Martin Frizell - who also worked in TV before recently stepping down as editor from ITV's This Morning to care for his wife - the pair have lifted the lid on family life in the new memoir, Remember When: My Life with Alzheimer’s.
In a new article for the Daily Mail, Phillips revealed that she initially blamed the menopause for her symptoms.
"The anxiety attacks became more frequent until they were almost hourly," the former TV presenter said. "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. It felt like the pieces were falling into place – why hadn't anyone told me before how debilitating the menopause could be?
"But I didn't have the hot flushes that a lot of women complain about. For me it was the sense of brain fog and a sense of anxiety that I could rarely shake off."
The 64-year-old added: "The simplest thing, like going to the bank to ask about my account, would send me into a total panic, and there were mood swings too, which meant even I was finding my behaviour unpredictable.
"And yet, despite not wanting to be like that, I couldn't do anything about it. I felt I'd lost control over my life."
Frizell also provided his thoughts in the feature, offering the 'brutal admission' that he wished his wife had been diagnosed with cancer instead.
He said: "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.
"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,’ he reflected, adding that post-diagnosis you are just ‘left to cope alone."
Frizell now takes cares for his wife, explaining that he helps Phillips ‘brush her teeth and shower’, as well as dress herself.
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.
Callum Jones