Fiona Phillips

[LunaNorth]

I just read that she’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at only 62.

I feel sad for her - she’s campaigned so much after her parents suffered with it, and now it’s her turn. She’ll know exactly what’s coming.

Early-onset is vile. My late ex-FIL was diagnosed in his 50s, and it was devastating.

What a shame.

Just read that in the news, I used to love watching her on ITV in the mornings. Dear love her 😢

My mother has late stage Alzheimers and lives with me and my daughter. If I can give a message of some hope is that I feel my mother is very happy. She was too late for medication. I am able to look after her, I understand for many families this is not possible. My mum is just in a happy bubble. She feels safe and secure. She still has a quality of life and enjoys things immensely. Although the diagnosis has been tragic for our family, her new life at least is a happy one.

This is going to trigger my friend who lost her mom, maternal aunt and maternal grandfather with early onset dementia. She's convinced either she will get it or if not her brother will and she will finish up being his carer. The worry has ruined her life.

I thought HRT was proven to help protect against it?
I guess there are so many variants.

anyway poor woman. What a diagnosis at a young age.

So very sad for her-I’ve followed her story for years as my family situation was ver6 similar-mum diagnosed at 57 while we had young kids, and my dad in older age.
i live in very real fear of this situation

I'm so sorry for her. It must be so frightening, I feel for her husband and young sons too, I hope they are able to delay her symptoms somewhat.

I've worked in various dementia units so I know exactly what it is.

We had a male resident who at 85 was physically as fit as a fiddle, he could run, swing from a chair, dance and so on. Had a very healthy appetite and no physical needs whatsoever.
However his mind was completely gone and he'd take his trousers down to urinate on the floor in the middle of a lounge, it was heartbreaking.

What I mean by that is that he liked to put his hands on two chairs and use his strength to swing himself like a monkey. His many 85 year olds can do that.

Sadly many of my older relatives are not healthy, many having dementia, and they didn't take it either.

It's not clear at all whether the bio-identical stuff can help or make it worse, so it's such a horrible decision now for those of us who probably have the gene.

The evidence is not pointing to HRT increasing the risk of dementia. Please watch the video as she explains it way better than I can. I am not pushing HRT - tried it and didn't get on with it at all. But I am fed up of so many inaccurate media reports scaring women.

Absolutely devastating for her, she must feel just horrendous knowing what’s in her future.

My mum was diagnosed last year at 56 with frontotemporal dementia, symptoms started at around about age 50 we think.

Mum was never forgetful - she just stopped caring about anything and anyone. Or she would say odd things - she would talk to others and say, ‘when I first met (her)’, her being me - but she was my mum, what did she mean when she first met me … over covid she stopped talking to my sister at all - she wasn’t sad in the slightest that she couldn’t see her, and the same with her own mum. Then she decided her mum was long since deceased and the person on the phone was an imposter/planted to confuse her. Eventually got more and more difficult and progressive with incontinence, binge eating, hallucinations, nighttime she’d be up emptying all the cupboards, and apathy to the point she would sit silently in the corner doing nothing at all.

Social work were involved for 6 years - laterally we got 1.5 hours of care a day - but I had to get the point of having had 7 nights zero sleep, exhausted I rang police and said either you take her away or I’ll end up harming us both. There was an advert on the TV for Alzheimer’s UK that demonstrates it perfectly that all you do is phone people pleading and pleading for help until you’re exhausted and unwell yourself.

Now in residential care unable to do a single thing for herself, can’t even stand up - it’s a good day if she smiles. And as others have said, when you’re younger often physically you’re still in good health - at the time of diagnosis at least my mum still had the physical strength and stamina of a 56 year old and with the confusion and paranoia she had that was a horrendous combination. She could pace for 15 miles a day non stop initially. They said you can live in that state of limbo for 10-15 years +.

I remember them telling me there’s often a genetic component when you’re diagnosed with any form of dementia younger, I haven’t gone for genetic testing and have since been told by my GP there’s no way the NHS would let me just now due to my own mental health, but I am very wary of having my own children as wouldn’t want to put them through this.

Disclaimer - this is what I have read on other comments boards, not my own personal view, and I am devastated for Fiona and her family. I've always liked Fiona and laughed along with her on Strictly years ago.

I've seen lots of comments on other forums that Martin Frizell has insisted this news is published to deflect from the Phil Schofield debacle. He would not use his wife in such a shameful way, would he? I am sure all he is doing is raising awareness.

This is so sad. She already seemed so fragile in the interview she gave. I wish relatives would be better advocates, fine announce the diagnosis to stop rumours but to do an interview when she clearly was struggling wasn't necessary.

We don't need to raise awareness, everyone knows about Alzheimers. Her privacy and dignity need protecting.

I did wonder if the timing was suspicious on that

IF he’s done it and she wasn’t ready or has been persuaded to release that info he’s more of a cunt than initially thought.

Agree with you re interviews but we absolutely do need to raise awareness particularly of dementia in younger people - or people wouldn’t be waiting years for diagnosis and would be given the appropriate support from the get go.

Even calling a national Alzheimer’s charity in obvious distress I got, ‘how sedulous I didn’t know younger people could get this’ from their call handler. We absolutely have to raise awareness as the issues when you’re younger can be so different eg many still in employment, many with dependants (I have met someone who had a 13 year old child), a huge lack of care homes and respite, a lack of joint up diagnosis clinics. Whereas elderly adults are often sent to memory clinics, younger adults can end up in neurology, or psychiatry.

I agree re interviews and there is a way of raising awareness that preserves dignity but we absolutely have to raise awareness of young onset dementia. More funding and more research - some forms (the one my mum has) are essentially just a death sentence - we were told there’s no drugs, no treatment, nothing proven to slow it down, just supportive and palliative care.

sedulous should be sad!! No idea what sedulous means!!

It means really on the ball with something, really focused on it.

So sorry about your mum .

Yes are quite right, apologies. The young aspect does need more awareness. We do think of it as an old person's disease.

I just felt so sorry for her sitting there in an odd outfit, looking bewildered. Her family should have protected her whilst still getting the message out there.

I'm sorry to hear about this - I've always liked Fiona Phillips, and had a lot of time for her.

It is also sad to see people who are anti HRT seizing gleefully into this and trying to use it to stir up confusion and ill-founded fear. One generation of women already missed out on the benefits of HRT due to poor research poorly interpreted, and suffered unnecessary bone loss, genital atrophy, incontinence etc as a result. It would be sad to see that happen again, when the authors of the one study being referenced stated clearly that they are not suggesting HRT causes dementia.

There's no proven link (current thread about this in the menopause section).

Family history of the disease as Fiona says.

Yes, she said she's happy in the knowledge it will still help others even if she's only taking the placebo.

I feel really sad for her She must've been devastated as she watched Grandparent and both parents die from this
I read that she had refused genetic testing as she didn't want to know Such a cruel disease
There is hope for more effective drugs on the horizon

Really sad news, Fiona is an excellent broadcast journalist, I stopped watching ITV early morning when she stopped being on it.
Its immensely brave to go public and raise awareness, we have dementia in the family so I have seen the effects first hand. Best wishes to Fiona and her family 💐

Its awful news. Must be terrifying to be aware you have it but there isnt really a cure and things can only get worse. Cant think why anybody would think this is to deflect from Philip Schofield. He is yesterdays news.

Agreed. I don't think people are really thinking about Philip Schofield anymore, I certainly haven't for weeks.

My BIL died of early onset Alzheimer’s, just before Christmas, aged 56. We need as many young sufferers to come forward as we can because so many people don’t realise it can happen to younger people. My BIL did many drugs trials and therapies, unfortunately they didn’t work for him.

My heart goes out to Fiona, it’s an awful thing for her and her family to be going through.