Fiona Phillips announces she has Alzheimer’s disease aged 62 after suffering from brain fog and anxiety

TV presenter Fiona Phillips has announced that she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The 62-year-old was told she has the disease a year ago after suffering from brain fog and anxiety for months.

The Mirror columnist is undergoing trials for a revolutionary new drug. Scientists hope and believe the drug could slow or even reverse the illness for millions of sufferers. Current data shows one in 14 aged over 65 has Alzheimer’s in the UK.

The former breakfast TV host 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."

Phillips believed that she did have Alzheimer’s, but the confirmation from a doctor who said: “Your results are back.. And yes, I’m afraid they do show early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease”, was still the most ‘gut-punching’.

“It’s something I might have thought I’d get at 80”, she says. “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.”

In the wake of the news, tributes have poured in for Phillips. When fronting her show, Lorraine Kelly paid tribute to the ‘quite amazing’ person. Susanna Reid, Ed Balls and Denise Welch have also sent kind words to Phillips.