FIONA Phillips’ husband Martin Frizell gave a devastating update on her condition today as she continues her battle with Alzheimer’s.
The popular broadcaster, 64, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2022 and her condition has deteriorated since.
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Fiona Phillips’ husband Martin Frizell spoke about her Alzheimer’s disease on This MorningCredit: ITV
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Martin and Fiona worked together to write Remember When
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The couple are navigating numerous challenges as the condition worsensCredit: Getty
Fiona wasn’t well enough to join Martin, 66, on the This Morning sofa today as he discussed the new book they’ve written about her illness titled Remember When.
He told hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary: “She’s got bad depression because she wants to work, she’s not well enough today to come and talk to you.”
Angry over the lack of coverage given to the condition, which is the biggest killer in the UK, Martin’s initial plan to write a few paragraphs soon became 24,000 words.
He said: “It started off when we knew it was Alzheimer’s. It was to give her a purpose, to give her something to do. This is a bubbly smart, fearless woman, very modern woman and all of a sudden it stops.
“I just get very angry no one talks about it. We become invisible with Alzheimer’s, no one wants to talk about it.”
Opening up about Fiona’s current condition, Martin said: “She’s got anxiety, she’s got a secondary problem that causes her to be in a lot of pain, which adds to the confusion.”
Tragically, he told how Fiona thought he had kidnapped her just weeks ago as they posed for a photograph outside he family home.
Martin said she suffers from delusions, though does still recognise him, even if she isn’t aware of their marital status.
In a candid moment of self-reflection, Martin admitted he wasn’t Mother Teresa and was prone to getting frustrated, which sometimes leads to arguments.
He accepted some of his work is provocative as he said: “I wish she got cancer, at least there would have been some hope. It’s not a sexy disease, the pictures aren’t great, on your deathbed you look bloody awful.”
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The hosts were visibly moved, especially Alison as Martin told her that Fiona still remembered her.
Fiona, whose late mum and dad both had Alzheimer’s, left GMTV in December 2008 — reportedly midway through a £1.5million contract, which cost her £500,000 — to spend more time with her family.
Fiona admitted back then that the decision was the “hardest I have ever had to make — like jumping off a cliff and hoping someone will save me halfway down”.
But she revealed she had “finally discovered that I can’t have it all” and felt like she was “dropping balls” all over the place.
While Fiona finally had more time to dedicate to Martin and their sons, her career never quite recovered.
She took on bits and pieces of work — including a stint on Strictly Come Dancing in 2005 and presenting a Channel 4 documentary titled Mum, Dad, Alzheimer’s And Me in 2009.
But Fiona admitted she never felt “completely right” and became “disconnected” from her family.
Meanwhile, she was starting to struggle with mood swings, erratic behaviour and an inability to complete everyday tasks, such as going to the bank.
Fiona’s late dad had Alzheimer’s
Martin and Fiona’s marriage was under strain prior to her diagnosis
Things came to a head with Martin in 2021 and he moved out of the family home, accusing her of “zoning out” of their marriage.
After three weeks apart, the couple met at a hotel and agreed they wanted to stay together — but that things had to change.
Fiona had initially suspected the exhaustion, anxiety and brain fog she had been battling was a side-effect of Long Covid. She contracted the virus in 2020.
But by then, Fiona was wondering if her symptoms were down to menopause.
Martin urged her to talk to telly doctor Dr Louise Newson, who specialised in the menopause and recommended a course of hormone replacement therapy. But after several months of seeing little change, Dr Newson recommended she be properly assessed.
In 2022, a consultant broke the heartbreaking news to the couple that Fiona, then 61, had early onset Alzheimer’s.
Other major Alzheimer’s breakthroughs
While experts have warned that dementia diagnoses in England have reached record numbers, there have been a number of recent advances against brain robbing diseases.
From “game-changing” drugs gaining approval to blood tests that can spot the condition years before symptoms, here are other major Alzheimer’s breakthroughs.
A “game-changing” Alzheimer’s drug called donanemab, that slows mental decline by up to 60 per cent has been approved in the United States. A UK decision on whether the drug will become available to patients in the UK with early symptoms is expected imminently.
A blood test that detects Alzheimer’s up to 15 years before symptoms emerge is set to be made free on the NHS within a year. The new test is cheaper, easier and at least as accurate as the current diagnosis options and works by measuring levels of a protein in the blood called p-tau217.
Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind test that could predict dementia up to nine years before a diagnosis, with 80 per cent accuracy. It involves analysing network of connections in the brain when it’s in “idle mode” to look for very early signs of the condition.
Scientists have also put AI to the test, developing machine learning models were able to spot early warning signs of the memory-robbing condition up to seven years before Alzheimer’s symptoms appear.
A woman who has evaded Alzheimer’s disease despite half her relatives getting it could hold the clues to how to prevent it, with scientists pinpointing a particular gene which they think could help prevent Alzheimer’s from progressing.
