Dr Hilary fights back tears as he discusses friend Fiona Phillips’ shock Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Dr. Hilary fought back tears on Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain as he discussed his good friend Fiona Phillips’ shock diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
On Tuesday night, Fiona revealed that doctors diagnosed her with the disease after fearing her brain fog symptoms were a sign of menopause.
Speaking of his friend – with whom he worked on GMTV for 10 years – Dr Hilary described her as a ‘lovely person, very warm, very welcoming to all her guests, very knowledgeable, as you say, mischievous and fun.’
The 70-year-old GP added: ‘My heart goes out to her and send her all my love.
“I’m so glad she spoke out on this to raise awareness to help other people.”
Kind words: Dr Hilary fought back tears on Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain as he discussed the shock diagnosis of his good friend Fiona Phillips
He discussed the medical side of her treatment, explaining: “She is participating in the trial, miride juice, is the drug she is taking, which is intended to reduce the amount of amyloid protein that clogs the nerve cells and prevents the neurotransmitters from reaching the enable brain cells to communicate with each other.’
“She doesn’t know if she’s on the active drug or a placebo. It’s a double-blind study at UCH (University College Hospital), but in the future it will help determine which drugs to test, will help stop or even reverse.”
Fiona and her husband admitted they were in ‘total shock’ when doctors diagnosed her with Alzheimer’s after she began to struggle with ‘crippling fear’, ‘confusion’ and ‘brain fog’ in late 2021.
Due to the nature of her symptoms, the former GMTV host saw a menopause specialist and underwent hormone replacement therapy.
Some of her symptoms improved, but the brain fog remained. She was examined by other specialists, spent months completing cognitive tests and finally received her dreaded diagnosis last year, which was confirmed by an epidural test.
“It was the shock… Total shock,” she said of when she and her husband, TV’s This Morning editor Martin Frizell, were diagnosed.
“I just felt sick. We both sat in silence. There was no funny point in making this go away,” recalls 64-year-old Martin. “The doctor said he’d leave us alone in the room for a while to digest everything. We just looked at each other and said, ‘S**t. What do we do?’
The couple then went for a drink at a nearby bar, where they are now regulars, and faced the task of “trying to live our lives normally for now.”
Clearly, Fiona is undergoing a potentially revolutionary trial of a new drug that it hopes will slow or even reverse the disease for millions of people.
She is currently supported by her husband, whom she married in 1997. They are the parents of Nat, 24, and Mackenzie, 21. Until now, the couple had not directly told their children that their mother has Alzheimer’s disease.
Sad news: On Tuesday night, Fiona revealed that doctors diagnosed her with the disease after fearing her brain fog symptoms were a sign of menopause (pictured in 2008)
told Fiona The mirror on Tuesday that she had received the news of the devastating disease of dementia, which killed both her parents about a year ago, after months of brain fog and anxiety.
The former GMTV presenter said the diagnosis was “heartbreaking” and a “terribly awful” secret to share.
Mr Frizell added: ‘Tragically, Fiona’s family is riddled with it [Alzheimer’s].’
The family initially thought Ms Phillips’ symptoms were related to menopause, which according to Dementia UK is not unusual as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have symptoms in common with menopause and perimenopause.
Dementia and the symptoms of Alzheimer’s can develop at the same time as menopause in some women, which the charity says can ‘create additional challenges when it comes to seeking a diagnosis’.
Fiona began her journalism career as a reporter for local radio stations such as Radio Mercury un Sussex and County Sound in Surrey.
Her big break came when she moved to GMTV in 1993 as an entertainment correspondent, before being promoted to their LA correspondent in December of the same year.
Support: Fiona is currently supported by her husband Martin Frizell, whom she married in 1997. They are the parents of Nat, 24, and Mackenzie, 21
She then ran the breakfast show from 1997 to 2008 and was the main anchor every Monday through Wednesday.
The broadcaster announced in 2008 that she would be leaving the show for family reasons and presented her last show in December.
This followed her mother’s death and came after her father was also diagnosed with the disease.
After her father’s death, the journalist revealed she was left “angry” by his care, even calling it “manslaughter.” His rapid decline led her to wonder if the drugs took years off his life.