Warning signs of Alzheimer’s revealed as TV star Fiona Phillips reveals heart-breaking diagnosis
Fiona Phillips heartbreakingly revealed her shock diagnosis of Alzheimer’s last night at age 62.
Originally, the former GMTV host attributed her “anxiety,” confusion, and “brain fog” to menopause and undergoing hormone replacement therapy.
But as her brain fog persisted, she visited more specialists and eventually her diagnosis was confirmed.
Here, MailOnline shares some of the weirder early symptoms that can occur.
Ms Phillips originally saw the onset of ‘crippling anxiety’, ‘confusion’ and ‘brain fog’ in late 2021. She went to a menopause specialist and underwent hormone replacement therapy. Some of her symptoms improved, but the brain fog remained. She is pictured on GMTV alongside presenter Eamonn Holmes in 1997
Changes in humor and increased swearing are all signs of Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) – a form of dementia that causes problems with behavior and language. According to experts, poor parking and scruffy clothing are also signs of the memory-robbing disease. Graphic shows: Six signs of Alzheimer’s disease
Spend money
Handing out money to strangers may be an early warning sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
This is according to research from USC and Bar-Ilan University in Israel, which linked financial altruism to the early stages of the disease.
The study tested the theory on 67 adults around the age of 70.
The contestants were paired with people they had never met, and given $10 (£8) to split between themselves and the other.
Neurological tests were given to the participants to assess their cognitive state and their potential risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The results, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s diseasesuggested that those at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease were also more willing to hand out money to the person they had never met.
Dr. Duke Han, a neuropsychology professor at USC who led the study, said: “Difficulty with money is considered one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, and this finding supports that idea.”
Fiona Phillips has revealed that she and husband Martin Frizell were left in ‘total shock’ when doctors diagnosed her with Alzheimer’s after fearing her brain fog symptoms were a sign of menopause. The pair are pictured together in 2016
Changes in humour
Starting to watch slapstick comedy classics like Airplane and Mr Bean can be another sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers at University College London found that people who had the disease were more likely to watch slapstick, absurdist or satirical comedy than other people of the same age.
A questionnaire was given to friends and relatives of 48 people with Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) – one of the least common forms.
They were asked about their lover’s preferences for different types of comedy and whether their tastes had changed over the past 15 years.
Researchers asked if they were fans of slapstick comedy like Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean, satirical comedy like South Park or absurdist comedy like The Mighty Boosh.
Family and friends were also asked if they had noticed inappropriate humor in recent years.
According to the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2015, people with the disease begin to prefer slapstick jokes nine years before the typical symptoms of dementia begin to show.
It also found that people with FTD were more likely to find tragic events funny, or laugh at things that others wouldn’t find funny, such as a poorly parked car or barking dog.
These changes in humor may be caused by the brain shrinking in the frontal lobe, researchers say.
Shabbily dressed
Causing fashion disasters, having trouble putting together clothes that match, and wearing things that aren’t appropriate for the weather can be another sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers from the Universities of Kent and York described how people with dementia were less likely to dress when left to their own devices.
The study, published in Sociology of health and disease in 2018 aimed at 32 people in three care homes and 15 regular homes in Kent.
Researchers interviewed 28 care home workers, 29 carers and family members to find out how to dress people with dementia.
Melissa, a family caregiver quoted in the study, said, “I’ve never seen my dad get dirty. Never. Until the day I came home and he was sitting there in messy clothes, which really hurt me because I’m not used to that – not at all.’
Carers also said it was difficult to dress people with more advanced dementia because they need encouragement and help guiding their arms.
Messiness and changes in what they wear can be caused by a variety of Alzheimer’s symptoms, from muscle stiffness and jerky arm movements that make it physically harder to get dressed to simply forgetting clothes belong to them.
Alzheimer’s also killed her mother Amy in 2006, after she started experiencing symptoms in her early 50s
Fiona Williams pictured with her father, Neville, who died of the disease in 2012
Bad parking
The memory-robbing condition may make the Alzheimer’s patient poor at driving, it is suggested.
The condition impairs motor skills, memory, and thought processes, causing slow reaction times and poor parking, eventually leading patients to give up the keys to their cars.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis studied the driving habits of 139 people over a year to see how Alzheimer’s changes the way they drive.
Half of the participants were diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s, the other half were not.
The study, published in Alzheimer’s research and therapy in 2021 suggested that those with the disease were more likely to drive slowly and suddenly change directions.
The team used the findings to create a model that predicted whether people had Alzheimer’s based on their skills behind the wheel.
In nine out of ten cases, the model guessed correctly whether someone had the disease.
swearing
Not having a filter and swearing in inappropriate situations can be another warning sign.
The filter people usually use to avoid using inappropriate language in front of children, for example, is weakened by the disease, allowing people with FTD to let more profanity slip through the cracks.
People with FTD are more likely to use the word “f**k” when asked to name words that begin with “f,” researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found.
The study, published in Cognitive and behavioral neurology in 2010, asked 70 patients to name as many words as they could think of starting with the letters ‘f’, ‘a’ and ‘s’ in one minute.
They also found that six of the 32 dementia patients said the swear word when asked to name words for “f,” and more said the word “s**t” for “s.”
Not having a filter
Similar to swearing, as Alzheimer’s patients’ brains change, they begin to have no filter.
How they act and what they say can degenerate in many cases.
Undressing in public, being rude and talking to strangers are all signs of the disease, according to experts.
The frontal prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobes of the brain is the part that gets filtered. But when you get Alzheimer’s, this part of the brain shrinks.
Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘These situations can be very confusing, distressing, upsetting or frustrating for someone with dementia, as well as for their loved ones.
“The person with dementia may not understand why their behavior is considered inappropriate. It is very unlikely that they are intentionally inappropriate.’