Following Fiona Phillips’ recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis at just 62, we look at why women are more likely to suffer from dementia as well as the hopes for a breakthrough in treating this tragic disease
You’ve walked into a room and can’t remember why. You’re frantically looking for your lost mobile… while talking to your friend on it. Maybe you’ve driven off with your purse sat on the car roof again.
Close to a million people in the UK have dementia and 70,800 of them are under 65. Like TV presenter Fiona Phillips, 62, who revealed her diagnosis earlier this month, they’re learning to cope with the ordeal of what lies ahead. Alzheimer’s Research UK tells us that when people are younger, any symptoms they experience are often attributed to stress, anxiety or depression. Dr Susan Mitchell, their Head of Policy, points out that younger women’s brain fog worries are more likely to be down to the menopause.
She recommends talking to your GP, saying, “If you’re a woman in your forties or fifties, brain fog is more likely to be menopausal, but obviously there are exceptions.” “We know that if a woman outlives her partner, she often hasn’t got anyone close looking out for and supporting her, so she may not recognise she has symptoms of dementia. She’d need an advocate at this point to help her come forward for diagnosis,” she says.
Dr Julie Williams has been searching for a cure for Alzheimer’s for the past 30 years. As centre director of the UK Dementia Research Institute in Cardiff, she works with over 100 scientists, looking at the immune system and how it contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Mitchell also says she feels “genuinely excited” about a breakthrough on the way with new medicines, but worries about the infrastructure there to support these new treatments in the first place.
In the meantime, the conversation around Alzheimer’s and dementia is very much a hot topic, thanks to Alzheimer’s Society ambassador and long-term campaigner Fiona Phillips’ honesty about her own situation and her willingness to take part in a clinical trial.
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