Fiona Phillips's Alzheimer's diagnosis - how much more likely are you to have the disease if your parents did?

The entertainment industry in the UK have come together today to lend their support to television presenter Fiona Phillips, who has revealed she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The former GMTV host and current columnist for The Mirror revealed that a period of anxiety and brain fog led her to seek out a diagnosis in 2022, leading to tests showing early stages of the neurological disorder.

Phillips is currently undergoing trials at University College Hospital in London for a drug called Miridesap, which could potentially slow the effects of the disease, which she also described how her husband Martin Frizell, the editor of ITV's This Morning programme, had been helping her take the medication. 

"Poor Martin, he has been injecting my stomach every day, he has been brilliant,” she recounted with The Mirror’s 3am writer. "The drugs are brand new and they're expecting a lot from this and so am I."

Alzheimer’s disease however isn’t a new situation Phillips, 62, has found herself in, as she has been vocal in the past about how some of her family members have been diagnosed previously with the affliction. “​​My poor mum was crippled with it, then my dad, my grandparents, my uncle. It just keeps coming back for us," she said, stating that the diagnosis made her “more angry than anything else” due to the impact it already has had on her life.

To some, it would seem a bit of a coincidence that members of Fiona Phillip’s family all had a history with Alzherimer’s disease, which leads to an interesting question for those who may have family members dealing with the disease - is Alzheimer’s and dementia hereditary or not?

Can Alzheimer’s disease be passed hereditarily? 

According to the Alzheimer’s Society UK, they state that 99 of 100 cases of Alzheimer’s disease are not inherited, and that the disease is more based on the age of a person rather than the genetics they have had passed down to them.

“Because Alzheimer's disease is so common in people in their late 70s and 80s, having a parent or grandparent with Alzheimer's disease at this age does not change your risk compared to the rest of the population,” the society wrote.

However - there is a caveat to that information; “if somebody has developed Alzheimer’s disease at an earlier age (for example, less than 60 years-old) there is a greater chance that it may be a type of Alzheimer’s disease that can be passed on.”

There is a small proportion of cases known as 'young-onset' Alzheimer's, which affects people in their 50s and 60s. Approximately 3% of individuals develop Alzheimer's before the age of 60, and in these cases, it is often linked to the inheritance of a faulty gene from parents. 

The earlier the onset of Alzheimer's, the higher the likelihood of it being caused by an inherited gene. While the majority of people with Alzheimer's do not pass on faulty genes, it can be a factor in younger individuals with the condition, albeit being rare.

How to spot the early signs of Alzheimer's

Per the NHS, the following symptoms could be a sign that someone has Alzheimer’s disease;

• Forgetful about recent conversations or events
• Misplacing items
• Forgetful of the names of places and objects, or have trouble thinking of the right word
• Asking questions repetitively
• Showing poor judgement or finding it harder to make decisions
• Becoming less flexible and more hesitant to try new things
• Showing signs of mood changes, such as increasing anxiety or agitation, or periods of confusion