Fiona Phillips, 62, diagnosed with Alzheimer's: 'It's ravaged my family'

Speaking to The Mirror, Phillips said that Alzheimer's has "ravaged my family and now it has come for me".

She added: "All over the country there are people of all different ages whose lives are being affected by it – it’s heartbreaking. I just hope I can help find a cure which might make things better for others in the future.”

Phillips continued that she "felt more angry than anything else" – in part because so many of her family members, including her mother and father, had already lived with the illness.

But she added that she had hopes that sharing her own experiences would help break the stigma around the condition, claiming that "the public thinks of old people, bending over a stick, talking to themselves.

"But I’m still here, getting out and about, meeting friends for coffee, going for dinner with Martin [Frizell, her husband] and walking every day.”

Phillips also revealed that she is partaking in trials for a drug called Miridesap, which is being researched by University College London Hospitals Trust and is currently in its third year of trials.

"Even if it isn’t helping me, these tests will be helping other people in the future so I just have to keep going,” she said.

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