Fiona Phillips reveals she has Alzheimer's at 62

Fiona Phillips has said she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the age of 62.

The journalist and broadcaster discovered she had the disease a year ago after suffering months of brain fog and anxiety, she told the Mirror.

Phillips, former host of ITV breakfast show GMTV, said dementia had "decimated" her family after her mother, father and uncle also had the disease.

She added she was "getting on with it."

The mother of two, who is a columnist for the Daily Mirror, told editor Alison Phillips that she was trying to "carry on" as normal, but wanted to share her story to help others.

She said that despite fearing she would one day be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it had still come as a shock when her doctor said her test results showed early stages of the disease.

"It's something I might have thought I'd get at 80", she says.

"But I was still only 61 years old."

The presenter said that she felt "more angry than anything else" because the disease had already had such an impact on her family life.

"My poor mum was crippled with it, then my dad, my grandparents, my uncle. It just keeps coming back for us," she said.

Phillips said she was undergoing trials at University College Hospital in London for a drug called Miridesap, which could potentially slow the effects of the disease.

She also described how her husband Martin Frizell, the editor of ITV's This Morning programme, has been helping her take the medication.

She said: "Poor Martin, he has been injecting my stomach every day, he has been brilliant.

"The drugs are brand new and they're expecting a lot from this and so am I."

In the meantime, she said, "I am just getting on with it, I'm not taking notice of it.

"I'm just doing what I normally do. I don't want to not work, be sitting around playing with my fingers, or watching telly. I just like doing things."

Ms Phillips currently writes a column for the Daily Mirror and previously anchored GMTV for more than a decade from 1997.

She also took part in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2005.

She has spoken publicly about her parents' battles with Alzheimer's in the past.

Kate Lee, chief executive at the Alzheimer's Society, praised Phillips' decision to share her diagnosis, which raised "much-needed awareness of dementia".

Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It takes such courage to go public with a diagnosis and Fiona knows better than most just how much good that can do.

"Awareness is vital and Fiona's bravery will help untold people who are going through their own dementia journeys."

She added that there were around 70,800 people under 65 with dementia in the UK.