I know there are tests... but I don't want to know

TV presenter Ruth Langsford chats with LISA SALMON about caring for her mum who has Alzheimer's - 13 years after her dad died from the same disease

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IT’S been a tough few years for Ruth Langsford, but the TV presenter isn’t complaining about it.

She split from her husband Eamonn Holmes in May last year after 14 years of marriage, her sister Julia tragically took her own life in 2019 at the age of 62, and her 94-year-old mum is living with Alzheimer’s, 13 years after Ruth’s dad died from the same disease.

But the Loose Women presenter doesn’t want to dwell on what's happened in the past, and instead intends to focus on caring for her mum Joan, who lives in a care home around the corner from Ruth's house in Surrey, and enjoying her busy working life.

Talking about her mum, Ruth says: “She wouldn’t remember what she’s had for her lunch or breakfast, and if I go and see her, when I leave, if you said to her was Ruth here today, she’d say no. But in the moment, she still knows it’s me as soon as she sees me, she says, ‘Oh, what a lovely surprise!’ like she hasn't seen me for months.

“It's very difficult, but I’m much more well-versed in this with my mum, because of my dad. We, as a family, had no idea about Alzheimer’s or dementia when he got it, and we were a bit lost. I learned a lot of lessons with my dad.”

Ruth's mum looked after her dad for about 11 years at home in Cornwall before they were eventually moved nearer to Ruth.

“It was a struggle for her towards the end - he would get up in the middle of the night and he flushed his pyjamas down the loo once and flooded the bathroom. It was awful.