Television presenter Ruth Langsford has spoken candidly about how experiencing 'senior moments' leaves her feeling 'really frightened' about her future health. The 65-year-old Loose Women host, whose father passed away from dementia complications in 2012 and whose 94-year-old mother has also been diagnosed with the disease, revealed her personal anxieties in a recent interview.
Family History and Personal Fears
Ruth explained that she suffers from 'complete and utter blanks' that trigger significant concern. 'All the time, literally all the time, if I ever have a senior moment where I go, ‘what’s her name again?’, somebody that I know quite well, and I have a complete and utter blank, it really frightens me,' she told The Mirror.
Her fear is deeply rooted in her family's medical history. Her father, Dennis, was officially diagnosed with dementia at 72, though the family believes signs were present in his late 60s. Ruth, now 65, is acutely aware of her own age in relation to this timeline. The risk of developing Alzheimer's is heavily influenced by genetics, which may account for up to 80 percent of a person's likelihood of getting the disease.
'Of course I worry about it with both parents having had dementia,' she admitted, 'but I just think, what will be will be.'
The Heartbreaking Reality of Dementia
Ruth has previously opened up about the profound impact of her father's illness on the entire family. In a 2017 appearance on Loose Women, she confessed that one of the most difficult aspects was witnessing her mother, Joan, lose 'the love of her life'.
'I was grieving and losing my dad but my mum was losing the love of her life, the man she married and had children with,' Ruth said emotionally. 'They had years and years of memories. You don't often hear people talking about that side of it.'
She described how dementia slowly ravaged her father's memory to the point where he could no longer recognise his loved ones. 'Sometimes he’d stare deeply at my face, as though thinking, "I know this girl,"' she recalled. 'I’d be silently saying, "It’s me, it’s me." Eventually he forgot Mum too, despite her visiting every day.'
Her mother acted as his primary carer for a decade before it became too overwhelming, leading to the difficult decision to move him into a care home.
Coping with Grief and Guilt
Speaking about her father's eventual passing, Ruth shared the complex emotions that followed. 'Eventually when he died it was a relief. But again, you feel guilty thinking like that,' she explained.
She also revealed lingering feelings of guilt about the care her father received. 'I still feel guilt at having put him in the care home; that I didn’t visit him enough; that we didn’t realise what was happening early enough.'
Despite her fears for her own cognitive health, Ruth continues her work in the public eye while carrying the weight of her family's experience with this devastating condition.
For confidential advice, information and support, you can call the Alzheimer's Society's National Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 11 22. The service is open Monday to Friday and at weekends, with trained advisers who understand the needs of people affected by dementia. You can also email enquiries to helpline@alzheimers.org.uk.
