Television personality Ruth Langsford, 65, has revealed she continuously feels “really frightened” as she gets older, due to her late father Dennis Langsford showing signs of dementia during his late sixties. In an exclusive chat, the presenter, who rose to prominence co-hosting ITV’s This Morning with her estranged husband Eamonn Holmes, revealed that whenever she experiences a “complete and utter blank” and cannot recall someone’s name, she invariably dreads the worst outcome.

Ruth’s anxieties intensified significantly after her mother Joan Langsford also received an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. When questioned about concerns regarding a possible hereditary connection, Ruth confessed: “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.

“I’m 65 now, my dad was officially diagnosed when he was 72. But looking back on it, we think he was displaying signs, we just didn’t know what they were – but he was in his late 60s and I’m 65.

“And so I do have those moments, and I just, I tell myself, ‘no, no, it’s just because you’re busy, or mind’s busy’. You never know, and I don’t want to know, actually.”

The Loose Women host continued by insisting she would decline any test to determine her risk of developing the condition, given there’s no treatment available. Ruth explained: “They all say, ‘if there was a test, would you take it?’ I go, ‘why? What’s the point unless there’s a cure?’

“If I could take a test, and they said, ‘if you take the test, we could stop it happening’, 100% I would take the test, but they can’t, and I know what’s ahead.

“Of course I worry about it with both parents having had dementia, but I just think, what will be will be.”

The mother-of-one continued by revealing that she attempts to do everything possible to enhance her cognitive wellbeing as she ages.

Ruth disclosed: “I do crosswords and things like that. And I’m very active because I’m still very busy with work, they say that helps. So, yeah, I do worry.”

The Alzheimer’s Society website states that the vast majority of dementia cases are not passed down to children and grandchildren.

In less common forms of dementia there could be a significant genetic connection, but these represent only a tiny fraction of total cases.

The website further notes that in most instances, vascular dementia itself is not hereditary.

Nevertheless, the underlying health conditions that occasionally contribute to this illness, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, may potentially be transmitted from one generation to the next.