MARTIN KING has revealed his fears that he may end up with the same dementia which took his mother.
The Virgin Media star’s concerns increased after uncovering more relatives who succumbed to the condition while making a documentary on the disease.
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In most cases, dementia is not strictly hereditary but research shows that those who have a parent or sibling with Alzheimer’s are more likely to develop the disease than those who do not.
And while it is possible to get a genetic test to identify a certain type of dementia, Martin has ruled out the prospect.
The 57-year-old told the Irish Sun: “It has been on my mind because my mam and some of her family got dementia.
“Recently I’ve only found out about another aunt who had dementia.
“There are tests you can take, but I don’t know if I would want to know if I was going to get dementia.
“There are a lot of people who wouldn’t want to know. In my own case I’m fit and healthy and I haven’t seen any early signs.”
HEREDITARY
But the TV and radio host admits that one of the reasons why he wanted to make Virgin Media programme We Need to Talk About Dementia was to learn if the condition was hereditary.
Martin said: “That was one of the questions I was asking the experts — does this run in families.
“It turns out that the percentages are low but it can be genetic though. My mother, had it, she looked after my father’s grandmother who had dementia.
“I only learned in recent days making the doc of another aunt of mine who had dementia. It’s in both sides of my families.”
The Q102 host lost his mum Christina in 2019, just over four weeks after his father Martin died suddenly in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital.
However, before his mum’s death, Martin had to decide whether to tell her that his dad, whose death was not related to dementia, had died.
‘MOMENTS OF CLARITY’
He said: “We were told by doctors not to tell my mother that my dad had died so we didn’t.
“We didn’t say anything to her about it. The strange thing is that my mother worked it out.
“You see, even when people are suffering from dementia, they can suddenly have moments of clarity and that’s what happened. My mother woke up one day and put two and two together.
“She told us, ‘Your dad hasn’t come in to see me in the hospital and he hasn’t been in a very long time’. She worked out that he had died. Then it was just two days later that she died herself.”
It was in 2011 that Martin’s mum was first diagnosed with dementia after years of tests.
But the TV star revealed that he never discussed dementia with his mother after her diagnosis. Martin said: “I made a decision not to talk about it. I always felt she could have spiralled into depression if I had brought it up.
NIALL’S HEADER FEAR
FORMER Ireland international Niall Quinn says that despite how much he “loved heading the ball”, it will have “to go completely” if a dementia link is proven.
The 54-year-old told Newstalk about ongoing research investigating the matter, saying: “I just hope there are no punches pulled when the full discovery of what is causing dementia among ex-players becomes available.”
Niall, added: “It looks to me that its edging towards a proven link between heading the ball and dementia and if that’s the case, how could anyone go on a training ground and ask someone to head a ball knowing where that could lead to.”
“If she called me the wrong name with it, I’d go with it but I know my mother would have known about all the signs of dementia from looking after my grandmother.”
The Six O’Clock Show host added: “We have an ageing population so dementia rates are going to rise.
“I’m hoping that those who see my programme will have a greater empathy for people who are maybe going through a little moment because of their dementia and generally ask others not to shut them out. They still have a lot of living to do.”
- MARTIN King’s We Need to Talk About Dementia airs at 8pm on Sunday on Virgin Media One.
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