Mother's daughters at risk of inheriting dementia in rare family gene

35 year old mother from Haywards Health has been talking to ITV Meridian about how she's coping with a diagnosis that means she could have dementia by the time she's 45.

A rare gene runs in Hannah Mackay's family.

Her father and grandfather developed the condition in their fifties and it means that both her daughters are also at risk.

Nearly a million people in the UK currently living with Dementia.

  • Watch this report by Jenna Verdiccio:

Hannah Mackay is 35 and has been told she could develop dementia within just 10 years.

It was after Hannah learnt she had a 50-50 chance of developing the condition that she decided to remove uncertainty over her future by undergoing genetic tests.

  • Hannah Mackay, diagnosed with Dementia:

Hannah's father and grandfather were both diagnosed with dementia.

Her grandfather died at the age of 57.

Hannah's father and grandfather were both diagnosed with dementia

Hannah now faces the heart breaking knowledge that her two daughters also have a 50% chance of getting the condition.

Hannah's two daughters also have a 50% chance of getting the condition

Part of Hannah's challenge now is to raise awareness and change misconceptions of the condition.

  • Hannah Churchill, Alzheimer's Society:

Hannah is now fundraising and taking part in a memory walk in Brighton.

Her aim is to raise millions of pounds for the Alzheimer's Society.

Her hope is that a cure can be found by the time her girls grow up.