The husband of late actress Dame Barbara Windsor has reflected on her Alzheimer’s diagnosis and how the disease “robs you of loved ones in the most painful way possible”.

The EastEnders and Carry On actress was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014 and died in 2020 aged 83.

Her widower, Scott Mitchell, who married Dame Barbara in 2000, has campaigned for organisations such as Alzheimer’s Research UK.

To mark World Alzheimer’s Day, on September 21, he has now called for support to find a cure for the disease.

“I don’t do this as a way of making myself look good, I do this as a passion. It comes from the pain that I saw my late wife, Barbara, go through and the pain that I remember going through myself,” Scott said.

“Alzheimer’s dementia is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. It robs you of your loved ones in the most painful way possible.”

Mitchell has said campaigning for dementia research is what motivates him, and has called The Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme and The Barbara Alliance his late wife’s “second legacy”.

He also expressed his desire for support to work towards finding better diagnostics, treatments and eventually a cure for dementia.

“On this World Alzheimer’s Day, as someone who has cared for a loved one and seen the painful journey that people go through caring for a loved one with dementia I urge everyone involved to get more funding, more research, more trials,” he said.

“We need to stop pretending it’s not happening; it’s the biggest killer in this country but we can find a cure. It is not inevitable as we age and we can see the progress being made with preventative clinical trials now recruiting as well as drugs which are able to slow the disease’s progression.

“Let everyone involved who can do something about this awful disease get together and make change now. This has gone on for far too long.”

Mitchell and Windsor, who were married for 20 years, campaigned for awareness of the condition together and in 2019 they delivered a letter to then prime minister Boris Johnson, calling on him to address the “devastating state” of dementia care.

Mitchell then launched the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission to develop innovative research tools and increase the number and speed of clinical trials in dementia and neurodegeneration.

Alzheimer’s is described as the most common cause of dementia, which is the name for a group of symptoms associated with an ongoing decline of brain function, according to the NHS website.

It is a “progressive condition” that can affect memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities, with symptoms developing gradually over many years and which often become more severe.