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Last weekend I had the heartache of having to say goodbye to a dear friend of more than four decades who is in the final stages of dementia. Another old pal and I spent about 40 minutes with her, holding her hands, playing her favourite songs and laughing at memories from more than half a lifetime ago. I’m pretty sure she knew we were there. Occasionally her eyes would light up and her face would break into the most beautiful smile. And then it would fade.
Anyone with a loved one going through this terrible, debilitating disease will recognise that scene. But there’s so little we know about how to prevent cognitive decline and its tragic terminus, dementia. One theory is that the more education one receives, the more resilient one’s brain is – building a cognitive reserve, if you like. But sadly, despite evidence that can suggest more highly educated people are less likely to develop dementia, they are no less likely to suffer cognitive decline. Rather unfairly, education tends to reduce the risk factors associated with dementia, including pollution and poor diet. No happy endings there, I’m afraid.
Come Tuesday, all eyes (well, mine certainly) will be on a courtroom in Manhattan where Donald J. Trump will be formally indicted on criminal charges related to how he allegedly declared hush money to an adult film star during the 2016 election campaign on his financial records. He’ll be the first president in US history to face criminal charges. But until he is arraigned, we won’t know exactly what those charges are and what punishment he will face if found guilty. Yet amazingly, early polling suggests none of this has affected his popularity among his support base. But then he did once say he could “stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I
wouldn’t lose voters”. Seems he may have been right about that.
I’m writing this looking out over our back garden, which is in a state of almost terminal neglect (I prefer to think of it as “rewilding”, but as a journalist I’m committed to accuracy and neglect is a far more appropriate word). There are hours of work waiting to be done and, as I contemplate the tasks on hand, all I can do is thank my stars I’m not one of the 42% of Britons who suffer with hayfever. But why are some people subject to it and not others? This primer is a fascinating seasonal read.
This week we also considered the problem of Japanese knotweed (which I’m pretty sure we don’t have in our garden), we looked at why body language books so often get it wrong, and we wondered what on earth an oil field is doing in Dorset.
From our friends across The Conversation global network we have this piece about the significance of the Palm Sunday donkey, an analysis of why Rwandan leader Paul Kigame was smart to release Hotel Rwanda hero Paul Rusesabagina, and why we should stop eating eels.
As ever, do make time to listen to our podcast, The Conversation Weekly. This week, how digital distractions are eroding our ability to read deeply.
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