I’m not posting an article this week. My mother, 82, died this week. She had become physically weaker and weaker over the past 6 months. After a fall that broke her hip, she became immobile and I think the shock to her already quite frail body was just too much for her. All her life my mum was physically quite strong but she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about 3 years ago. Her memory had been getting noticeably worse for about a couple of years before the diagnosis. Steadily my mum ate less and less, often describing any food put in front of her as “disgusting”. By the time we found a place for her in a care home last year, she was surviving mainly on chocolate.

I have great faith in the progress of molecular and medical science and we will beat this awful disease. Until that day please support in whatever way you can the organisations that give dementia sufferers and their families vital help. I’ve added some links here: