The persistence of memory (not)

This morning I had one of the most frustrating telephone conversations of my life. I was trying to help my mum, who has well advanced Alzheimer's disease, with her upcoming appointments, which have become totally confused in her addled mind. I explained, slowly and carefully, the arrangements to her, not once, not twice, but TWELVE times before I was satisfied (and even then, not completely) that she understood what was in place and what was not.
"No, M isn't coming then, so cross that out in your diary now. Have you done that?"
"Yes. Now,when is M coming?"
Variations on that theme continued for the next half hour.
A report recently suggested that any life style issues concerned with reduced blood flow to the brain are risk factors for Alzheimer's: obesity, smoking, high blood pressure etc. But neither my mum, nor my father in law, whose memory loss is even more severe, have ever had any of these problems. Where does that leave us? For me, I've decided to lose a little weight, mainly to look better naked (is there a better reason?) but now also to ward the onset of brain rot. Truth is, I suspect, that Alzheimer's is a lottery: some of of us win, but most of us lose. Let's hope I stay lucky (and you too)

COMMENT

Details have emerged about Julian Assange's sex crimes. Turns out he had already had consensual sex with a woman, then tried to do it again while she was asleep. This second act she objected to as it was without her consent. Since then a number of notables have stood up in his defence, including gorgeous George Galloway. Women's rights groups have been less supportive, however. They say sexual relations without the consent of one party is rape, and they have the law (in the UK at any rate) on their side.

I have blogged before about the fact that there are different levels of seriousness in rape. Being attacked by a masked stranger in the street who holds a knife to the woman's throat while raping her is obviously far more serious than what Assange is being charged with, which does not exonerate him in any way. And while I have reservations about the underlying political motivation of the Swedish authorities, who may be being pressured by the US to extradite him so they can put him away forever for compromising their national security, the fact remains that Assange does seem to have a case to answer in Sweden, whether Georgie agrees or not.