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NEWS
When Howard Davidson started to
become forgetful, his wife Trish immedi-
ately suspected he had dementia.
“I knew 100 per cent that was the way
we were heading,” she said. “His father
had dementia and my father had demen-
tia, so I knew there is a huge difference
between normal ageing and the memory
loss you get with dementia.”
But doctors were not convinced. It
took six years, and repeated rounds of
tests, to finally secure a diagnosis. In
August last year a scan finally revealed
Howard, 73, has Alzheimer’s.
Why did it take so long? He is an
accomplished clarinettist and renowned
composer, having spent a lifetime writing
music for theatre, film and television
series such as Michael Palin’s Hemingway
Adventure. A professor of composition
for screen at the Royal Society of Music,
he was still supervising six PhD students.
Trish, 72, said: “There was a huge
reluctance to diagnose him with demen-
tia because he was still able to teach one-
to-one.” Howard was still able to play clar-
inet as well as he ever had, to teach a
complex subject and to compose sophis-
ticated scores for BBC documentaries.
But he was not always able to remember
the name of the piece he had composed.
Dementia screening at a research
project in Bath led to a diagnosis of mild
cognitive impairment, a less serious con-
dition. “I had to really push for an official
diagnosis of dementia,” said Trish.
It is a problem with which many will be
familiar. About 850,000 people in the UK
have dementia and more than 200,
develop the condition each year, but
Ben Spencer Science Editor
a principal, the highest rank,
is the company’s tallest
member, at just under 6ft 3in.
Reece Clarke followed in
the footsteps of his siblings
Ross, Russell and Ryan in
being accepted into the Royal
Ballet School, and has
become the most
accomplished of the lot.
Clarke, 27, is the son of a
former steelworker from
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.
When he started dancing
at the age of three and
entered the school aged 11, it
was the first time that four
boys from the same family all
trained at the institution,
which is based in Richmond
Park, southwest London, and
has alumni including Damefewer than two-thirds are thought to have
a diagnosis. Research published last week
by the Alzheimer’s Society found one in
four people with dementia had waited at
least two years for a diagnosis after first
experiencing symptoms, such as strug-
gling to find the right words, repeating
questions and becoming easily irritable.
Howard resigned in September 2020.
Nearly a year later he was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s. “It was such a huge relief to
get that diagnosis,” said Trish.
The diagnosis allowed Howard to be
put on medication and receive certain
support. Trish added: “It means we can
be proactive about it, we can talk to our
friends about it, we can raise awareness.
It gives us a purpose.”
Howard still plays and composes at his
home in Somerset, and has even set up a
music group for others with dementia.
There is, of course, no way to know
exactly why he is still able to function to
such a high level in some parts of his life,
yet has deteriorated in others.
But there is a growing interest in the
theory that using the brain for abstract,
high-level thinking throughout a lifetime
provides protection against some aspects
of dementia. The concept that this “cog-
nitive reserve” may help people ward off
dementia, particularly in the early stages,
is one that is fascinating to neurologists
and has sparked a wave of “brain train-
ing” apps and programmes.
Tara Spires-Jones, professor of neuro-
degeneration at Edinburgh University,
said when Alzheimer’s strikes, brighter
people are better able to cope with the
onslaught of tangles and plaques of toxic
proteins accumulating in the brain.
She said: “The brain is able to compen-
sate when it is affected by disease. We
don’t know why. But we think it might be
stronger networks, stronger synaptic
connections that allow you to still func-
tion in the face of that kind of pathology.”
A new study led by Exeter and Newcas-
tle universities, funded by the Alz-
heimer’s Society, suggests that better-ed-
ucated people are less likely to receive a
diagnosis of dementia. The researchers,whose findings are published in the jour-
nal BMC Geriatrics, identified 124 people
in Wales living with dementia and
counted how many years they had been
in education. Nineteen of them had pre-
viously been diagnosed and 105 had not.
The scientists acknowledged the num-
bers were small, but they concluded:
“There was some indication that those
with more years of education were less
likely to be diagnosed.” Why might this
be? It comes back to cognitive reserve.
“People with more education may be
higher performers, making earlier signs
of dementia more difficult to detect on
standardised tests since they do not
reach the threshold required for a
dementia diagnosis,” researchers wrote.
“These people are hypothesised to have a
higher cognitive reserve, where the brain
can cope with increasing damage whilst
still functioning adequately. They are
more resilient and can maintain brain
function for longer than people with low
reserve, and dementia is likely to go
undetected for longer, manifesting clini-
cally at a later stage.”
Experts stressed the study merely
hints that brighter people are missing out
on diagnosis, rather than providing proof
because the sample size was so small.
Bart De Strooper, director of the UK
Dementia Research Institute, said: “The
sample is relatively small which
makes the conclusions lack
strong statistical power.
[But] it is logical that people
with a lot of education continue
to perform better in tests even when their
brain is already in the process of demen-
tia. They simply can hide it better.”
But he added: “The bottom line for me
is that a lot of dementia remains undiag-
nosed and that clinicians should give
much more attention to ‘softer’ signs of
incipient dementia, such as depression
or apathy.” He said that research
should focus on better diagnos-
tics — blood tests, for exam-
ple — so that patients
no longer slip
through the net.Better-educated
people ‘can hide
dementia longer’
Higher intelligence
makes the condition
more difficult to
detect, say scientists
Welsh dragon who became a swan
When he started ballet
lessons as a schoolboy,
William Bracewell told his
friends he was doing karate
instead to avoid being bullied.
Now the Swansea-born
dancer, 31, has become the
first Welsh principal at the
Royal Ballet.
Bracewell, the son of a
landscape gardener and
midwife, started classes when
he was about eight after a
friend asked him if he would
take part because she had no
boys in her show. His mother,
Patsy, encouraged him
because he “was quite
hyperactive as a child... it
was a good way for me to
burn off some of that energy”.
Bracewell’s father, Les, had
tried unsuccessfully to get
him interested in rugby.
His son told schoolmates
he was learning martial arts.
“That was probably my own
fear, the reality might have
been different,” he said. “I
hope it would be
different now.”
Bracewell arrived
at the company in
2017 from the
Birmingham Royal
Ballet. He has appeared
in their productions of
Swan Lake and The
Nutcracker.
Joining him asLiam Kelly
Arts CorrespondentDarcey Bussell and Steven
McRae. Clarke’s father,
Robert, was left unable to
work by injuries sustained by
a car crash and his mother,
Ann, was a part-time nanny.
With money tight,
neighbours and local
businesses — including Albert
Bartlett, the potato producer
with a processing plant in
Airdrie — helped to fund the
Clarkes’ tuition and
equipment, while the
school provided full
scholarships.
“There have been a lot
of people on this journey
with me,” he said. “I feel
proud for me and also for
them as well.”
@iamliamkellyHe told
friends
he did
karateReece Clarke,
left, and William
Bracewell have
been promoted
to be the new
principal
dancers of the
Royal Ballet