Medics used to maintain that doing crosswords and puzzles helped to protect one from dementia.
They also said using a second language was good exercise for the brain and staved off dementia.

I speak French all day to my husband, and a bit of Malinke.
I do two hours of mental Olympics with the crosswords/sudokus etc.
I felt extremely smug in the knowledge that I was keeping my mind sharp to the bitter end.

THEN 'they' say that it's not true. No science to back it up. You can get as dotty as a brush even if you do crosswords all day long.

This morning I was struggling to remember the name Una Stubbs. And the name of the programme where the husband called his wife a 'silly old moo'. ('Til Death Us Do Part') Forgot where I'd left the dustpan and brush.
So doing the crosswords hasn't protected me from dementia one little bit.

Gutted...