@bryan dementia would suck, but I'm hoping they'll have that figured out by the time I get there. They seem to have some pretty good leads. Shingles is strongly linked to cognitive decline, for instance, and I guess the vaccine protects against that.
@bryan survivorship bias survives on survivor anecdotes. My grandmother, a lifelong smoker, died when she was about 60 from lung cancer. No dementia, though, she had that going for her. Entirely aware all the way to the end.
@swelljoe My grandmother quit smoking when she was 70-ish. She stated her habit of smoking daily at 12. Anyway, at 70, she was taking care of her mother at the time. Her mother (my great-grandmother) spent the last 10 years of her life with dementia.
The experience made my grandmother decide she’d rather be dead than “talk like a fool”. So she started to smoke again. She passed many years later and never had dementia.
Golden ObserverThis is an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). I photographed this particular bird several years ago.Step into a world where even the smallest moments—like the glint in a bird's eye—tell their own story.https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #finch #goldfinch
Not many #flowers left:a few things going in the #gardens scattered #weeds + very few native wildflowers. #Pollinators winding down too, but patrolling the remaining flowers shows me a few still at work. This tiny #bee (probably Sweat Bee of some sort) was fully immersed in a Sonchus/Sow Thistle flower head in a little patch I leave on purpose near the house. They're mostly done flowering too, but a few heads left #nature #insects #Alberta #Autumn