Warning Signs

'If dementia were a country it would be the world's 18th largest economy, somewhere between Turkey and Indonesia.'

Scottish broadcaster Sally Magnusson reads her moving but searingly honest account of her mother Mamie Baird's long struggle with dementia. Regarded as one of the finest journalists of her generation, Mamie Baird's whole life was a celebration of words – words that she fought to retain until the very end. Married to writer and broadcaster Magnus Magnusson, the working-class Scot was known for her witty, outrageous and fun-loving stories, her love of music and of life itself. As well as chronicling the anguish, the frustrations and the unexpected laughs that Sally and her sisters experienced while caring for their mother for eight years until her death in 2012, Sally seeks understanding from scientists, doctors, philosophers and historians in the face of one of the greatest challenges of our times. This is both a call to arms, a poignant account of what makes us human, and a portrait of what it is really like to lose a loved one day by day.

In today's episode: the early but frighteningly tell-tale signs of dementia emerge on a trip to Mull.

Abridged by: Sara Davies
Produced by: Justine Willett
Reader: Sally Magnusson: Sally Magnusson is a Scottish broadcaster and writer, currently working as the presenter of Reporting Scotland for BBC Scotland. Her father is the late broadcaster and writer Magnus Magnusson.