NOVEMBER 2022 NOVEMBER 2022 £3.99 readersdigest.co.uk HEALTH • MONEY • TRAVEL • RECIPES • CULTURE • REAL STORIES 12 MEMORIES Of A Bold Counter-Terror Barrister Q U E E N E L I Z A B E T H I I REMEMBERING OUR BELOVED MONARCH + WIN The 2022 Gold Sovereign On Bond, Bravado And Being A Dad IDRIS ELBA
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Contents NOVEMBER 2022 NOVEMBER 2022 • 1 16 IT’S A MANN’S WORLD Olly Mann discovers he owns a fridge magnet collection ENTERTAINMENT 20 INTERVIEW: IDRIS ELBA The beloved British actor on bravado and James Bond 28 “I REMEMBER”: BARNABY JAMESON The memories of a bold counter-terrorist barrister HEALTH 36 CYSTIC FIBROSIS A real-life story of living with the debilitating disease 42 STOMACH PAINS Symptoms to look out for INSPIRE 56 QUEEN ELIZABETHII Looking back on the remarkable life of our Queen 66 THE PAUL O'SULLIVANS How one Facebook message led to a lifetime of friendship Features 72 NATURIST CRUISING Why sailing with no clothes on is the most stress-free holiday you will ever experience 82 MARIANA STARKE The 19th-century woman who pioneered the modern guidebook TRAVEL 90 THE SHORES OF DEVON Rediscovering the beauty of the southern England county p56 p90 cover photo by Sebastien Vincent/Contour by Getty Images
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NOVEMBER 2022 • 3 8 Over to You 12 See the World Differently HEALTH 44 Advice: Susannah Hickling 48 Column: Dr Max Pemberton 51 Memory: Jonathan Hancock DATING & RELATIONSHIPS 52 Column: Monica Karpinski INSPIRE 64 If I Ruled the World: Alison Sudol TRAVEL & ADVENTURE 98 My Great Escape 100 Hidden Gems: Mexico City MONEY 102 Column: Andy Webb DIY 106 Knitting a hat for your dog with Tom Daley PETS 110 Grieving our pets FOOD & DRINK 112 A Taste ofHome 114 World Kitchen: Spain ENTERTAINMENT 116 November's Cultural Highlights BOOKS 122 November Fiction: James Walton’s Recommended Reads 127 Books That Changed My Life: Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock TECHNOLOGY 128 Column: James O’Malley FUN & GAMES 130 You Couldn’t Make It Up 133 Word Power 136 Brain Teasers 140 Laugh! 143 Beat the Cartoonist 144 A Century of Change In every issue p106 Contents NOVEMBER 2022 p127
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NOVEMBER 2022 • 7 T he global quiet that descended following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was, for most of us, unlike anything we’ve experienced. Beloved across the world, our longestreigning monarch’s death moved even the most stoical, as we came together to mourn her— whether reflecting on her reign, queuing to see her coffin, or simply watching the Paddington films. Her Majesty had a long and generous relationship with Reader’s Digest. Back in 1985, she sat for a portrait by Michael Leonard, commissioned by us for her 60th birthday. It now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, and you can see it on p61. In it, she sits smiling in an Easter-yellow dress, one of her beloved corgis sat contentedly on her lap. And just this year, she took the time to send you, our readers, a message celebrating the 100th anniversary of our magazine. All that remains is to say thank you, Your Majesty. It was a pleasure to serve you. Turn to p56 to read our final farewell. Anna and Eva EDITORS’ LETTERS Reader’sDigest is published in 23 editions in 10 languages Follow Us facebook.com/ readersdigestuk twitter.com/ readersdigestuk @readersdigest_uk You can also sign up to our newsletter at readersdigest.co.uk In This Issue…
Over To You LETTERS ON THE September ISSUE We pay £50 for Letter ofthe Month and £30 for all others Words cannot describe how much I needed to read Dr Max’s article about forgiveness. After struggling for years with the effects of bullying at school, I feel like I have finally been given a clear reason to forgive the boys who set out to hurt me. People like Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai famously forgave their oppressors and it is recommended we do so in the Lord’s Prayer, but I have never felt able to, particularly as the boys who bullied me never showed any remorse. Dr Max has clarified it for me in such a way that I have a new determination to set myself free from the effects and release myself from the bullies’ hold on me. One thing to keep in mind is that forgiveness takes time; it is not something that can be rushed, nor is it saying that what the perpetrator did was OK. It is simply loosening their grip on your heart, which is what I needed to lead a peaceful life free from the tormenting influence of my bullies. Annabel Barker, Sussex LETTEROF THE MONTH HOME TRUTHS Comedian Glenn Moore had a good idea in If I Ruled, namely that during election campaigning, there should be an independent vote deduction committee. Meaning that if any party was found to be lying,during their campaign, then there would be a percentage of the votes deducted. Yes, it might get boring because politicians would have to only tell you things they could stick to, but it would restore my faith in them. In a world that places truth so low down in the pecking order of societal values, is it any wonder that politicians continue to show such casual disregard for it? Josie Drury, Flint 8 • NOVEMBER 2022
Send letters to [email protected] Include your full name, address, email and daytime phone number. We may edit letters and use them in all print and electronic media WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! SAGE ADVICE I’m so glad I read “Ask the Expert: Life After Menopause”. If you’d asked me 19 years ago if I would still be getting menopausal symptoms I would have laughed in your face, but I am. The menopause is a natural condition of course. It is not a disease that needs medical treatment. However, some women have to seek treatment for the relief of peri-menopausal symptoms. I’ve tried HRT but it didn’t do well for me. However, I noted your expert’s advice about a Mediterranean diet, focusing on aerobic exercises to keep my heart healthy and weight-bearing exercises to protect my bones. I’ll also be taking omega-3 and, importantly, managing stress with mindfulness and yoga. I’m taking all this on board and can I just say I am really grateful because sometimes it’s felt like I was very alone, but I don’t feel that way anymore. I can help myself endure the menopause, and maybe one day the symptoms will go completely. I live in hope! karen yetton, Cambridgeshire THE DANCING QUEEN It was really interesting to read about the Black ballerina, Julie Felix, who was unable to pursue a career in the UK after being told by the London Festival Ballet that she could never perform simply due to the colour of her skin. I loved learning that Julie Felix eventually travelled to New York and joined the Harlem Dance Theatre. Abroad, she began an enriching and successful career, going on to lead Black excellence in dance. I hope that her story will be a help to others who may also be facing obstacles and prejudices in their working world. Thank you for sharing this uplifting story. Manisa Kuinkel, Harrow NOVEMBER 2022 • 9 R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T
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SEE THE WORLD... turn the page SEE THE WORLD... turn the page photo: © getty images/jens schott knudsen
photo: © shutterstock / maria passer The Fujian Tulou in southeastern China are aUnescoWorldHeritage Site. The multi-storey buildings are made of clay—tulou means “earthen house”—and served as both homes and fortifications. The oldest are more than 700 years old andwere designed to have no blind spots, and only a single, easily defensible entrance. All other doors, aswell as thewindows ofthe lowerfloors, open to the courtyard. The group of tulou pictured here is nicknamed “four dishes and a soup.” …DIFFERENTLY 15
illustration by Emma Thrussell I T ’ S A M A N N ’ S W O R L D 16 • NOVEMBER 2022
NOVEMBER 2022 • 17 When The Queen died, and newscasters were bedecked in black, and Gyles Brandreth was suddenly everywhere, one royal factoid jumped out at me: Her Majesty, it transpires, was an avid collector of stamps. She’d picked up the hobby when her grandfather George V, a pioneering philatelist, passed his precious albums down the family tree (my gramps did this, too; but sadly the stamps he collected were of the Green Shield variety. Worthless in the 21st century, they at least make for a more charming heirloom than a Nectar card). This got me thinking about how few "collections" I keep myself. I certainly possess the collecting gene: Dad sold classic cars for a living and, as a kid, I prodigiously picked up West End theatre flyers and stuffed them into a drawer. By my teenage years, I owned thousands, including some pamphlets promoting productions that had flopped and quickly closed—The Hunting of the Snark, Which Witch, Moby Dick… curios that might, Olly Mann muses on the worth of a very personal collection That's Olly Mann presents Four Thought for BBC Radio 4, and the podcasts The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped and The Retrospectors My Lot
my daily history podcast, and a box of old lanyards from various conferences, which I retained at first because I couldn’t bear to throw away all that plastic, and then because I thought one day I might make some sort of artsy display out of them using clothes pegs, which of course has not and never will actually happen. Anyway, I was waffling on to my wife about how weird it is that I don’t collect anything, and she sighed, and gestured behind me, at the fridgefreezer. At first, I thought she just wanted me to shut up and get out of the way so she could hit the white wine. As indeed she did. But then I looked at the fridge doors she’d been pointing at, and suddenly I saw—as if for the first time—that I own 57 fridge magnets. How bizarre it is to have spent 20 years traversing the world, scouring souvenir shops, airport duty-frees and hotel boutiques for novelty fridge magnets… without once consciously being aware I was curating a "collection"! I guess it’s because fridge magnets are, seemingly, so inconsequential and silly—basically just trinkets you stick up on a stainless steel I suppose, be worth a few quid on eBay by now. But, aged 19, keen to put away childish things, I ruthlessly chucked them into the bin, in a ritualistic pre-university purge of my possessions (at which time I also sent my vintage Mr Potato Head packing off to Oxfam. Mistake!). These days, my cabinets are teeming with keepsakes. They topple from huge piles. They prop up broken beams and slats. But could any of these fairly be termed a "collection"? There’s a stockpile of my own ephemera—an exercise book from primary school; the first article I wrote for a mag; posters for plays I directed at college; on-air scripts I’ve used in radio programmes—but amassing memorabilia from one’s own career and tacking it up on the wall doesn’t really count as a collection, does it? That’s more like a creative filing system (incidentally, I wonder if this explains how the Queen maintained her passion for stamps? It’s easier to keep a personal interest in objects that have your face on them). Looking around my office, the closest things I have to a collection are a pile of "on this day in history" books, which I use for researching 18 • NOVEMBER 2022 I T ’ S A M A N N ’ S W O R L D SUDDENLY I LOOKED AT THE FRIDGE DOORS AND SAW, AS IF FOR THE FIRST TIME, THAT I OWN 57 FRIDGE MAGNETS
I Do-Nut Believe It In 2011, a dougnutshop in Portland, Oregan wastold by the FDA to stop adding medicine to itsfood, because they were using NyQuil and Pepto-Bismol in their doughnuts The creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening said he based Homer’slove of doughnuts on his dad, also named Homer Winchell’s Donut House in California made the world’slargest doughnut, weighing in at 5,000 pounds and measuring 95 feet wide source: today.com, nypost.com slab to cheer it up a bit—that they don’t seem worthy of serious contemplation. Particularly my ones, as I have a preference for the cartoonish and humorous: there’s a starfish with sunglasses on (Siesta Key, Florida), one that’s shaped like fish and chips (Southend), and, my pride and joy, a stunningly recreated scale-model of a bubbling paella pan, complete with yellow rice and googly-eyed shrimp (Marbella). These tchotchkes are so knowingly naff—like the furry dice I once dangled from the mirror of my first car, a lime-green 1985 Austin Metro—that until now, I’ve never considered their worth. Financially, they’re valueless, since even the ones that might interest a fellow connoisseur (the Gaudí-style lizard from Barcelona? The chunky gold skyscraper from Dubai?) have all at some stage fallen to the floor, and then been superglued back to health. But, for me, the "collector", they are… well, I hesitate to say priceless, but I’d happily hand over another couple of hundred quid for them, as they hold so many memories. Some even include photos of me, like the one from our honeymoon at a San Pedro safari park. Others effortlessly conjure up nostalgia, youth and enthusiasm: our lastminute getaway to Kaliakra, Bulgaria (the kind of spontaneous weekend that seems more possible before children); the Radio 4 one I bought at the BBC shop just because I was so proud to work in the building; even the depiction of Oregon woodland creatures, which I purchased solely to receive the receipt (it said "beaver magnet"). By no means is this a collection my grandchildren will want to inherit. It is, essentially, only meaningful to me. But, in the end, isn’t that the best kind of collection to have? Q NOVEMBER 2022 • 19 R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T
20 ENTERTAINMENT
L ike all the best artists, Idris Elba can surprise you when you least expect it. The British actordirector-DJ is sitting in front of me, espousing on his love of all things literary over his morning coffee. “I love poetry,” he insists when we meet in a suite in Cannes’ Majestic Hotel. “I wouldn’t say I’m an anorak for poets. I couldn’t tell you, ‘Oh, this one said that.’ But I love the art of words and forming sentences and beautifying language.” To look at—6ft 2in tall, six-pack, tattoos—you’d think this 50-year-old spends more time in the gym than the library. He’s frequently played the tough guy in shows like The Wire, “a massive changing point in my life”, when he excelled as drug kingpin Russell “Stringer” Bell. Or movies like American Gangster and The Suicide Squad. But look further and you’ll also find him giving a soulful turn as anti-Apartheid freedom fighter Nelson Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom. When we meet, it’s the day after the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his recent new movie, Three Thousand Years of Longing. In this swooning modern-day fable, another left field choice, he plays a Djinn who arrives in the hotel room of Tilda Swinton’s solitary academic, offering her three wishes. “I find it really poetic in the sense that you cannot buy love, you JamesMottramcatchesupwiththeHackneybornmega-star andRenaissancemanatthe CannesFilmFestival Idris Elba On Bond, Bravado, And Being A Dad PHOTO BY SEBASTIEN VINCENT/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES NOVEMBER 2022 • 21
22 • NOVEMBER 2022 Starring in The Wire, American Gangster and Long Walk to Freedom LANDMARK MEDIA / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
NOVEMBER 2022 • 23 cannot wish for love,” he says. “It’s either there or it isn’t there… which is a cautionary tale for all of us, isn’t it? Maybe that’s romantic!” Last night, accompanied by his wife-of-three-years Sabrina, Elba was playing genial host at one of the festival’s most glamorous afterparties. Porte Noire, his very own wine label, sponsored the event, while he got up on stage to introduce Matteo Bocelli—son to the great Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli—who sang new composition “Cautionary Tale” from the film. “Oh, yeah, Matteo, what a treat,” he reflects. “That was a beautiful treat. I think that song should be recognised. Because it’s very beautiful.” Again, there’s that ingrained sensitivity. “Music is therapy for me,” he explains. “It’s nourishing. And I can close my eyes and find myself somewhere else when I listen to music.” Over the summer, he released “Walk of Shame”, the latest track on his own label 7Wallace, which he founded in 2015 to bring new hip-hop and dance acts to the fore. Every Friday, he’d jet off to Ibiza to DJ, sweating behind those turntables. “I prefer to actually work,” he says. “I try not to take gigs where it’s more about a personal appearance.” Born and raised in Hackney, Elba started DJing for his uncle at weddings when he was a teenager. R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T AJ PICS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
24 • NOVEMBER 2022 Shortly afterwards, he began to act. “I had a very good drama teacher—who I also had a crush on!” he chuckles. “But she was so instrumental in helping me structure a plan. At 14, she recognised I was good at drama. By 16, she had already helped me figure out what the next stages were for taking it seriously. She gave me a lot.” He was also advanced for his years. “I’m a good student. I’m just not very good with authority, so it’s a bit of a strange one there. I was like, ‘I know it all!’ I’ve always looked older than I actually am. Always. So that was an issue for me. When kids were riding their bikes into school, I had a little Mini Cooper and a goatee beard—so I never got stopped by the police! I was a man! That was an issue for me, being at school. I was like, ‘I don’t need to do this. I can get into clubs if I want.’” For all this youthful bravado, Elba had an industrious intent about him, even in his teens. His late father Winston, from Sierra Leone, was a shop steward at the Ford Dagenham plant, while Ghanian mother Eve worked in housing for the council. When he told them he wanted to be “WHILE OTHER KIDS WERE RIDING THEIR BIKES TO SCHOOL, I HAD A MINI COOPER AND A GOATEE” TCD/PROD.DB / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
an actor, they came in with some very practical advice. “They were like, ‘Why don’t you go and work with your dad at Ford for a year and then you can save up some money?’ And that was exactly what happened.” After he left the plant, he started auditioning, gradually getting regular paid work on British television. But he did it the hard way. “Listen, man… I never got a silver spoon. I didn’t come from a drama school background. I came from the open audition background—‘OK, show us what you got then.’ That’s where I started my career.” Elba’s very first job came in a government infomercial, encouraging people to lock their bikes. “I didn’t have to do much acting. I just had to run after a bike that had been stolen.” Crimewatch recreations soon followed. It wasn’t until he moved to New York that his career accelerated. Though not an overnight smash, The Wire gradually became recognised as one of the great shows of the 2000s, just as television went into its golden age, with Elba’s Stringer Bell a key character. He based him “on dudes that I knew when I was growing up in Hackney”, streetwise guys selling weed in the local pubs that his father would take him too. “They weren’t gangsters, they were the nicest fellas in the world.” Elba’s career built steadily thereafter—from playing the titular (Left) Elba behind the turntables (Right) With his wife Sabrina Dhowre atthe wedding of Meghan Markle and PrinceHarry NOVEMBER 2022 • 25 PA IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
detective in BBC show Luther to directing 2018 Jamaican gangster tale Yardie. He also featured in Marvel’s Thor as the gatekeeper of Asgard, a role he’s returned to several times since. “Those Marvel movies are actually a little more difficult to make,” he says, “because they live in a realism that isn’t something we can all relate to: I’m in the realm, I’ve got a sword that does this and that! To try and make that somewhat believable actually does require a bit of acting.” The same can be said for Elba’s other new movie Beast, a thriller set on a South African game reserve, in which he plays a fatherof-two who has to protect his two daughters when a lion goes rogue. The incredibly realistic creature was entirely computer-generated—a remarkable sight when Elba’s Dr Nate Samuels is being pawed at underneath his jeep. “This was a physical being, an animal that was literally ripping me apart, that wasn’t there. That was a skill set that I had to learn. I haven’t done that before.” He didn’t have to try too hard when it came to acting out the adrenaline-fuelled fears of being a parent, though. He has two kids of his own from past relationships— daughter Isan, 20, with ex-wife Hanne Nørgaard and son Winston, eight, with former girlfriend Naiyana Gart. Isan even auditioned for the part of one of Samuels’ kids but didn’t get the role—which did not make Elba the most popular father on the block. “She’s great, but the relationship in the film and the relationship between my daughter was… the chemistry wasn’t right for 26 • NOVEMBER 2022
NOVEMBER 2022 • 27 the film.” A B-movie with A-list visual effects, where Elba gets to show his more vulnerable side—it’s another slick trick from him. “This is a man that doesn’t fight, he can’t fight, let alone fight a lion.” Even the trailer shows Elba punching the beast in retaliation, a scene he questioned. “I was thinking, I’m not sure how this guy’s going to punch a lion. No-one punches a lion! These are the things that we had to really dissect and understand. I was conscious that this isn’t an action hero guy. This is a normal guy that just can’t fight.” That’s Elba all over: a man that walks the tightrope of what audiences crave. He recently ruled himself out as the next James Bond (“It is not a goal for my career,” he told The Shop podcast), instead completing the long-awaited movie version of Luther. It’s another “pinnacle” in a career full of them. “I remember I got to a stage where I didn’t have to audition so much and that blew my mind,” he muses. “Even now, if I get a phone call from a director who wants to work with me, it still feels the same: ‘Can I get this job? Can I do it?’” The answer is yes. Idris Elba can do it all. Q Beast is available to download and keep on November 14, 2022 “WHEN I GOT TO A STAGE WHERE I DIDN’T HAVE TO AUDITION, IT BLEW MY MIND” Starring in Beast © 2022 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ENTERTAINMENT
29 Barnaby Jameson, 48, is a counterterrorist barrister who has appeared in some of the most infamous terrorism trials in recent UK history, including prosecuting members of the Islamic State and British neo-Nazis. He has just published his first book Codename: Madeleine and lives in South London with his adopted son Firo Barnaby JamesonKC I R E M E M B E R …
Barnaby’s parents, Conrad and Tricia I R E M E M B E R 30 • NOVEMBER 2022 of people turning up to make long distance calls on his account! I remember looking for a lion with a friend of mine. It was rumoured to be roaming in the Moravian Burial Grounds. The adults said it was just a myth but it turned out that it was actually true! A boutique had bought a lion cub to put in their shop window and the owners used to walk it in the gardens outside a church until a vicar complained it was now too big and was going to start eating his parishioners. I REMEMBER FINDING IT QUITE HARD TO REBEL AGAINST ANYTHING with the upbringing I had, so I suppose I went the other way and became quite conservative and definitely apolitical. I’m still pretty phlegmatic when it comes to I GREW UP IN WHAT I THINK NOW WAS PROBABLY A HIGHLY UNUSUAL HOUSEHOLD just off the King’s Road in the 1970s. My dad is American and he had lots of counter-cultural friends. I remember Benjamin Zephaniah turning up for a dub poetry reading and my mother insisting that the strange smelling fumes coming from the living room were legal. I did believe her then but I don’t believe her now! CHELSEA IN THE 1970S WAS FULL OF ADVENTURE. Our neighbours were Bianca Jagger and John Paul Getty II, who had a red phone box installed in his house as he was sick
(Left) Barnaby’s son, Firo NOVEMBER 2022 • 31 politics today to be honest. I’ve found that not being too partisan, even when I’m the prosecutor, works better with a jury. It’s more effective to be reasonable and calm as my hope is, with that attitude, a jury will be even more convinced of a person’s guilt if they can see that someone as rational as me believes he or she is guilty. MY FIRST EXPERIENCE ABOUT THE POWER OF MASS ACTION that really affected me was seeing the work of a group called SLAG in Chelsea in the 1970s and early 1980s, which stood for Save London Action Group. There was a glut of demolitions around the King’s Road at that time and the old Kensington Town Hall was pulled down in the middle of the night! Local residents started lying in the middle of the road to stop the bulldozers and it was the first time I saw people tying themselves to trees. Legally speaking, doing that is still a very difficult thing for the police to deal with and it can be effective. Extinction Rebellion weren’t the first people to try this kind of action and it worked in Chelsea’s case to a large degree as many of the grand old squares did survive. I HAD A HUGE LOVE OF HUGE RUSSIAN NOVELS when I was a teenager, especially Tolstoy and Turgenev. I was into acting as well and I performed in a staging of R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T
I R E M E M B E R disappointed by the quality of the teaching. I’d had some of the best teachers in the country when I was at Westminster, while at Cambridge a lot of the tutors were, frankly, a lot more interested in their own PhD research than they were in teaching us. I REMEMBER DOING A LAW CONVERSION COURSE IN LONDON after my history degree at Cambridge, and wishing that I was on the Trans-Siberian Express. Doing a law conversion in a year is a bit like eating an entire loaf of bread in one mouthful, and it was absolutely brutal. I’d done a bit of freelance 32 • NOVEMBER 2022 Twelfth Night alongside a very young Nick Clegg (who played Sebastian, the twin brother of the woman who disguises herself as Cesario). He was actually a very good actor, though there were lots of other interesting people I went to school with. Lord Lucan’s son, George, was in my first school and he came into the playground on the day after the infamous murder. He just described it as “a bit of a commotion last night” and we all went back to class! I STUDIED HISTORY AT MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. I did have a good time there but I remember being slightly
, NOVEMBER 2022 • 33 journalism and book reviewing in New York in between and I got offered a well-paid gig to ride the train across Russia for two months. It would have been my Dr Zhivago dream come true and I did wonder if I’d done the right thing when I was sitting through yet another tedious, utterly incomprehensible lecture about tort law. The sad thing is that I’ve still never ridden the TransSiberian to this day. ONE OF MY FIRST COURT CASES WAS DEFENDING MY DAD! He was an architect and was accused of a crime through his work which related to money, but I don’t want to go into any more detail than that. I was only in my early twenties and what started as a civil case ended up as a criminal case in the Old Bailey. It was pretty overwhelming for me at that time, but the case against my dad failed and I do feel a lot of pride that I was able to help him when he needed it. I’VE BEEN INVOLVED IN SOME PRETTY HIGH-PROFILE COUNTER TERRORISM CASES but one that I’m very proud of is the case of Alex Davies, who was the UK leader of a neo-Nazi group called National Action. Often, in these types of cases, you’re prosecuting people quite far R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T TheOld Bailey; (Opposite) True BlueDinner, Cambridge
I R E M E M B E R 34 • NOVEMBER 2022 down the chain of command. Davies was a rarity as he really was the leader of this group who were planning to murder the MP Rosie Cooper and were extremely dangerous. It was chilling when Davies stated in court to me that he wanted all Jewish people to be deported. He had a degree from the University of Warwick so he did have intelligence. This is why I always believe that terrorists can take many forms; you can pass the most innocuous-looking person on the street and have no idea about their beliefs or intentions. I REMEMBER WORKING ON ONE REAL “COLLECTOR’S ITEM” CASE where we managed to prosecute a London taxi driver called Anis Sardar who, years earlier, was planting bombs in Iraq. The case involved him and an American soldier who was killed in a bomb blast, so it was a real international affair. He was tried here rather than being extradited to the US and was given a 38- year sentence. He would probably still be a cabbie now if he hadn’t been randomly stopped at Heathrow and had his fingerprints taken, which matched those found on two of the bombs. MY GRANDFATHER, SQUADRON LEADER GEOFFREY CURRAN, went on an SOE (Special Operations Executive) mission to Ethiopia during the Second World War. He met the Emperor, Haile Selassie, and my connection to the country enabled me and my then-wife Natasha to travel there to adopt a baby in Addis Ababa. We first met Firo (who has allowed me to With son Firo
tell his story) when he was six months old and he was very malnourished. We were given some bleak assessments of the future health issues he might face in London but one brilliant paediatrician called Mando Watson told us he just needed filling up. She was right and he’s now a very brilliant 12-year-old who, at the moment, wants to be either an actor or a chef. I’M A HUGE FAN OF KITESURFING, especially in Greece on the Aegean. There’s something about the sport that really blows the cobwebs away after I’ve been working on a difficult case. You can’t let your brain be distracted when you’re kitesurfing or you’re liable to crash into something! I’ve had a few knocks over the years but I love to just focus on something right in the here with total concentration. In fact, I’m taking myself away with my board and my laptop next week to write the second volume of my Resistance novels series. Q As told to Rob Crossan Codename: Madeleine by Barnaby Jameson is out now, published by WhiteFox, £12.99 NOVEMBER 2022 • 35 R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T Kite surfing in Kos
For years, I feared for my child’s life. Then science did something amazing for people with cystic fibrosis By Abby Alten Schwartz from the washington post ICanJustBe Her Mum photograph by Jim Wright HEALTH 36
38 • NOVEMBER 2022 Two years ago, my daughter, Samantha, graduated from university. She went on to start her first full-time job and go flat hunting with her best friend. These milestones, bittersweet for most parents, have felt monumental to me. As Sammie steps into her future, our family stands on the precipice of a life we didn’t dare contemplate before now. Because, until recently, I still believed I would outlive her. that impairs breathing and leads to lung infections. It has been described as trying to breathe through a narrow straw all day long. After her diagnosis, Sammie’s daily routine was daunting. She took more than a dozen prescription drugs, including pancreatic enzymes at every meal to digest her food. She did twice-daily respiratory therapy, breathing a nebulised cocktail of drugs to thin the mucus in her airways, while an oscillating vest on her little body shook the mucus loose. When she was small, we pounded on her chest and back with cupped hands, distracting her with children’s videos. “Treatment should be a treat, right, Mummy?” she’d say, parroting what I told her. I C A N J U S T B E H E R M U M My daughter was almost two when we learned she had cystic fibrosis (CF), a progressive genetic disease that affects breathing, digestion, and other functions while slowly destroying the lungs. She had been dropping weight for months, her once plump arms reduced to sticks, her belly distended. A sweat test detected CF, which a blood test confirmed. “The good news is the life expectancy for someone with cystic fibrosis is almost 31 years,” her paediatrician said. My husband, Stuart, and I sat in stunned silence. I was 31 at the time. CF is caused by a mutation in the gene that controls how salt passes through cells. This causes a buildup of thick, sticky mucus in the airways To reduce my daughter to a diagnosis was to dismiss everything about her
NOVEMBER 2022 • 39 Stuart and I worked as a team. We acclimated the way parents do when living with chronic illness, a current of anxiety always humming in the background. As her mum, I was more than a caretaker. I was the eyewitness, recordkeeper, connector of dots, making sure every doctor, nurse, insurance provider, pharmacist, and teacher was aligned. Raising a child with CF was like driving through a blizzard. Gripping the wheel, it took all my strength to keep from careening off the road. I focused only on what I could see in my headlights, relying on blind trust to get through the most difficult patches. I was terrified to look too far ahead. For a while, Sammie’s lung function held steady, and it felt like we were in control. Only once in the first decade after her diagnosis and initial hospitalisation did she need to be admitted for a gruelling two-week course of IV antibiotics. Many kids with CF were hospitalised yearly or even more often. I knew people died young from CF, but I refused to believe she’d be one of them. Then my worst nightmare struck one night when I got a call at 3.45am. It was one of my friends in our CF parents support group. Her voice was a monotone. “The hospital just called. Sam’s gone.” My friend’s daughter, also named Samantha, was 22. She’d flown home for Thanksgiving and checked into the hospital for a routine course of IV antibiotics to help clear out a lung infection. Her death was a devastating gut punch. Though our family life was structured around Sammie’s disease, I never treated her as if she had a fatal illness. I saved my rare breakdowns for the privacy of my shower or a phone call with a CF mum-friend. Stuart and I put money aside for her university and talked about the future. To reduce my daughter to a diagnosis was to dismiss everything about her. Her intelligence and sharp wit. Her creativity and kindness, the strength of her will. Her ability to make me laugh so hard I cried. For her, laughing hard would lead to a fit of coughing, a defining Stuart, Abby, and Sammie at home in Pennsylvania, US, in the months leading up to the CF diagnosis photo courtesy of abby alten schwartz
characteristic of this disease. In secondary school, Sammie and I argued regularly as she pushed back against my hypervigilance. The more she struggled for independence, the more tightly I held on. If she missed a respiratory treatment, I accused her of being cavalier with her life. The truth was, I was terrified. The summer before her final year of school, Sammie was hit with a triple lung infection. She was hospitalised, given intravenous antibiotics and airway clearance therapy every three to four hours, around-the-clock. Despite weeks of intensive treatment, first at the hospital and then at home, she didn’t bounce back as we had hoped. At 18, her routine included hardcore prescription pills with terrifying warning labels and insulin shots for CF-related diabetes, a common development. It felt like my daughter had veered down a path with narrowing possibilities. Another friend’s daughter succumbed in her twenties. At her funeral, I sat between two other CF mums. We were the lucky ones whose daughters were still alive. Silent, we stared ahead, clutching one another’s hands. I envisioned the three of us on a rowboat, in the middle of a stormtossed ocean, sharks circling—waiting to tear us apart. At 22, Sammie joined a clinical trial for a triple-combination drug to target the underlying cause of CF: its mutated protein. For years, we’d heard about this new generation of drugs in the pipeline that focused on restoring that protein’s function. Less powerful versions had come to market for smaller CF populations with rare mutations, and those were gamechangers. This new drug would address the most prevalent mutation, and Phase 2 trials looked promising. 40 • NOVEMBER 2022 I C A N J U S T B E H E R M U M A DRUG WITH PROMISE Known as Kaftrio in Europe, Trikafta has been approved for use in the United States,Canada, Australia, theUnited Kingdom, and the EuropeanUnion for patients aged 12 and older. Ittargets the specific genetic mutations that are present in 90 per cent of cystic fibrosis cases and can drastically reduce or even eliminate the presence of mucus in the lungs, enabling easier breathing. Research suggests that Trikafta has the potentialto increase the life expectancy of someonewith cystic fibrosis by roughly a decade. I was a mess the week Trikafta was approved. It felt like I could finally exhale
For the first few months of the Phase 3 trial, nothing changed for my daughter. We assumed she was among those taking the placebo. Then the study entered its open-label stage when all participants received the drug. Within hours of taking her first pills, Sammie began coughing violently as her airways were purged of mucus. Within a week, her lung function skyrocketed, and her chronic cough disappeared. Within months, her blood sugar levels normalised, and she could stop injecting herself with insulin, although she continues to take other medications. The drug, Trikafta, received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in November 2019. It arrived like the hero in an action film, snipping the wire on a ticking time bomb with only seconds remaining on the clock. I was a mess the week Trikafta was approved. It felt like I’d been holding my breath for 20 years and could finally exhale. I inhaled stories about young adults with CF suddenly moved off lung transplant lists or able to have kids. My daughter got tired of hearing me talk about it. “I know you’re excited about the drug, and I get it, but you have to understand. I was never afraid of dying from CF,” she said. I sat with that a moment. “Good,” I said. “That means I did my job well.” Parenting a child with a chronic illness is, in many ways, like parenting any child. It requires trust and a willingness to live with uncertainty. Eventually, you have to let go and hope your child has absorbed the lessons you tried to impart. My daughter has grown into a remarkable young woman. Strong, confident, and capable. She no longer needs me to be her caretaker. I can just be her mum. Q the washington post (august 14, 2021), copyright © 2021 by the washington post NOVEMBER 2022 • 41 R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T photo courtesy of abby alten schwartz The family taking in a baseball game in 2019
HEALTH 42 • NOVEMBER 2022 What many of us refer to as a stomach ache can indicate different things that are happening in the abdomen, not all of which affect the stomach. Often the discomfort we’re feeling is due to indigestion, gas or an intestinal virus. But certain symptoms may signal something more serious that you should have checked by a doctor, especially if it involves severe pain or persists beyond a few days. Here are four examples. Dull burning pain, often in the upper part of the abdomen This is the hallmark sign of a peptic ulcer, and usually comes with bloating, burping, poor appetite and weight loss. The pain can often be relieved by taking antacids or eating certain foods, such as those high in fibre (like oatmeal). Peptic ulcers are sores on the lining of the stomach or at the top of the small intestine. And despite what many think, they’re not caused by stress. Instead, you can blame one of two major culprits: Helicobacter pylori (or H. pylori), a type of bacteria that damages the mucous coating of the stomach; or the overuse of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen. Which ones should you worry about? Abdominal Pains By Susan Jara
NOVEMBER 2022 • 43 If you also experience symptoms including nausea, vomiting, blood in your stool, chest pain or back pain, you should see a doctor right away. Sharp pain in the lower right side This kind of pain could be caused by appendicitis, especially if you also have a low-grade fever, vomiting and constipation or diarrhea, according to the Mayo Clinic. If you do have appendicitis, the pain will likely increase whenever you move around, take deep breaths, cough or sneeze. Appendicitis happens when the appendix becomes inflamed and filled with pus, often from an infection. Treatment usually requires surgery to remove the appendix before it ruptures and spreads infection throughout the abdominal cavity. Discomfort around the belly button If this type of pain is coupled with dull pain near the shoulder, and seems to act up after eating fatty meals, gallstones may be to blame. And if you’re over the age of 40 and you’ve been pregnant, you’re at greater risk than the rest of the population. This is because spikes in oestrogen, common during pregnancy, may cause these tiny stones to form in the gallbladder. According to Dr Lawrence J Brandt, a gastroenterologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, gallstones can go undetected for years. They are generally painless unless they get stuck in the cystic duct—a tube that connects the gallbladder with another tube that carries bile from the liver—in which case you should discuss surgical and medication options with your doctor. Sudden pain in the lower left area If abdominal pain strikes suddenly, along with gas, it may signal diverticulitis. This is an inflammation of small pouches called diverticula that can form in the large intestine. Diverticulitis is a fairly common gastrointestinal disorder among older adults, and risk factors include being overweight, smoking, the overuse of NSAIDs, and having a diet that is high in animal fat but low in fibre. Most people don’t experience any symptoms, but when they do occur, they usually include fever, nausea, cramping and a change in bowel habits. According to the Mayo Clinic, mild diverticulitis can be treated with rest, changes to your diet and antibiotics. But severe or recurring cases may need surgery. Q IF YOU’RE OVER 40 AND HAVE BEEN PREGNANT, YOU’RE AT GREATER RISK OF GALLSTONES
44 • NOVEMBER 2022 HEALTH 1 Go to bed an hour earlier Lighting and electronics, including TVs, laptops and games consoles, account for around 30 per cent of your electricity usage. So it’s obvious that going to bed earlier could save you money. Getting adequate sleep makes you less stressed and puts you in a better mood, as well as bolstering your immune system and helping to protect you from heart disease, diabetes and dementia. Research has even shown that people who go to bed later gain more weight. 2 Get fit on the cheap There’s no need for an expensive gym membership or classes, or costly kit; the internet is a rich resource for videos on activities as varied as yoga, high intensity or lowimpact workouts, Pilates or dance. If you want to get more fresh air, then opt for brisk walking or running 7 Household costs are rocketing. What cheaper choices can you make that will also benefit your health? Ways To Be Healthy On A Budget Susannah Hickling is twice winner of the Guild of Health Writers Best Consumer Magazine Health Feature
NOVEMBER 2022 • 45 For more weekly health tips and stories, sign up to our newsletter at readersdigest.co.uk (invest in the right footwear) or cycling. Being outdoors in nature is also good for your mental health. 3 Ditch the car for short journeys For local errands or meeting people, walk or cycle. This will save money on fuel, plus help prevent you from being too sedentary. Inactivity has been called the “silent killer” and linked with conditions like heart disease, strokes and Type 2 diabetes. 4 Turn the heating down a notch We don’t want anyone to be living in a cold home, but many of us still keep our thermostat higher than necessary. A room that’s too hot can dry out sinuses and cause skin problems, dry eyes and dehydration, which can trigger headaches. According to the World Health Organisation, 18°C is the ideal temperature for healthy, adequately dressed people. 5 Cut back on the booze Repeated lockdowns led to many of us upping our alcohol intake. Given that a bottle of wine adds £5 or more to your shopping bill, now would seem a good time to refocus on the recommended limits—14 units (and those units are much smaller than the ones we pour at home) per week for both men and women. Have at least two alcohol-free days and try setting a weekly alcohol budget and not exceeding it. Another way to cut down is only to drink when you eat. Benefits of drinking less alcohol include lower cholesterol, weight and blood pressure. 6 Drink water Soft drinks are often high in sugar or additives. Opt instead for water, which is vital in keeping your mind and body functioning properly. 7 Make smart food swaps Meat is expensive, so substitute other, cheaper forms of protein a couple of times a week. Eggs, canned fish and dried beans and pulses are inexpensive and nutritious. Buy cheaper frozen or canned veg instead of fresh—they’re usually just as good for you. Skip highly processed foods, from biscuits to ready meals, as these are often high in fat and salt, and choose simple, fresh ingredients you can cook yourself. Q HAVE AT LEAST TWO ALCOHOLFREE DAYS AND TRY SETTING A WEEKLY ALCOHOL BUDGET
H E A L T H 46 • NOVEMBER 2022 local carers’ group. As well as sharing experiences, you may also find it useful in getting information about ways in which you might get a break from caring. Contact your GP if you feel it’s affecting your health. Do one thing at a time Try to tackle one task at a time, and be prepared to say no sometimes. Have a list of back-up carers You cannot be expected to carry the whole burden of caring. Try to organise a small network of people who can help out from time to time. Don’t ignore your own life Ministering to the needs of someone can be all-engulfing. But make sure you nurture your own relationships, including friendships. Make a date—a regular one if possible—with your significant other or with a good friend, or commit time to an activity—for example a hobby or TV show—and stick to it. The important thing is to schedule in some “me time”, however brief. Exercise every day Physical activity is a great stress reliever and will mitigate the effects of burnout. Even a brisk walk to the supermarket can help. But exercise needs to be consistent. Know the signs Caring can be very stressful, so be alert to the warning signs that it’s all getting too much so that you can do something about it. Anxiety or feeling unhappy most of the time, being angry or irritable, including with the person you’re looking after, exhaustion, eating too much or too little, resorting to alcohol to calm yourself and sleep problems should all ring alarm bells. There are physical signs too, such as feeling dizzy or breathless, and even cramps and chest pains. Talk about it Accept your difficult feelings—you’re perfectly entitled to feel negative about your situation—and discuss them with family and friends. Have someone you can vent to from time to time. Consider joining a Many people look after a loved one, but it can take a toll on your mental and physical health. You can cope by adopting some self-care strategies Beware Carer Burnout
(cancer that hasn’t spread outside the lung) is normally asymptomatic. This is why there is increasing emphasis on screening. There have been local pilots and a programme called Targeted Lung Health Check—a lowdose CT scan for over 50s—is being rolled out across the UK. Lung cancer is eminently treatable in the early stages. What are the most common misconceptions aboutthe disease? Firstly, that it’s a death sentence. Early stage lung cancer can be very effectively treated by surgery or targeted radiotherapy. Surgery is getting gentler all the time. Even frail people can weather robotic keyhole surgery. 70 to 80 per cent of people who have surgery for lung cancers that have not spread are cured. Advanced lung cancer survival scores are vastly better now than even ten years ago, thanks to personalised drug treatments. How can you help protect yourself against developing lung cancer? Stopping smoking, even later in life, always improves health outcomes. Engage with the screening programme where available. Q Formore information go to finder.hcahealthcare.co.uk/hca/ specialist/mr_thomas_routledge_1 Ask The Expert: Lung cancer How did you become a lung cancer specialist? I’ve been a consultant lung cancer surgeon for 15 years. I was drawn to this patient group because it is historically underserved. Lung cancer is often seen as self-inflicted. The surgery is technically demanding and high risk, and so it’s technically satisfying. What are the causes and risk factors? Smoking and genetics. At least 75 per cent of cases are caused by smoking. Asbestos exposure is also a significant risk factor. This has been cleared as a hazard for some decades but there are still people around getting asbestos-related cancers. Traditionally we’ve said that ten per cent of lung cancers are people with very little smoking history, and this is probably a genetic phenomenon. What are the symptoms to watch out for? Lung cancer can cause people to cough, cough up blood or be breathless. But early stage cancer Thomas Routledge is a cardiothoracic surgeon at London Bridge Hospital (part of HCA UK) and at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Hospitals NOVEMBER 2022 • 47 R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T
48 • NOVEMBER 2022 HEALTH “We think she’s depressed,” explained her mother, almost whispering. I nodded. The teenager in front of me stared at the floor. “She’s off her food, she’s crying all the time and she won’t come out of her room.” We were sitting in A&E after the mother had insisted that the GP refer for an emergency assessment. These were usually reserved for severely suicidal teenagers or those who had become very disturbed or psychotic. I looked rather sceptical as the young girl took out her phone and started texting someone. “How long has this been going on for?” I asked. This month, Dr Max is fed up with overprotective parenting and its impact on young people Tied To The Apron Strings Max is a hospital doctor, author and columnist. He currently works full time in mental health for the NHS. His new book, The Marvellous Adventure of Being Human, is out now