Who to believe?

WEEK in, week out we receive conflicting reports regarding the dangers or benefits of alco‐hol. Scientific studies have of‐ten concluded that moderate drinking was better for most people than not drinking at all.

30% Rise in demand for services at plastic surgery clinics in the UK in last two years.

Some suggested it could even help them live longer. Having analysed 100 different surveys of approximately five million people, US investigators have now decided that many stud‐ies were flawed. Far from bringing benefits, revised find‐ings warn that women risked premature death if they drank daily two 150‐mls of wine.

Brainstorming

DR DANIEL AMEN, a Cali‐fornia brain specialist, de‐clared that women’s brains are healthier and busier than men’s. This could be why they go to prison 14 times fewer than men, Dr Amen maintained. The spe‐cialist came to this conclu‐ sion after analysing more than 200,000 brain scans to pinpoint key disparities be‐tween men and women.

On the downside, he found that despite their in‐creased brain activity, wom‐en were also more likely to suffer depression than men.

David Worboys Thinking Aloud

YOU can do it! How many examples have we seen of personal victory over adversity achieved through pure determination and courage? Throughout history, in many dif‐ferent fields, success has been attained against all the odds.

It’s no different in the world of music. Two of the greatest examples are from the un‐likely pairing of Beethoven and Sutherland. Each had to overcome huge obstacles to produce the pinnacle of their art.

Beethoven’s triumph over tragedy and his journey from adversity to eternal glorifica‐tion is one of the most inspiring in history. As a child he was bullied by his drunken father who was his first musical tutor and who beat him and locked him in the cellar when‐ever he made a mistake. From early child‐hood he suffered intestinal problems and was dyslexic ‐ unable to read or write prop‐erly. His beloved mother died a lingering death when he was young. At 24 he devel‐oped a lung infection and then started hear‐ing a buzzing noise in his ears. At 34 he had a fever for several months, abscesses in his jaw and finger and a septic foot.

For the rest of his life, his hearing suffered a gradual deterioration until he became