For several years Phyllida Law, mother to actresses Emma and Sophie Thompson, cared for her mother Meg, who had dementia. The exhaustion of looking after Meg day and night often caused her to cry, feel isolated and long to get out of the house. At night, Meg would often think she was in the wrong house, or she would call for breakfast in the middle of the night, not knowing what time it was. A diagnosis of dementia ripples far beyond the person affected, it touches whole families, and we owe it