Not all of our dementia risk is in our control. But The Lancet’s standing commission on dementia previously found that 45% of factors that can increase our likelihood of developing the condition are “potentially modifiable”.

This includes things like not smoking, exercising more often, and controlling high blood pressure.

But these might not be the only ways to lower our risk of cognitive decline, sometimes seen as a precursor to dementia.

According to research published in Psychology and Ageing, being an active grandparent might slow brain ageing.

This paper looked at 2,887 grandparents aged 50+ (their average age was 67) who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Researchers asked participants to fill in questionnaires and take cognitive tests three times in the period from 2016-2022.

Questions centred on how active grandparents were in their grandchildren’s lives, including by watching them overnight, caring for them while ill, helping them with homework, playing with them, prepping meals for them, and more.

Generally, grandparents who provided childcare for their children’s children had better memory and verbal fluency results than those who didn’t. This association stood regardless of how often they cared for the kids or the type of care.

Grandmothers, but not grandfathers, who took care of their grandchildren saw less cognitive decline according to the study’s tests across the years than those who didn’t.

The paper read, “Grandparents who provide care for their grandchildren tend to show better cognitive functioning than those who do not. For grandmothers, these benefits also result in a slower cognitive decline later on.”

The study stressed that providing childcare for grandkids at all, regardless of hours spent doing so, was linked to a lower risk of cognitive decline.

“What stood out most to us was that being a caregiving grandparent seemed to matter more for cognitive functioning than how often grandparents provided care or what exactly they did with their grandchildren,” study author and lead researcher Flavia Chereches told the American Psychological Association.

“More research is needed to replicate these findings, yet, if there are benefits associated with caregiving for grandparents, they might not depend on how often care is provided, or on the specific activities done with grandchildren, but rather on the broader experience of being involved with caregiving.”

You might be thinking: I’ve just had a f*cking baby, sex is the last thing I want to be thinking about right now. Or you could be thinking the opposite.

Either way, your path back to having sex after birth is completely your own. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.

But if you have questions, we’ve asked sex and relationships therapist Georgina Vass everything you need to know about starting to have sex again as new parents.

While the NHS has little to no guidance on how long to wait until you can have sex after birth, around four to six weeks is a good benchmark.w

“Guidance varies, but for most births six weeks tends to be the recommendation of when one can medically return to penetrative sexual activity,” she says. “However, having the desire or feeling physically or emotionally ready to resume sexual activity may take much longer than six weeks.”

Research by Lovehoney last year found that 83% of women experience changes in their sexual function postpartum, including pain, libido drops, and body image concerns.

Naturally, these changes – not to mention the stress and fatigue of being responsible for a new life – can cause new parents to have less frequent sex.

“It usually requires more planning compared with before becoming parents,” Vass explains.

“Not only do some couples need to identify a time when they can both be available, but the logistics and changes in physical space may disrupt or diminish their capacity for private time.”

Intimacy is likely to look different when your little one arrives, which can take time to adjust to.

“Another common challenge is grappling with the shift in identity from parents/providers during the day to romantic partners in the bedroom, and this can take time to adjust to,” adds Vass.

However, intimacy doesn’t necessarily have to mean penetrative sex, or even sexual touching.

“Open communication about your desires, compassion for yourself and your partner, and prioritising time together as a couple are all important,” Vass advises.

“Invest in your relationship with your partner, whether that’s through arranging pressure relieving childcare, enjoying time as a couple on date nights or embracing forms of non-sexual intimacy like cuddling on the couch uninterrupted for an hour.”

When you’re ready to explore sex again, foreplay will be your best friend, says Vass.

“Once things become physical, enjoy generous foreplay or outercourse to re-familiarise yourselves with your bodies, gain comfort, and increase arousal,” she says.

“Moving slowly whether through prolonged foreplay or shallow and gentle penetration may be helpful to avoid discomfort. Using water-based lubrication may help with dryness, which can be common for new mothers.”

While it might take time for your sex life to feel normal again, remember: change is normal. “Becoming a parent has an impact on your body, and things may feel or look different to how they did before, but this time in your life is temporary and things are likely to change over time,” says Vass.

“Take the opportunity to discuss any concerns or questions with your medical provider, they may have useful information or helpful resources.”

Just as intimacy with a partner will feel different, mothers could experience a changing relationship with their body. Masturbating or using a sex toy could help to reconnect.

“Sex toys can be used to reconnect with your body on your terms and explore new sensations,” says Vass.

“High-quality clean toys may work well for new mothers. Read reviews, check the materials of the toys, clean them thoroughly before use, go slowly and enjoy!”

If you’re thinking about exploring sex for the first time after birth, here are some of the best sex toys, lubes, salves, and toys to try.

Wes Streeting has compared Reform UK to the Nazis over a controversial advert attacking Kemi Badenoch.

The former health secretary condemned a Reform social media post which suggested the Tory leader cared about black people, but not those who are white.

Streeting accused the right-wing party of spreading “propaganda that is reminiscent of the 1930s”.

The Reform ad showed a quote from 2020 in which Badenoch said “black lives do matter”, alongside a partial quote she gave this week in which she said “I don’t care about white lives matter”.

However, her full quote, which she gave in an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, was: “I don’t want to hear about Black Lives Matter. I don’t want to hear about White Lives Matter. Everyone matters.”

On The News Agents podcast, Streeting said Reform had “sought to grossly and dangerously misrepresent” the Tory leader.

“She said ‘I don’t care about black lives matter, I don’t care about white lives matter, all lives matter’,” said Streeting. “She was really clear about that.

“Then an ad goes up that quotes what she said in 2022, ‘black lives do matter’, set against one part of what she said on breakfast television this week: ‘I don’t want to hear about white lives matter’.

“Those two sentences slapped on an ad with Kemi’s face and promoted across social media like wildfire.

“Why? Because they want people to believe that the black woman who leads the Conservative Party cares about black people, but doesn’t care about white lives.

“And that was dangerous, it was incendiary, and I don’t say this lightly, this is the type of propaganda that is reminiscent of the 1930s.

“And that is the choice for the country. You can have a politics that is decent, or you can have a politics that is about rage, that is about division, and seeks to foment and stir hatred to politically profit from it.

“It is dangerous, it is nationalistic and it has got to be beaten.”

Streeting said Reform leader Nigel Farage “is an English nationalist, and nationalism is a dangerous and potent political force”.

“I’m not saying Farage is a fascist, but I am saying he’s an English nationalist,” he added.

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First, we’ll start of with good news for Andy Burnham. It looks as though he is all-but certain to win the Makerfield by-election.

With less than a fortnight to go until polling day on June 18, opinion polls – and the increasingly-confident Labour campaign team – suggest he holds a comfortable lead over Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon.

The most recent survey of voter opinion in the constituency puts Burnham on 49%, fully 10 points ahead of Kenyon on 39%.

Barring an unforeseen crisis, and in politics that can never be ruled out entirely, the Greater Manchester mayor will soon return to Westminster after a nine-year hiatus.

We now know, as Burnham himself confirmed on Question Time on Thursday night, that he will then move quickly to replace Keir Starmer and become Britain’s next prime minister.

It would be the culmination of a lifetime’s ambition for the former cabinet minister, who has twice tried and failed to become Labour leader before.

Burnham, the so-called “King of the North”, has vowed to change both the Labour Party and the way politics is done at Westminster, with a greater emphasis on public control of essential services and an end to 40 years of Thatcherite neoliberal economic theory.

With just three years to go until the next general election – he has already ruled out going to the country early – he is clearly a man in a hurry.

But his eagerness to depose Starmer and seize the crown has not gone down well with many of the Labour MPs he will rely on to get his agenda through the Commons – and is storing up trouble for the future.

“He’s an arsehole,” one backbencher told HuffPost UK. “All Andy cares about is himself. Loyal, hardworking MPs don’t want to support a coup and will now not go campaigning for him in the by-election.”

Another MP said: “Those who had already decided not to go and campaign for him now have the perfect excuse.”

Burnham’s admission that he plans to challenge Starmer has “gone down like a lead balloon” in the Labour ranks, an MP said.

“I don’t understand why he’s in such a rush,” the MP said. “It would have been plausible for him to come back and be offered a role by Keir, but he’s obviously decided he doesn’t want to do that and instead wants to move against the PM as soon as he gets back.

“It’s typical of Andy to act without thinking it through. People are furious with him.”

A minister said: “Plausible deniability that he was after the leadership was at least making it feel like what he is doing was within the rules.

“Now every door we knock in Makerfield is contributing to the instability of the government.”

But a Burnham ally told HuffPost UK: “Its hardly news that Andy would want to enter a leadership contest should one arise.

“I don’t think many colleagues believed he’d be sitting on the backbenches if he wins this by election, so refusing to support this existential fight against Reform is pretty disingenuous.”

Burnham has insisted he is sticking by his pledge to end parliament’s whipping system, whereby party managers tell MPs which way to vote and discipline those who rebel.