Education, loss, and diagnostic acumen

Education, education, and education were the three main issues in last year's British election. Governments worldwide want to encourage education and lifelong learning to achieve economic advantage. Educational level correlates strongly with length of life, and education will even protect you (a little) against Alzheimer's disease. So the more the better seems to be the message. But, as always, it's more complicated than that, and education takes a beating in this week's journal.

Alison Bolam and others have conducted a randomised controlled trial of the effect of postnatal education on …