Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which have received widespread media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at 15, she signed her first record deal.
Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the US. Its third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008.
Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", it became the US' best-selling album of 2009 and was certified diamond in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, and Swift became the youngest Album of the Year winner.
Auchterarder's Sarah Mitchell determined to help others after losing mum to Huntington’s disease
dailyrecord.co.ukA student from Auchterarder who lost her mum to Huntington’s disease has spoken out about the impact of the rare neurological condition on families.Sarah Mitchell (17) was devastated by her mum Natalie’s passing 18 months ago when she was aged just 55.Now in an effort to increase people’s understanding of HD Sarah, who studies at Perth College UHI, has joined Scottish Huntington’s Association as a volunteer youth ambassador to support other young people and boost research funding.Huntington’s disease is a complex condition - caused by a hereditary faulty gene - with symptoms that typically begin to develop between the ages of 30 and 50.Coming to terms with her loss was made even more difficult for Sarah because pandemic restrictions meant that for a long time she hadn’t been able to visit her mum in the care home where she lived.Natalie needed 24-hour care because of her symptoms.As the disease progresses, people develop uncontrolled movements and lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, drink or swallow.Mental health symptoms include depression, anxiety, personality changes, mood swings and, in some people, psychosis.The disease also damages cognition (thinking processes), leading to dementia and an inability to make decisions or plans.The dreadful toll on individuals and their loved ones is compounded by the reality that each child of someone with Huntington’s disease has a 50/50 risk of also having inherited the faulty gene that causes the incurable condition.“I was only seven when mum went to live in a care home.
So I can’t really remember a time when she was well,” Sarah explained.“I have photos to jog my memory and I know that, from what everyone tells me, mum was great fun and had lots of friends.“She was very funny
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