Oct. 23, 2007
More School = Steeper Slide To Dementia?
Study Links Education Level To Rate Of Memory Decline Before Dementia
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Among elders with dementia, those with higher levels of education had a delayed, but steeper, decline in memory in the years leading up to their dementia diagnosis. (AP)
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The study's key finding: Among elders with dementia, those with higher levels of education had a delayed, but steeper, decline in memory in the years leading up to their dementia diagnosis.
"Our study showed that a person with 16 years of formal education would experience a rate of memory decline that is 50 percent faster than someone with just four years [of] education," Charles B. Hall, Ph.D., says in a news release.
"This rapid decline may be explained by how people with more education have a greater cognitive reserve, or the brain's ability to maintain function in spite of damage," says Hall.
Hall works in New York as an associate professor of epidemiology and population health at Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Dementia and Education
Hall's team reviewed data on 117 elders living in New York's Bronx neighborhood who developed dementia during a 27-year study.
Of the group's 21 high school graduates, seven had a college degree and some postgraduate education.
Participants got yearly checkups and took memory tests in which they had to memorize and immediately recall a list of 12 unrelated words.
The memory tests show that accelerated memory loss began 5.5 years before dementia diagnosis in typical participants, who had eight years of schooling.
Accelerated memory loss started later -- about four years before dementia diagnosis -- in elders with 16 years of education.
But when memory loss started, it happened faster in highly educated elders.
The study, published in Neurology, doesn't mean that education causes dementia.
A mix of genetic and environmental factors can affect dementia risk. Observational studies such as this one don't prove cause and effect.
By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
Posted by crzmeat at 11:31 AM : Oct 24, 2007
I can hear them now,,, "DUH!!! Ah don''t wanna lose mah mahnd so Ah''m gonna stay stoopid!!!
See Ah''m smarter awready!!!
Posted by incog-nito at 12:59 AM : Oct 24, 2007
Don''t do that! Look at it this way, the less educated have less stored in their ''Bio-RAM'' than the more educated. Hence if you have little to lose then it won''t show up as visibly. (rebuttal?)
Other studies have consistent found that people who are in professions that exercise their mind more have a lesser risk of developing dementia, and if they do the effect is not as severe. Not coincidentally these people tend to be more educated.
What the h3ll does Ron Paul''s candidacy for president have to do with this news story? NOTHING!
In fact, if Ron Paul remains true to either his Libertarian roots or to his adopted Republican Party, he would refuse to fund ANY scientific research. That''s a VERY shortsighted approach to governing!
BTW, your claim, that "Ron Paul is the only politican republican or democrat that will stop the war! No one else will, period!" is FALSE. If elected, Dennis Kucinich would definitely end the war. Furthermore, he would invest in Peace, which is something that Ron Paul will NOT do. Bill Richardson has also strongly indicated his intent to stop the war. So, you LIED.
Your negative attitude towards science and scientists in general indicates that you really have NO understanding of science. Even the one study described in this article is useful. It demonstrates that education level affects the rate of progession of dementia. By further studying that relationship, someone may eventually discover exactly what causes dementia, and eventually someone may discover a cure.
Science usually progresses in these small steps. Discard the small steps and you end up with no science at all. Then where would we be? Certainly, without any hope for a cure!
I do, he was in the stall next to me at the airport. Tapping Ronnie Paul. He touched my foot. I left a little present on his hand. Tap, tap, tap, tappin'' Ronnie Paul.
Posted by MyIDonCBS at 09:05 PM : Oct 23, 2007
It sure does - it has plenty value for the crooked professors who rake in millions from the government. whether or not they prove anything, whether or not thet study anything interesting, whther or not they have more intellect than a box of biscuits. But man, they gots govmint grants, they gots young hot female grad students in the office late at night! woooooo - hooo its science baby!
Just keey Hypothesizing, telling lies''n, raking in the cash! wooooo - hoooh!
You don''t understand how science works. You never know when the final piece of the puzzle will come to light. So, each and every study has some value, whether or not it determines some specific "cause" or "cure".
Observational studies provide evidence that something should be further studied, with more rigorous controls.
Observe. Hypothesize. Test. (Repeat)
- by incog-nito October 23, 2007 10:39 PM EDT
- "Observational studies such as this one don''t prove cause and effect." What, then, does it prove?
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See all 14 CommentsMore taxpayer money down the drain.