Dementia instances can double in illiterate individuals suggests latest study

According to the latest study coming from scientists working at Columbia University, your education level can act as a major factor in the capability to get keep away from dementia as they grow older.

The results of this study were published on Wednesday on the popular online journal named Neurology.

The researchers involved in the study monitored around 983 adults above the age of 65 who lived in NYC’s Washington Heights’ locale for a term of 4 years or less. After visiting the residents at their home, the scientists opted for a test of language, memory, spatial abilities, as well as visual efficiency. During these visits, they made the diagnosis of dementia based upon the general criteria.

On this account, it was the illiterate population that happened to perform the worst. While establishing the measures for the baseline performance, the ones that had never opted to learn writing or reading were about 3 times more likely to encounter dementia as opposed to the ones that possessed the capability to read.

Among the ones that didn’t report dementia as the study started, the illiterate participants were vulnerable to twice the instances of the diseases occurring in the educated group. One of the prime reasons for a decline in the brain’s capability to remember things is the fact that the ones with no passion to read or write tend to have a lower cognitive function range as opposed to the literate section.

A Columbia University-based professor of neuropsychology, Jennifer Manly, who is also the author of the study, mentioned that the scientists have constantly been monitoring a collection of adults that are aged 65 or more. These participants come from various backgrounds living in and near Washington Heights since the year 1992. For example, most of the adults that are illiterate have had to sign out from their schools in order to work and earn a livelihood for most cases.

Over the last 3 decades, the scientists have managed to study around 6500 New Yorkers to check the progress or onset of dementia with regards to their learning or writing capabilities. It has been known for long that educational proficiencies are linked with better outcomes in terms of health. This was a major determinant in the study to confirm whether literacy can actually help provide better brain health as we age.