Individuals with higher education tend to age slower, live longer, study claims

More educated people tend to age slower than others and experience higher chances of living longer, a study has claimed. In the path-breaking study published Friday (Mar 1) in the journal JAMA Network Open, it was revealed that higher education might be linked to a lower risk of death and a slower pace of ageing.

Researchers believe this is the first study to have established any link between the pace of ageing and education.

“We’ve known for a long time that people who have higher levels of education tend to live longer lives,” said senior researcher Daniel Belsky, an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

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“But there are a bunch of challenges in figuring out how that happens and, critically, whether interventions to promote educational attainment will contribute to healthy longevity,” Belsky added in a university news release.

The exact difference in ageing

The study claimed that every two additional years of schooling led to a 2 per cent to 3 per cent slower pace of ageing.

In total, a person with higher education exhibited a 10 per cent lower risk of death than an averagely-educated person.

How was the study conducted?

In this research, scientists used information from the Framingham Heart Study, an ongoing project initiated in 1948 to monitor the health of Framingham, Massachusetts residents across generations.

To gauge the rate of ageing, they examined genetic data from participants, employing a genetic "clock" test akin to a speedometer for ageing.

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This test indicates the pace at which a person's body undergoes changes over time. By correlating genetic ageing data with participants' educational achievements relative to their family members, the study adjusted for variations in educational backgrounds and financial resources within families.

Lead researcher Gloria Graf, a doctoral student in epidemiology at Columbia University, explained, “These study designs control for differences between families and allow us to isolate the effects of education.”

“Our findings support the hypothesis that interventions to promote educational attainment will slow the pace of biological ageing and promote longevity,” Graf added.

(With inputs from agencies)