Clever people might live longer
Intelligent people live longer, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal.
Scientists have been observing the connection between high intelligence and a longer life span. They found that those scoring well in intelligence tests are more likely to have a degree and earn more – which are factors that contribute to living up to an old age.
Surveys carried out in Scotland in the 1930s and 1940s recorded the IQ test scores of almost every 11-year-old. Out of the participants in the Scottish Mental Survey 1947, 33,536 men and 32,229 participants were examined, according to the Independent.
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A research team led by Catherine Calvin, a professor of psychology at Edinburgh University, looked at the causes of death to find out if there was any correlation between childhood intelligence and how long they lived. They concluded that childhood intelligence was inversely associated with all major causes of death.
In particular, the scientists found correlations between lower intelligence and respiratory diseases, heart diseases and strokes. An association between childhood IQ levels and death from injury, smoking related cancers, digestive disease, dementia and suicide was also found.
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