Across a sweeping range of causes of death — from injuries to dementia to heart disease — being smarter as a child means you are more likely to live longer than people of lower intelligence, according to the most comprehensive study yet to look at the connection between IQ and longevity.
Among the thousands of people studied, those in the top 10 percent of childhood intelligence were two-thirds less likely to have died from respiratory disease by age 79 than people in the bottom 10 percent. They were half as likely to have died from heart disease, stroke, smoking-related cancers, digestive diseases, and outside causes such as injury.
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The researchers…also found an association between childhood intelligence and a reduced risk of death from dementia and, on a smaller scale, suicide.
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There are also genetic factors. Some researchers…have found that there are genetic underpinnings to the connection between intelligence and lifespan. The new study highlights this as well: When researchers controlled for smoking, for example, they found that the associations between IQ and deaths related to smoking persisted, suggesting that something innate was also influencing longevity.
[Read the full study here]
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