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 Will bad grades in school lead to dementia?

7/21/2015

10 Comments

 
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 I'm inclined to dismiss the latest research into the subject of a link between school test results and dementia as rubbish. The reason being my own history. But lets look at the evidence of research presented at a conference on Alzheimer’s in Washington DC.

Good grades at primary school and a challenging job have been linked to a lower risk of dementia after one Swedish study of 440 people aged 75 or over. Those who had been in the bottom fifth for school grades at age ten had a 50% increase in the risk of developing dementia.

Being only slightly younger than those participating, I'm not sure I ever knew which bottom rung of the ladder I clung to. Perhaps the Swedish keep records of such things, but my Australian primary school never recorded the scale of a student's failure.

The older women involved in the nine-year study who had complex jobs involving working with people recorded a 60 per cent lower risk of dementia. Let's see—that takes their age to 84. Not many women are still working at that age. You have to wonder how these results were achieved.

Anyway, the outcome of the research stand to reason because complexities of figures, data and relating to other people requires a flexibility of mind.

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A second Swedish study looked at 7,500 people aged at least 65 over 20 years. Dementia rates in this younger group were 21% higher in those whose school grades had been in the bottom fifth of the population.

Conversely, among those with complex jobs involving data and numbers, they were 23% lower.
Source: Mail Online. 

As for me, I didn't do well academically in primary school. My sister, three years behind me, was classed one of the brightest children in the school. She loved to study and achieve good grades. What makes two people from the same gene pool differ this way?

I gave no importance to my lessons. I couldn't be bothered figuring out complex sums or learning the times tables by route. I'd rather concentrate on subjects like English and art. Or maybe sit and dream. Every now and again, a teacher would shock me awake with a sharp rap on the knuckles, or I'd be called to the front of the class, asked to hold out my hand, and a leather strap would come down on my palm, leaving me stinging and demoralized.

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 My low grades have no effect on my ability to reason, or to communicate, or to love the company of other like-minded individuals. However, I don't abide fools with limited ability to think about deep subjects, who would rather follow the latest behaviour of celebrities and spend all their time glued to their phone. Perhaps they did well at school. Who knows?

The way a person lives and thinks is the full measure of their intelligence. Say two individuals faced the same threat. One would work out how to cope and the other would panic and scream, drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

'I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.'   ~ Dr. Seuss

I don't fear dementia. Imagination is a fine thing in the end. I'll go on writing novels and following news stories to give my views. That'll keep me sane.

How about you?




10 Comments
Jacqui Malpass link
7/20/2015 08:01:57 pm

I was a naughty child in school, who did manage to pass her eleven plus only to get expelled at 16. I found more interesting things to do.

Later in my 30's I did study and got an MBA and a whole host of other qualifications.

I love to learn things, just not academically. I think that we will both sail through old age intact.

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Alana link
7/20/2015 08:30:52 pm

I was a good student in elementary school but an indifferent student in high school. dementia is one of my greatest fears. I love learning in my adult life and have what you might call a complex job. So, maybe I have improved my chances of not developing dementia. I hope so.

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Sophie Bowns link
7/20/2015 09:03:14 pm

I fear getting dementia. Being a carer and working with sufferers of the illness, I know how it can change people. I worry that I'd be a burden to family and friends.
I'm not an academic. I got mainly C's in school and had to work hard to achieve them. It's important to keep our brains active. Too many people go into residential homes and lose their sense of purpose.

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Roy A Ackerman, PhD, EA link
7/20/2015 09:44:58 pm

There's a little more to this research. But, it still leaves some suspected failures.
This study employed a long-standing population study in Sweden. (Other countries have similar studies.) This research re-examined the data that was already collected for their grades at age 10; this was then averaged out and they monitored the subjects some 60 years later for incidence of dementia, comparing to the selective quintiles of performance at age 10. Those in the bottom quintile were more likely to develop dementia (21%) than the upper four. And, there was no difference in incidence between the top or the near bottom quintile.
Given that intellectual stimulation and demanding occupations also precluded against dementia, the more likely conclusion is that students with poor academic performance at age 10 were less likely to find mental stimulation or demanding jobs in later life. As such, they were more likely to develop dementia...

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Joan Harrington link
7/21/2015 02:24:42 am

Interesting post Francene, not sure about bad grades in grade school leading to dementia? Great read

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Angelica link
7/21/2015 06:11:53 am

I agree, total rubbish!!

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Susan Friesen link
7/21/2015 06:22:51 am

I agree, it's rubbish. There's so many reasons why someone would have low grades in school and not being smart is just a small part of that. I had average grades back then but as an adult when I earned my Business Degree in University, my GPA was 4.11 so just goes to prove these kinds of studies can't possibly come to these kinds of conclusions - way too many other factors to take into consideration like how much one exercises as an adult has a profound effect on the brain in later years.

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Jeanne Melanson link
7/21/2015 07:44:46 am

My mother died of Alzheimer's 3 months ago. She was 84. She was smart, creative, busy, and loved being around people. She was generous, loving, and hard-working. She took care of her mother, her father, 7 children, and 30 years of live-in boarders. She did puzzles 'to keep her mind sharp.'

She painted, she sewed, she played piano by ear, she spun wool.

And yet, she died of Alzheimer's.

Having witness her fast decline, I urge you not to take Alzheimers lightly. You should fear it. Imagination will not help you, however creative you think you will be. My mother, in the last months, couldn't remember her children, her husband of 54 years, where she was born or where she was now.

She asked me one day, "Do you have memories?" It was then that it hit me. She has NO MEMORIES! That hit hard and was my first true insight into how horrible this disease is.

I don't know what my bottom line is, and I have no advice. I simply wanted to share our awful experience with this devastating disease.

Thanks for listening.

Jeanne

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Debbie link
7/21/2015 08:09:13 am

I am now curious to read the whole study. I refuse to accept it to be sincere. There are so many factors that lead a child to bad grades. I think it is a little bit of exaggeration dooming their older days because of that.

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Samantha link
7/21/2015 03:34:20 pm

My great-grandpa was extremely intelligent, and yet he died of dementia. I think the creators of this study are confusing correlation with causation.

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    Francene Stanley
    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

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