FRIDAY, Nov. 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Folks with more money and better education are at less risk for developing dementia as they grow older, a new study shows. People with advantaged backgrounds are less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, and to progress from there to dementia, researchers found.
They also have a better chance of fending off mild cognitive impairment and returning to healthy brain function, according to the study published Nov. 1 in the journal Scientific Reports . “Our study highlights the critical role of wealth, education and occupation not only in reducing the risk of transitioning from mild cognitive impairment to dementia but also in increasing the likelihood of reversing cognitive impairment to a healthy cognitive state, which is promising,” said senior investigator Dorina Cadar , an honorary senior research fellow in dementia with the University College London’s (UCL) Department of Behavioral Science and Health.
For the study, researchers followed more than 8,400 adults 50 and older for more than a decade, to examine how wealth and education is associated with age-related decline in brain function. They found that aging folks with a college education are 43% less likely to have mild cognitive impairment, results showed. Further, being in the wealthiest third of the population is linked with a 26% lower risk of advancing from mild cognitive impairment into full-blown dementia, researcher said.
Results also showed that advantaged peo.
