College Educated Live Longer

In a surprising analysis of longevity, researchers have found that life span is no longer lengthening for people with 12 or fewer years of education, while those with some college are living longer. The economic link with longevity (rich folk live longer) has long been know. There is some link between higher education and greater income, though not so strong as one might expect. Now they observe that educated folks are living longer than comparable groups did years ago, but those with less education are staying about the same, or even declining in longevity compared to earlier generations.

The report offers no clear explanation for this phenomena — do educated people live longer because they heed the advice of the medical experts in health matters? Or is it because they are more likely to question their doctor’s decisions? My guess would be the latter; the better educated you are, the more you realize that doctors are not the infallible gods they pretend to be. Huge numbers of people die from adverse reactions to prescribed medicines, which they continue to take even when it makes them feel worse. Until that far-distant day when individual medicines are designed to complement your personal genetic make-up, it is healthier to replace blind faith in doctors with skepticism and questioning. I don’t doubt they try their best, but they are, after all, only human.