People with less education 'age more quickly': Study

11^th May 2011 - Education and qualifications may be more beneficial than just wider employment prospects, according to a new study, which suggested that they could also help us live longer.

UK research has found that people who leave education with fewer qualifications are prone to age more quickly than those who go on to further education.

Researchers from University College London examined data on 448 individuals enrolled in the Whitehall II study, set up in 1985 to investigate social inequalities and disease during peoples' working life.

Cell protection

They examined the length of ‘telomeres’ from participants. These are sections of DNA that ‘cap’ chromosomes, protecting them from damage and the loss of the cell functions associated with ageing. It is believed that shorter telomeres are an indicator of faster ageing. They are related to a number of risk factors for ageing. These include high blood pressure, diabetes, 'bad' cholesterol, smoking, weight gain and levels of physical activity.

Individuals selected were separated into four levels of educational attainment. These comprised:

• People who had no qualifications at all
• Those who left formal education after attaining O-levels - the basic educational qualification in the UK in the era in which participants were students
• Those who left after attaining A-levels
• Those who attained a degree from a higher education institution

35.6% of the participants had a college or university degree; 30.2% had 'A' levels; 26.1% had obtained 'O' levels; and 8.1% had no qualifications at all.

Results

The results showed that people with lower educational attainment had shorter telomeres, indicating that they may age faster.

Writing in the latest edition of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, the authors say one of the most striking findings was that telomere length was related to past educational attainments but not to how well off people were or how senior their job was at the time of the research.

Education: 'marker of social class'

Andrew Steptoe, British Heart Foundation Professor of Psychology and the lead author of the study, said in a statement: “We already know from previous research that people with poor backgrounds are prone to age more quickly. Education is a marker of social class that people acquire early in life, and our research suggests that it is long term exposure to the conditions of lower status that promotes accelerated cellular ageing. Neither current household income nor employment grade was related to telomere length.”

The researchers advance a number of possible reasons why more advanced education might slow the effect of ageing, one being that education gives people "skills for coping with life experience". They say these might include being able to access information, more flexible thinking and problem-solving skills that may reduce biological stress.

The study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).