Education (More & Less) Appears to Affect Alzheimer’s…According to Scientists

Studies Regarding Alzheimer’s and Education 

             According to recently released research findings, people with less education may be more likely to become afflicted than those with higher degrees of learning.   However, Alzheimer’s appears to accelerate in the  more educated people once they acquire the disease. 

“Higher levels of education delay the onset of dementia, but once it begins, the accelerated memory loss is more repid in people with more education,”  claimed study author, Charles B. Hall, with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in Bronx, NY. 

Contradictory?

It’s sort of that catch 22...you’re jinxed if you do (have education) and jinxed if you don’t (have higher education).  Everyone can become afflicted according to the scientists.  Some will be more likely to be stricken, yet others, who aren’t stricken so quickly,  are more likely to disappear into the abyss faster.

The Case of Mother and Auntie

I’m not sure if I can determine one way or the other when considering Mother and Auntie.  Mother went through high school and then attended three years at a teacher training school.  Auntie, her older sister, acquired only an eighth grade education at the local one-room school house.  She had the opportunity to go  to high school, boarding with a family friend in the town five miles away (as Mother later did), but she declined.

After childhood, I wasn’t around Auntie very much until she was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and came to live with Mother, who was in the beginning stages of the disease.  Soon after that I became responsible for Auntie’s and Mother’s care decisions. 

Mother’s Alzheimer’s symptoms weren’t very noticeable until after my dad’s death. Then she needed someone responsible for her for about 12 years, first in her home, then mine and finally eight years in a nursing home. 

 Auntie lived with a sister-in-law until Aunt Bess couldn’t cope with the wandering.  Then she resided with Mother for about 18 months until requiring more care.

From my unscientific observations of these two ladies I cared for, I don’t see the correlation between education or lack of education with  their Alzheimer’s experiences.  However, if I knew more specifically what I should be looking for (or remembering about them) perhaps some conclusions could be drawn.   A researcher might be able to give some more sophisticated input. 

Do you have any observations on Alzheimer’s and the amount of education a person has or doesn’t have?