New Columbia Research Links Education to Slower Aging and a Longer Lifespan

Two years of education resulted in a 2-3 percent reduction in the rate of aging.
Individuals involved in the Framingham Heart Study who attained higher educational levels experienced slower aging and had longer lifespans compared to those who did not advance educationally, reveals research from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center. The study found a significant link between upward educational mobility and reduced aging speed as well as decreased mortality risk. The results were recently published in JAMA Network Open.

The Framingham Heart Study is an ongoing observational study first initiated in 1948 that currently spans three generations. The Columbia analysis is the first to connect educational mobility with the pace of biological aging and mortality.