An education may protect your brain and your gut health

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In a study from Edith Cowan University, scientists found education can provide a new benefit: It can look after your gut health.

They found a better education has a strong genetic correlation and may protect against several gut disorders.

Previous research discovered a genetic link between gut health and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) but couldn’t conclude whether one caused the other.

This study breaks new ground by finding that a higher level of education protects against gut disorders.

In the study, the team examined the genetic information of more than 766,000 people, with an emphasis on AD, cognitive traits and gut disorders.

They found higher levels of education and cognitive functioning reduced the risk of gut disorders.

The lead researcher said the findings have significant implications.

The results support education as a possible avenue for reducing the risk of gut disorders by, for example, encouraging higher educational attainment or a possible increase in the length of schooling.

The team says policy efforts aimed at increasing educational attainment or cognitive training may contribute to a higher level of intelligence, which could lead to better health outcomes including a reduced risk of gut disorders.

The study further showed the gut may also influence the brain.

GERD showed evidence of causing a decline in cognitive function across a number of cognitive traits assessed in the study, such as intelligence, cognitive performance, educational attainment and educational qualification.

Although this is the first study to report this finding, the results support recent research reporting an increased incidence of dementia and GERD, which could help with earlier diagnoses and potential treatments.

Interestingly, higher levels of education and cognitive function protecting against gut disorders was true of all the disorders examined in the study—but largely with the exception of inflammatory bowel disease.

Further analysis showed different effects of IBD on cognitive traits and AD at different genomic locations, indicating its relationship depends on effects at specific locations across the genome.

This new understanding may explain the lack of significant genetic correlation of IBD with cognitive traits and AD, and the inconsistency reported in previous observational studies.

If you care about brain health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and how to boost the brain’s cleaning crew to mop up Alzheimer’s.

For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about how COVID-19 virus damages brain cells, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.

The study was conducted by Dr. Emmanuel Adewuyi et al and published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

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