Intelligent People More Likely to Have Better Health: Study

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Researchers from the University of Edinburgh found that intelligence and health are tied to the same genes, which suggests that clever people are usually healthy as well. The research is detailed in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

"The study supports an existing theory which says that those with better overall health are likely to have higher levels of intelligence," said study author Dr. Saskia Hagenaars.

The researchers found that the genes that influence learning, memory, thinking and understanding are also linked to certain diseases including schizophrenia, autism and Alzheimer's disease. However, the study also revealed that higher intelligence increased the risk of the mentioned diseases.

It was previously believed that the environment and financial capability were responsible for poor health and low education. However, the new study shows that genetics could be a factor.

In the analysis of the genetic data of approximately 100,000 people held in the U.K. Biobank, researchers tested their cognitive capacities including memory and verbal-numerical reasoning. The results were compared with 22 health markers as well as their genome results.

The researchers found out that type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure risk increased in people who have lesser educational attainment and lower verbal-numerical scores. There is also a correlation between body mass index and intelligence where clever people are less likely to be overweight.

Another co-author Ian Deary said in a press release that intelligence is also linked to physical features such as body shape and brain size.

"This study tests whether genes that are linked to mental abilities and educational attainment are also genes that are related to some disorders," Dr. Stuart Ritchie of Edinburgh University said, as reported by Telegraph.

"We found that there are many overlaps: to take one example, genes related to being taller are also related to obtaining a college or university degree.

"We also asked whether the sets of genes associated with many disorders and traits predicted people's actual levels of cognitive abilities. We found many overlaps there, too. To take one example, people with more genes linked to cardiovascular disease tended to have lower reasoning ability."

Dr. Sarah Harris, another researcher, adds that their further studies should be conducted to investigate the biological pathways that are linked to cognitive abilities and health related traits.