The Relationship Between Dementia and Education

The Relationship Between Dementia and Education

Introduction

Dementia is a prevalent health condition among the elderly. The condition is characterized by various cognitive deficits that arise from reduced brain function. There are various factors that contribute to dementia, such as changes in Alzheimer’s disease, vascular changes, and dementia with Lewy bodies. One of the potentially modifiable risk factors for the condition is education. Education level has a significant impact on the development of dementia, and low education has the most significant impact on the development of dementia. Various studies have yielded conflicting results on the relationship between education and dementia, but all the studies agree that education plays a vital role in brain development. Thus, high education levels decrease the risk of dementia, while low education levels increase the risk.

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A Review of the Relationship Between Dementia and Education

Determining the relationship between education and the risk of dementia is important to demonstrate how more years of education lowers the risk of dementia. According to Norton et al. (2014), low education levels have been identified as the main possible contributor to preventable dementia across the world. The study by Norton et al. (2014) found that low education levels cause an estimated 20% of dementia cases. Researchers such as Wu et al. (2017) have also established the connection between education level and dementia leading to a conclusion that an increase in education level in high-income countries over the past few decades has contributed to the decline in dementia prevalence and incidence in these countries. According to Meng & D’arcy (2012), education is also associated with an increase in cognitive reserve, hence positing that the cognitive challenge and simulations linked to education result in changes in the structure of the brain, such as the development of more neurons and more connections among them allowing better compensation when there is a high accumulation of pathologies in the aging brain. Therefore, people with high cognitive reserve have a prolonged period of ordinary thinking and high levels of neuropathology compared to those with a low cognitive reserve and have a limited likelihood of experiencing the significant cognitive decline that causes dementia.

The level of education also plays a significant role in the onset of dementia by influencing the environment a person lives in. There is a common assumption that people with high education levels can afford a good lifestyle and are less socially disadvantaged compared to people with low education levels. Socially disadvantaged people are exposed to various psychological problems such as stress and depression, hence reducing their ability to thin normally. This has a significant impact on their cognitive reserve, thus increasing the risk of dementia. A study conducted by Barnes et al. (2010) showed that individuals who experienced depression in their later life had a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with dementia, including all possible pathological causes of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. A similar observation was made by Singh-Manoux et al. (2017), who found that the symptoms of depression correlate with a higher loss of brain tissue density, hence increasing the possibility of developing dementia. People with high education levels are also able to acquire good jobs, enabling them to live a healthy lifestyle and comply with treatment while accessing the best level of care, leading to less severe strokes that may contribute to dementia. Such individuals are also able to afford regular health check-ups, thus enabling physicians to detect less severe strokes and changes in their cognitive development, thus taking the right measures before the individual develops dementia. Therefore, the relationship between the level of education and dementia also includes lifestyle behavior that could either reduce or increase the risk of dementia due to regular access to healthcare and psychological health.

Conclusion

A wide range of research indicates that there is a connection between education level and dementia. This connection is most consistent and robust for individuals with low education levels. The most reasonable hypothesis in explaining how education affects the development of dementia is the cognitive reserve hypothesis, which suggests that people with high education levels are able to continue thinking normally because they can compensate when there is an accumulation of pathologies in their brain, hence limiting cognitive decline which is associated with the development of dementia. The study has also established that education level plays a significant role in a person’s lifestyle. People with higher education levels are able to afford a good lifestyle, enabling them to receive regular treatment that can significantly detect changes in cognitive development and prevent the development of dementia. They also have a lower likelihood of experiencing stress and depression, which are some of the psychological issues that could lead to dementia. Although this essay provides a strong argument on the relationship between education, there is a need for further research that reviews alternative arguments based on the fact that existing research does not provide clarity on what education is and how it can be reviewed as a universal concept across different populations because people have a different interpretation of what education is.

References

Barnes, D. E., Yaffe, K., McCormick, M., Schaefer, C., Quesenberry, C. P., Byers, A. L., & Whitmer, R. A. (2010). O2-06-01: Midlife versus late-life depression and risk of dementia: Differential effects for vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 6, S109-S109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2010.05.338

Meng, X., & D’Arcy, C. (2012). Education and dementia in the context of the cognitive reserve hypothesis: A systematic review with meta-analyses and qualitative analyses. PLoS ONE, 7(6), e38268. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038268

Norton, S., Matthews, F. E., Barnes, D. E., Yaffe, K., & Brayne, C. (2014). Potential for primary prevention of Alzheimer’s disease: an analysis of population-based data. The Lancet Neurology, 13(8), 788-794.

Singh-Manoux, A., Dugravot, A., Fournier, A., Abell, J., Ebmeier, K., Kivimäki, M., & Sabia, S. (2017). Trajectories of depressive symptoms before diagnosis of dementia. JAMA Psychiatry, 74(7), 712. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0660

Wu, Y., Beiser, A. S., Breteler, M. M., Fratiglioni, L., Helmer, C., Hendrie, H. C., Honda, H., Ikram, M. A., Langa, K. M., Lobo, A., Matthews, F. E., Ohara, T., Pérès, K., Qiu, C., Seshadri, S., Sjölund, B., Skoog, I., & Brayne, C. (2017). The changing prevalence and incidence of dementia over time — current evidence. Nature Reviews Neurology, 13(6), 327-339.

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Assignment: The Instructor-defined Paper is an expository essay about four pages in length, including a title page, two pages of text (four to six paragraphs, about 500-600 words), and a reference page (you need to use at least two outside sources related to your topic) following the APA format. This assignment is broken up into three parts in Blackboard: Part I: Description of the topic, thesis statement, and two topic sentences; Part II: Rough draft; and Part III: Final draft.

The Relationship Between Dementia and Education

PART I (80 points): Identification and description of the topic or subject (which can be developed into your introductory paragraph in Part II); thesis statement and at least two topic sentences. DUE SUNDAY OF WEEK 2
PART II (80 points): Rough draft consisting of a title page, at least two complete pages of writing (four to six paragraphs, 500-600 words), and a reference page. DUE SUNDAY OF WEEK 3
PART III (100 points): Final draft. The final paper will be evaluated as follows: (1) Completeness (Did you include at least two whole pages of writing and use at least two outside sources? Did you include a properly formatted title page and reference list?); (2) Coherence (Is it written logically? Does it contain good paragraph transitions?); (3) Correctness (Are there few, if any, mistakes in grammar, sentence structure, and spelling?); (4) and Timeliness (Did you submit it by the deadline?). DUE SUNDAY OF WEEK 4
IMPORTANT: Late submissions will be marked down 10% for each day (1 to 24 hours) late, up to three days. Work submitted more than three days late will receive a score of zero.

Possible topics: You can write about anything you can adequately inform your audience about in a couple of pages. Here are some suggestions:
1. If you want to stick to something in your field of study, you could describe a health condition or medical or dental process or procedure you are familiar with (you’ll have better examples than I will since I’m not in the nursing or dental hygiene field). See the sample paper on motor skills in the Instructor blog.

2. If you want to focus on a hobby or personal activity, you could describe something you do at home or as part of your daily routine (e.g., a special activity or form of exercise you practice to help you decompress at the end of a tough day, that sort of thing). See the sample paper on reading in the Instructor blog.

3. If you want to learn about something you’ve been curious about, you could find information about something you’re unfamiliar with and create a synopsis or description for your audience. See the sample paper on the Black Dahlia in the Instructor blog.