Researchers Find 70-Year-Olds Are Getting Smarter

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Researchers Find 70-Year-Olds Are Getting Smarter

Posted by timothy on Saturday October 23, 2010 @06:09PM from the watch-how-they-drive dept.

Pickens writes "AlphaGalileo reports that researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden have found in a forty-year study of 2,000 seniors that today's 70-year-olds do far better in intelligence tests than their predecessors, making it more difficult to detect dementia in its early stages. 'Using the test results, we've tried to identify people who are at risk of developing dementia,' says Dr. Simona Sacuiu. 'While this worked well for the group of 70-year-olds born in 1901-02, the same tests didn't offer any clues about who will develop dementia in the later generation of 70-year-olds born in 1930.' The 70-year-olds born in 1930 and examined in 2000 performed better in the intelligence tests than their predecessors born in 1901-02 and examined in 1971. 'The improvement can partly be explained by better pre- and neonatal care, better nutrition, higher quality of education, better treatment of high blood pressure and other vascular diseases, and not least the higher intellectual requirements of today's society, where access to advanced technology, television and the Internet has become part of everyday life,' says Sacuiu."

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and get off my... by Tablizer · 2010-10-23 18:20 · Score: 5, Funny

and get off my alopecurus pratensis!

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1. Re:and get off my... by dgatwood · 2010-10-23 18:48 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Man, I'd hate to have to mow your lawn....
  
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arbeit macht smart... by gandhi_2 · 2010-10-23 18:25 · Score: 3, Interesting

it's well documented that staying active in the workforce is good for the brain, at least when compared to the sedentary tv-filled days of most retirees.
todays 70-year-olds are smarter.... because most of them can't afford to retire.

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1. Re:arbeit macht smart... by cappp · 2010-10-23 18:31 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Or is it? NPR recently ran a story reporting that "mentally stimulating lifestyles may speed up dementia once it hits in old age." It's not a long read but it's certainly relevent to the discussion. Maybe these 70-year olds are merely enjoying the delay effects described?
  
  So for those who are mentally engaged, it may take many more years for the symptoms of the disease to appear. But once they do, the course of the disease seems to speed up. Researchers say there's a bit of a silver lining here: knowing that the disease will likely progress more quickly. "We think this is very good news," Wilson says. "It suggests that cognitive activity extends your period of cognitive independence as long as it possibly can." And it will likely shorten the battle at the end of life. This means Alzheimer's patients may be less of a burden to caregivers and loved ones.
2. Re:arbeit macht smart... by dkf · 2010-10-23 19:41 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Or is it? NPR recently ran a story reporting that "mentally stimulating lifestyles may speed up dementia once it hits in old age." It's not a long read but it's certainly relevent to the discussion. Maybe these 70-year olds are merely enjoying the delay effects described?
  It's probably the case that the mental stimulation is having no effect on the disease itself, but is helping a lot with allowing the effects of the disease to be masked by the increased plasticity of the rest of the brain. In other words, you're going at the same time but you're suffering far less.
  
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3. Re:arbeit macht smart... by Zontar+The+Mindless · 2010-10-23 20:08 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Your logic is flawed.
  Concern for caregivers/families != lack of concern for the patients.
  
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  Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
4. Re:arbeit macht smart... by SeaFox · 2010-10-23 20:20 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Maybe it's because today's 70-year-olds are more educated than their predecessors were. If we look at what time frames today's seniors verses yester-decade's seniors grew up in we'll find more of the older generation came from times when child labor was more common, education depreciated for the common man, and agriculture families were more common. Fewer kids stayed in school beyond what was required by law (if there were requirements in their state) so they were on average less educated.
5. Re:arbeit macht smart... by nospam007 · 2010-10-23 20:38 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  "todays 70-year-olds are smarter.... because most of them can't afford to retire."
  It's in Sweden, their geezers _can_ retire, no problem.
6. Re:arbeit macht smart... by dominious · 2010-10-23 21:50 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  it's well documented that staying active in the workforce is good for the brain, at least when compared to the sedentary tv-filled days of most retirees.
  Great! Now the French goverment have their motto!
7. Re:arbeit macht smart... by turbidostato · 2010-10-23 23:00 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  "it's well documented that staying active in the workforce is good for the brain"
  And this has to do with Sweden exactly, what?
  Sweden, you know, is one of those old European countries USA people would tell as communist as old Soviet Union if some from its life style would be tried in America. Swedish oldies have no problem to retire and they do on average at 61 with all Swedish residents entitled to a state-financed guaranteed minimum pension from the age of 65, which is the standard retirement age over there.
  "todays 70-year-olds are smarter.... because most of them can't afford to retire."
  Again, USA is not the all and everything of the world.
8. Re:arbeit macht smart... by smallfries · 2010-10-24 01:03 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  So which is better:
  Patient A: 9 years dementia free, 1 year of dementia, death.
  Patient B: 1 year dementia free, 9 years of dementia, death.
  Or did you genuinely not understand the point being made?
  
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9. Re:arbeit macht smart... by August_zero · 2010-10-24 01:11 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Meanwhile in the United States, the popularity of the "Snuggie" suggests that dementia may be setting in as early as age 30.
  
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10. Re:arbeit macht smart... by xs650 · 2010-10-24 03:42 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Or put another way...
  
  "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the
  intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well
  preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,
  chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body
  thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming
  "WOO HOO what a ride!"
  
  --Anon
11. Re:arbeit macht smart... by Your.Master · 2010-10-24 07:24 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  No, the GP was right. You're missing that we specifically don't want to kill the Alzheimer's patients. Because we have concern for them.
  Just because you want them to not be a great burden if you can help it doesn't mean you'll do anything to eliminate any burden.
Well... by mederbil · 2010-10-23 18:27 · Score: 4, Funny

...There predecessors are in their 80s and 90s now or dead. If a 70 year old isn't smarter than a dead person, then I don't understand science!
1. Re:Well... by fishexe · 2010-10-23 18:37 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  ...There predecessors are in their 80s and 90s now or dead. If a 70 year old isn't smarter than a dead person, then I don't understand science!
  Clearly, you don't understand science.
  
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Dammit, seniors! by fishexe · 2010-10-23 18:36 · Score: 5, Funny

...researchers from the Universiy of Gothenburg, Sweden have found in a forty year study of 2,000 seniors that today's 70-year-olds do far better in intelligence tests than their predecessors making it more difficult to detect dementia in its early stages.
Dammit, seniors! Get dumber so we can detect your dementia!

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"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
1. Re:Dammit, seniors! by EdIII · 2010-10-23 19:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Don't worry about it. With the educational system in the US being what it is, give it another 30-40 years and that same test will determine that like all the 70 year olds have dementia. Another 30-40 years after that the testing stuff will determine our shit is like tarded and all fucked up.
  Idiocracy, here we come.
2. Re:Dammit, seniors! by sqldr · 2010-10-23 21:54 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Dementia doesn't get anywhere near the funding it should. There's all these cancer charities - mostly focused on breast cancer whereas nobody appears to care about brain cancer or lung cancer (you don't just get it by smoking), while demetia sufferers need far more support, cost far more time and money to treat, and frankly I'd take prostate cancer over altzheimers any day. At least on my death bed I'll be able to remember who my sister is.
  
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3. Re:Dammit, seniors! by 10101001+10101001 · 2010-10-24 00:35 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Dementia doesn't get anywhere near the funding it should. There's all these cancer charities -
  Not to be rude, but at some level there's a limit to what can be funded. Perhaps more could be funded in total and there should be more dementia research funding over cancer research funding. But, I was always under the impression that cancer research got more attention because people were more concerned about children, teens, young adults, middle-aged adults, and pre-seniors all not dying of cancer than someone who has lived a full life having a few years--sadly, mind you--with a much reduced quality of life--a factor that's nearly guaranteed once you're old enough. Beyond that, cancer is a host of related problems which seems much more curable.
  
  mostly focused on breast cancer
  I'd attribute that to vanity, honestly, (as mastectomy is a very effective cure) but it could simply be that breast cancer is one of the most easily and early diagnosable cancers. Almost everything else requires an MRI or symptoms to even begin to suspect something is wrong.
  
  whereas nobody appears to care about brain cancer or lung cancer (you don't just get it by smoking),
  At least for brain cancer, I'd imagine it's because a lot of brain cancers are inoperable (in large part because they're so late detected and hence most of the damage is already done), but I agree lung cancer (IIRC, a good 20%+ are non-smoking related) should probably receive more focus/funding. Having said that, since cancer seems to be a serious of very similar ailments, a cure or treatment in one area could quite possible translate very strongly in almost all other areas, so any cancer research should do.
  
  while demetia sufferers need far more support, cost far more time and money to treat, and frankly I'd take prostate cancer over altzheimers any day
  Old age suffers need far more support (costing far more time and money to aid) than almost any other group (babies and toddlers require more) generally, so I don't think treating dementia matters greatly in that regard. As for prostate cancer, odds are good you'll suffer that anyways; it's just likely won't kill you. Truthfully, I imagine dementia research has suffered the same problem as brain cancer research: it's hard to diagnosis early and treatment seems near impossible. In fact, one major thing of recent history is that we can now diagnosis pre-alzheimers with a brain scan, which helps greatly in obtain more certain baselines (people might pass or fail the IQ tests given for other reasons and to pass implies you're already a sufferer) and in even thinking about making a treatment (since the best success rates happen most often pre-symptoms).
  In short, I think a major reason for the lopsided funded has precisely to do with those factors that look to produce the best results: longer quality of life in more early and easily treatable diseases (worst case, you can remove a breast, but it's harder to remove most of a lung or a large section of brain and expect good results; and symptomatic dementia patients are unlikely to recover). Thankfully, new research with early detection and drug treatments in dementia may help, but we're simply so early in the field that it's only now I'd expect to see a surge in funding.
  
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4. Re:Dammit, seniors! by Nidi62 · 2010-10-24 00:38 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Not to mention the fact that you can survive and recover from prostate cancer. My great grandmother had at least 3 strokes before she died. For a while(until she was just too much to handle for them) she lived with my grandparents. They actually had to install a door in the hallway that they could lock, so that at night she could get to a bathroom but couldn't go around the house or, worse, get out of the house. She didn't know people in pictures, she could barely walk, or hardly communicate(I know some of that is different than dementia, but from a cognitive capacity standpoint, they're the same thing). I saw what it did to her and to my grandmother. My great-uncle was also diagnosed with prostate cancer. His went away, but he was recently diagnosed with something that is a precursor of leukemia and is undergoing chemo again. Like you say, I would much rather go through what he's going through than what she did, because while both had the support of our family, he can actually recognize that they're there and that he has a support base.
  
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Re:SMRT by Troll-in-Training · 2010-10-23 20:13 · Score: 4, Interesting

Well they must be getting smarter, they surely can't possibly get any dumber. Being against a public option yet if you try to take away their medicare there'll be hell to pay. I wonder how it is that the stupid seem to often outlive the intelligent.
Stress is a killer, dealing with all the stupid people weakens the smart people and they die sooner. Stupid people are happier and have less stress as they off load it to those smarter than them thus living longer (those that don't win Darwin awards early on). Stupidity has advantages, it is why it will always be with us.
This was known even to Kafka by siddesu · 2010-10-23 20:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

If you are locked up in a room, detached from communication with the outside world and people look at you as a piece of furniture, you expire faster.
Besides, same is true of all animals, not only 70 year old homo sapiens. Me and my neighbour got our dogs from the same litter almost 19 years ago.
He left his dog more or less on its own. It was a happy and long living pup, but died demented at an age of 15 and a half.
My dog (blame the SO as much as me) has had extensive health care -- supplements, regular checkups, and uses a DIY robo-wheel-chair for walks now, because the hind legs cannot support the weight anymore. It is still alive (almost 19 years old) and alert, although completely deaf and almost blind from the cataract.
So, yeah, medical care, attention and stimulation work.
What else is new?
Stimulation by MichaelSmith · 2010-10-23 20:21 · Score: 4, Informative

My dad retired from rockwell at 65 and I was worried for while because spent a couple of years cruising around the country with his girlfriend in their winnebago. Not very stimulating and a recipe for a second heart attack IMHO.
But now he is getting into U3A and spending seemingly half the week there. He is teaching courses, taking courses. Reorganising their local area network, installing servers, griping and moaning about this guy who built the sites databases in access, and generally having a fantastic time.
I just wish I could get him to walk or cycle to U3A rather than driving. Its only five km or so and he can't afford to have his heart seize up again.
I think there used to be this expectation that retirement was a time when you could catch up on all that TV you were missing and create the lawn. Baby boomers have different expectations and this may be helping their prospects.

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Re:I told you... by dkleinsc · 2010-10-24 00:10 · Score: 3, Insightful

John McCain's problem wasn't his age: His problem was that he openly embraced the crazy side of his party (with Sarah Palin as just the tip of that iceberg).

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Poster Geezer For This by the+eric+conspiracy · 2010-10-24 01:47 · Score: 3, Interesting

My masters adviser was a guy named John Fenn. He's now 93 and still quite active in academia today.
When he was about 70 Yale University tried to forcibly retire the guy. The laugh about this is that about this time he started a course of research into characterization of protein molecules that led to a Nobel Prize, awarded in 2002. Because of the retirement flap he left Yale and is now at Virginia Commonwealth.
So was he smart at age 70? Duh.