Past studies have found that people who have higher IQs are less likely to die from chronic diseases. Now a new study from United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council suggests the reason could be that smarter people are more likely to follow their doctors’ orders.
The Daily Mail reported that a team of researchers studied more than 2,000 patients who were at risk of developing heart problems. They measured the patients’ verbal intelligence, and asked them to keep a detailed diary of how often they took their medications and to explain any doses they missed.
Patients with the lowest IQs were two-and-a-half times more likely to stop taking their medications than those with the highest IQs, suggesting the reason smarter people may live longer is that they are more likely to continue taking the medications their doctors recommend.
© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
|
