A research team at the King's College in London, lead by Rosalin Arden, have found that high intelligence may directly correlate to good health. A study conducted by the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in 1985 to 1986 found that, out of 3654 Vietnam War veterans, people with lower IQs had a higher
likelihood of suffering and contracting dozens of diseases and health problems. Men with lower the IQ in the Vietnam War study, compared with men with higher intelligence, found that they had a higher risk of developing hernias, ear inflammation and cataracts. This offers evidence that intelligence and health are the product of common genetic factors. In addition, researchers also found that men with higher intelligence had healthier sperm.These findings may just possibly simply be the result of a healthier, smarter choice of lifestyle, not the result of genetic mutation or adaptation. However in the study, the overall lifestyle fairly constant with most having a low BMI and a history of no smoking. They are now developing new ways to further test these theories and test whether the correlation between health and intelligence, which was implied in the study, may be genuine.
References:
1) http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17098
12:34 08 May 2009 by Ewan Callaway
