Education, Income Affect Heart Attack Survival Rates

LiveScience for June 25, 2008 reported on the effect of education and income on survival of heart attacks.

People with the lowest income had the worse one-year survival estimates, with 75 percent survival among people earning $28,732 to $44,665; 83 percent survival for those earning $49,435 to $53,561; and 86 percent for people in the $56,992 to $74,034 income bracket.

The level of an individual's education also coincided with survival rates: 67 percent among those who had fewer than 12 years of education; 81 percent among people with 12 years of education; and 85 percent for those with more than 12 years of education.

Teenagers Attending College Less Likely To Engage In Risky Sexual Behavior

ScienceDaily for June 6, 2008 reported on the maturity of students having sex.

The study found that college students were more likely to always use a condom and less likely to engage in casual sex or high-risk sex than teens who did not attend a two- or four-year college.

Fixing The Education Digital Disconnect One Video Game At A Time: FAS Launches Immune Attack

An article in ScienceDaily for May 26, 2008 reported on the use of a video game to teach students about immunology.

“My students were very engaged while playing Immune Attack,” said Netia Elam, AP Biology Teacher at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, VA. “The video game provides great visuals and allows the students to interact while playing the game. The kids really wanted to master the game and to do that they needed to learn the immunology concepts.”

Public Schools As Good As Private Schools In Raising Math Scores, Study Says

ScienceDaily for May 27, 2008 reported on a comparison of public and private schools in student development of math skills.

Students in public schools learn as much or more math between kindergarten and fifth grade as similar students in private schools, according to a new University of Illinois study of multi-year, longitudinal data on nearly 10,000 students.

The LiveScience article is here.

Separation From Mom, Dad Linked With Learning Trouble In Kids

According to an article in ScienceDaily for May 18, 2008

In the wake of divorce, illness, violence and other problems that can unsettle homes, countless young children are liable to experience temporary separations from one or both parents before packing their knapsack for kindergarten. Published in the May/June issue of Ambulatory Pediatrics, a new, community-wide study from Rochester, New York, warns that such kids are at increased risk for learning difficulties and that these separations are good predictors of which children may require special educational interventions to succeed.

Education Linked To Risk Of Cancer Death

Gaining an education helps one avoid cancer, according to an article in ScienceDaily for September 12, 2007.

A new American Cancer Society study finds having at least some education beyond high school is associated with a decreased risk of cancer death. The study finds higher education levels were strongly associated with decreased cancer mortality among black men, white men, and white women.

Low Education Level Linked To Alzheimer's, Study Shows

ScienceDaily for October 2, 2007 reported that

People who don't finish high school are at a higher risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease compared to people with more education, regardless of lifestyle choices and characteristics such as income, occupation, physical activity and smoking, according to a study published in the October 2, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

More Educated People Who Develop Dementia Lose Their Memory Faster

According to an article in ScienceDaily for October 23, 2007

People with more years of education lose their memory faster than those with less education in the years prior to a diagnosis of dementia, according to a study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

The LiveScience article is here.

The Secret to Raising Smart Kids

Scientific American for November 2007 reported on how to help our kids be successful in school.

Many people assume that superior intelligence or ability is a key to success. But more than three decades of research shows that an overemphasis on intellect or talent—and the implication that such traits are innate and fixed—leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unmotivated to learn.

Parallel: Seek learning by study and by faith

In Mormon Belief: Seek learning by study and by faith I gave a scripture in which the Lord said we should seek learning by both study and faith. Scientific research is one way we learn by study, and scripture study and prayer is one way we learn by faith. Both are important to our growth as individuals and societies.

Latter-day Saints have traditionally done well in school. As a group we have exceptionally high rates of completion of secondary and higher education. We have our share of prominent scholars. These achievements are, I believe, because LDS take the Lord seriously and literally when he said to seek learning by study and by faith.

Scientists are discovering that reading, completion of school, and similar activities have beneficial effects on our growth and development.

Mormon Belief: Seek learning by study and by faith

And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith; (D&C 109:7)

Memory Lane: Older Persons With More Schooling Spend Fewer Years With Cognitive Loss

ScienceDaily for May 13, 2008 reported on an effect of education on the aging process.

Those with at least a high school education spend more of their older years without cognitive loss -- including the effects of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and dementia -- but die sooner after the loss becomes apparent, reveals a new study.

Math Plus 'Geeky' Images Equals Deterred Students

ScienceDaily for May 12, 2008 reported on reasons why students don't study math.

The research revealed that many of the clichéd perceptions which it identified are linked to the way in which mathematics and mathematicians are presented in popular culture. Although there has been an increase since 2006, the number of people in England and Wales choosing to study maths has been in decline in the last decade. The subject's negative portrayal in popular culture contributes to this lack of interest. The research went on to suggest using popular culture as one way to promote a more positive view of maths.

Children Better Prepared For School If Their Parents Read Aloud To Them

ScienceDaily for May 12, 2008 reported that

Young children whose parents read aloud to them have better language and literacy skills when they go to school, according to a review published online ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.