Categories

A pioneering study, the Nun Study offers insight into whether a positive emotional outlook early in life will help people live longer. The study of 678 nuns in seven convents in Connecticut, Maryland, Texas, Wisconsin, Missouri and Illinois is considered to be one of the world's most innovative efforts to answer why and who develops Alzheimer's disease.  For example, Sister Mary had cognitive test scores with high ratings, yet at her death at age 101 the brain autopsy showed Alzheimer's disease with neurofibrillary tangles and plaques.

The nuns are members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame religious congregation who are now 75 to 106 years of age. In a book written by David Snowdon, "Aging With Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives", this book brings to attention the aging process and how our lives are affected by it:

"Every time I get out of there I feel like an idiot," said Sister Blanche Becker, 88, who does crossword puzzles and reads Danielle Steel novels. "Here I am of sound mind and body and I sit there and open and close little doors and look at pictures and try to remember them all. But maybe it's made me more tolerant of people with Alzheimer's. I am afraid of what's going to happen to me, yes. How stupidly am I going to act? Will I know people? How long will it take me to die?"

Approximately fifteen years ago, these nuns gave themselves to science in a study led by Dr. David Snowdon from the University of Kentucky. Undergoing periodic memory tests, the nuns have allowed doctors to perform autopsies on their brains while also allowing investigators to learn from their writings throughout the years. These early writings demonstrate the early cognitive functions of the nuns, allowing the researchers to detect "different levels of positive or negative emotions" while determining the optimistic views the nuns had about their future.

Over the years, a strong correlation was found between a longer life and positive attitudes found in the earlier writings—feelings of being happy, contentment, or feelings of accomplishment. Another similarity was found between nuns with higher levels of folic acid in the blood stream with lower diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease. What makes this a perfect study is that the nuns do not smoke, drink  or experience pregnancy. They are all of a white race and eat in the same convent cafeterias, with most teaching in Catholic schools. They have common lifestyles and environments. All of this stands on the shoulders of the nuns' life stages from early life to their present-day aging processes.

A gift to society, the Nun Study helps the world better understand the dreadful Alzheimer's disease which our society is preparing to embark on with such dreadful consequences. So far, the study has resulted in some serious findings:

1.     The nuns who had developed more linguistic ability during their earlier years were less likely to have dementia when they aged.

2.     The nuns who remained positive in early life lived longer.

3.     Dementia in later life and less longevity was associated with a lower linguistic ability when they were younger.

4.     A low serum folate level demonstrates more chance of developing Alzheimer's disease.

5.     No association was found with dental amalgams and dementia

6.     Nuns with brain infarcts developed less developed cognitive functions and a higher prevalence of dementia.

7.     The nursing staff many times was unable to recognize dementia in nuns.

8.     Early education was associated with less cognitive decline as the nuns aged.