Read More, Live Longer

[Dean Pomerleau]

All,

 

This new study [1] (NY Times coverage) found that reading benefits survival.  Researchers asked 3600+ older adults about their reading habits and then followed them for up to 12 years. They found that people who reported reading (even a little) were about 20% less likely to die during follow-up than those who reported reading not at all or only very rarely, even after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, comorbidities, self-rated health, wealth, marital status, and depression. Here are the survival graphs for the readers vs. non-readers:

 

 

 

Reading books was better for survival than reading newspapers or magazines, but they too were associated with increased survival (about a 10% lower risk of dying). In additional analysis, they found that reading books was still associated with decreased mortality risk even once baseline cognitive ability was factored out. How much reading did it take? Not too much. People in the second tertile of reading amount (0.1 - 3.5 hours/week) benefited almost as much as those in the highest tertile (> 3.5 hours / week). 

 

Admittedly, it's hard to correct for every single potential confounder in this type of study, but it appears that independent of intelligence & cognitive abilities, and independent of a host of other potential confounders, reading is beneficial for longevity.

 

--Dean

 

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[1] Soc Sci Med. 2016 Jul 18;164:44-48. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.014. [Epub

ahead of print]

 

A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity.

 

Bavishi A(1), Slade MD(1), Levy BR(2).

 

Author information: 

(1)Yale University School of Public Health, Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public

Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. (2)Yale University School of

Public Health, Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health, 60 College Street,

New Haven, CT 06510, USA. Electronic address: becca.levy@yale.edu.

 

Full text: http://sci-hub.cc/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.014

 

Although books can expose people to new people and places, whether books also

have health benefits beyond other types of reading materials is not known. This

study examined whether those who read books have a survival advantage over those 

who do not read books and over those who read other types of materials, and if

so, whether cognition mediates this book reading effect. The cohort consisted of 

3635 participants in the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study

who provided information about their reading patterns at baseline. Cox

proportional hazards models were based on survival information up to 12 years

after baseline. A dose-response survival advantage was found for book reading by 

tertile (HRT2 = 0.83, p < 0.001, HRT3 = 0.77, p < 0.001), after adjusting for

relevant covariates including age, sex, race, education, comorbidities,

self-rated health, wealth, marital status, and depression. Book reading

contributed to a survival advantage that was significantly greater than that

observed for reading newspapers or magazines (tT2 = 90.6, p < 0.001; tT3 = 67.9, 

p < 0.001). Compared to non-book readers, book readers had a 23-month survival

advantage at the point of 80% survival in the unadjusted model. A survival

advantage persisted after adjustment for all covariates (HR = .80, p < .01),

indicating book readers experienced a 20% reduction in risk of mortality over the

12 years of follow up compared to non-book readers. Cognition mediated the book

reading-survival advantage (p = 0.04). These findings suggest that the benefits

of reading books include a longer life in which to read them.

 

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

 

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.014 

PMID: 27471129

[AlPater]

Thanks, Dean,

 

Actually, I thought that for tertile 3 the magazine/newspaper readers showed better results.  But more fundamentally: "Cognition mediated the book reading-survival advantage (p = 0.04)."

 

Mom used to read quite a few books when she had time.  Now it is just Word-Seek puzzles and she said last night she gets slower.  But she is past her best before date anyway.

 

PS: Book reading is probably a much easier test for cognition that standard tests.

[Dean Pomerleau]

Al,

 

Leave it to you to find and quote the most ambiguous statement from the abstract:

 

But more fundamentally: "Cognition mediated the book reading-survival advantage (p = 0.04)."

 

That statement could be interpreted two ways:

1. Smarter people read more and live longer (without causal connection).
2. People who read more have better cognition as a result, and therefore live longer.

As I mentioned, to tease them apart the authors did sensitivity analysis and found that baseline cognitive abilities did not explain their results:

 

Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to confirm that the survival advantage 

of reading books is not due to higher baseline cognition of book readers. Baseline cognition in 

2000 was included as a covariate in the main model. This pattern of findings replicated the 

earlier reported patterns. A protective effect was still found from reading books (HRT2=0.90, 

p<0.0001; HRT3=0.80, p<0.0001) and an attenuated effect was found from reading periodicals.

 

In short, it appears that reading helps keep your brain healthy, and keeping your brain healthy is associated with improved survival.

 

--Dean

[mikeccolella]

Or it could be readers are just more likely to follow healthy lifestyles, they're smarter and more informed. It does not mention diet/exercise as a covararite.

[Gordo]

Or it could just mean that while they are reading, they are NOT doing health damaging things like eating junk food or watching TV.

[Todd Allen]

I wonder how computer use, especially internet surfing & email, etc. ranks against TV?  I've started using my cell phone to set a 15 minute timer each time I sit down at the computer to be sure I don't sit too long.  And inspired by Dean I try to keep my legs moving while sitting.  I'm not pedaling, just tapping my toes and bouncing my legs up and down, but it does seem to help.

[Mechanism]

Edited