Could education equal medication for treating chronic disease?
One study finds 52 percent higher mortality among diabetics who didn't take medication. Another finds 52 percent higher mortality among diabetics who didn't finish high school.
By Matt O'Brien
Almost six months ago, at a community meeting in South Philadelphia, I heard the following story, one that tragically illustrates a powerful connection between education and health:
A 17-year-old girl, born in Mexico and brought to Philadelphia as a young child, took her life — in large part because she saw no opportunity to pursue a college education after graduating from South Philadelphia High School, a milestone that she would have reached this coming June.
Connecting the dots from above, we see that a college education (first study) had exactly the same effect on reducing mortality among diabetics that taking metformin (second study) did. Stated differently, a full dose of college education was equivalent to medication at preventing death among adults with diabetes.
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