Torah can be an elixir of death as well as an elixir of life.
If a person does not obtain the privilege (or right) to study Torah, the study can do more harm than good.
It does not depend on intellectual level, persistence, or anything else of an external nature; it is a matter of one's fitness in terms of receptivity.
It depends on the heart's intention or sincerity, as expressed in the blessing prior to study.
Thus, since it does not depend on the intellectual attainments, the elixir of life is available at any level of comprehension.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From In the Beginning by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz