One additional year of high school may lower the long-term risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, a new study suggests. The research examined a 1950s education reform in the U.K. that raised the minimum school-leaving age from 15 to 16. This policy change, implemented on September 1, 1957, mandated that students complete an extra year of schooling before leaving school.
The policy change caused a 14% increase in the number of students who remained in school until age 16. Researchers analyzed medical data from over 100,000 U.K. residents in the UK Biobank, tracking them until age 65. The study included participants who were born both before and after the reform’s effective date to compare long-term health outcomes.
The study found that the extra year of schooling reduced cases of Alzheimer’s and dementia by nearly 1 percentage point over 50 years. This effect was particularly notable among people born after the reform’s September 1, 1957, effective date. The reduction in cumulative incidence was described by researchers as a “sharp decline” in Alzheimer’s cases for that group.
The protection was even stronger for individuals carrying high-risk genes for Alzheimer’s. The research was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study’s design focused on dementia rates by age 65, a point when overall dementia prevalence is relatively low.
Lead researcher Silvia Barcellos, a health economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stated the finding offers a rare preventative option. “There are few preventative options out there, so even one could make a world of difference,” she said. The research emphasizes that the connection is less about specific figures and more about the fundamental link between education and long-term brain health.
The study’s design limited the analysis to participants up to age 65, so the effect on dementia risk in older adults remains unclear. Researchers plan to continue following the cohort to understand education’s long-term impact on Alzheimer’s risk. They will seek more insight into how formalized learning might influence risk in later life.
More information on the connection between education and dementia risk is available from Alzheimer’s Research UK. Early and ongoing education and formalized learning might lower your risk for Alzheimer’s disease.