Gutting Out An Extra Year Of High School Might Lower Your Future Odds Of Dementia

Key TakeawaysAn extra year in school might lower your risk of Alzheimer’s diseaseSome U.K. teens had to wait an extra year to drop out of school in the 1950s, due to education reformThose who waited until 16 instead of 15 to drop out wound up with fewer cases of dementia by age 65.TUESDAY, Oct. 27, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Even one more year of high school before dropping out might lower long-term odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, a new study says.U.K. teens who stayed in school an extra year due to a 1950s-era education reform wound up with fewer cases of dementia in old age, researchers reported recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.“The message here is less about the specific numbers and more about the nature of education’s connection to dementia. There are few preventative options out there, so even one could make a world of difference,” lead researcher Silvia Barcellos said in a news release. She is a health economist and associate professor of population health sciences and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Back in 1957, the U.K. increased the minimum age at which students could drop out of school from 15 to 16, researchers said in background notes.That led to a 14% increase in the number of students who stayed in school until they reached 16. For this new study, researchers analyzed medical data from more than 100,000 U.K. residents participating in a long-term health research project called UK Biobank. The team followed the residents, including students who stayed longer in school, to age 65 to see how many had been diagnosed with dementia.Researchers found that the additional year of school reduced cases of Alzheimer’s and dementia over the following 50 years by nearly 1 percentage point — a large effect, given that overall rates of dementia tend to be low at age 65.“There is a sharp decline in (Alzheimer’s) cumulative incidence among those born after September 1, 1957,” the date upon which the reform took effect, researchers reported in their paper.The protection was even stronger among people who carried high-risk genes for Alzheimer’s, researchers said.However, the researchers noted that because the participant age was capped at 65, it’s hard to say how extra education might affect dementia risk in the elderly. They added that they will continue to follow the cohort for more insight into how education might affect the risk of Alzheimer's. More informationAlzheimer’s Research UK has more on education and dementia risk.SOURCES: National Institutes of Health, news release, Oct. 23, 2026; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oct. 23, 2026 .What This Means For YouEarly and ongoing education and formalized learning might lower your risk for Alzheimer’s disease..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Gutting Out An Extra Year Of High School Might Lower Your Future Odds Of Dementia

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