UK education reform linked to reduced dementia risk

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests that an additional year of compulsory schooling may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Researchers utilized a 1972 United Kingdom education reform, known as the Raising of School-Leaving Age Act, to conduct a natural experiment. The reform increased the minimum school-leaving age from 15 to 16 in England, Scotland, and Wales for students born on or after September 1, 1957. This specific cutoff allowed scientists to compare individuals with similar socioeconomic and genetic backgrounds, differing only by whether they were required to stay in school for one extra year.

The findings indicate a sharp decline in cumulative dementia incidence among those who remained in school until age 16. Notably, the protective effect was observed even in individuals with a high genetic predisposition to the disease, such as those with variations in the APOE gene. While researchers noted that the statistical estimates of the reduction were unusually large and should be interpreted with caution due to the rarity of dementia in the study population, the study provides what researchers believe is the first evidence of a causal link between education and reduced dementia risk.