Study findings demonstrated that higher education level was significantly associated with lower risk for dementia later in life among African-Americans.

"Low education can be a marker for adverse environmental influences in childhood such as the use of home remedies, poor diet, mistrust of the medical system and religious or cultural beliefs on seeking health care," Valerie Smith-Gamble, MD, MSc, of Alvin C. York VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, said in a press release. "Higher educational attainment may alter these negative influences of childhood by lifestyle changes such as healthy food choices and exercise, and the establishment of trust of the medical system.”