Individuals addicted to opioids have a 56% higher risk of developing dementia than non-users, according to a study led by researchers at the Nuffield Department of Population Health and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. The findings are published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
Opioids are a class of natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic drugs that include prescription pain medications such as oxycodone and fentanyl, and illegal drugs such as heroin. They work by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord, blocking pain signals and producing feelings of euphoria.
Over-prescribing of opioids in the 1990s, particularly in the United States and Canada, contributed to a wave of opioid misuse and overdose deaths that led the US Department of Health and Human Services to declare a public health emergency in 2017. More recently, the opioid crisis has been driven by illegally manufactured fentanyl.
Senior Clinical Researcher at the Nuffield Department of Population Health and lead author of the study, Dr Anya Topiwala said ‘While the short-term effects of opioids are well known, our findings show that opioid use disorder may also have important long-term consequences for brain health, including a higher risk of dementia. Using large-scale data and genetic methods, we found evidence suggesting this link may be causal, pointing to the direct impact of opioid exposure rather than underlying genetic risk.’
Read the full story on the Nuffield Department of Population Health website.