A new study has found that people who regularly use opioids may face a higher risk of developing dementia, especially a type called vascular dementia.
The research was published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia and led by Dr. SHA Feng from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, in collaboration with researchers from the U.S. and the University of Pennsylvania.
Opioids are strong pain-relief drugs often prescribed for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), which is pain lasting more than three months and not related to cancer. Since the 1990s, opioid use for CNCP has become widespread, raising concerns about addiction, misuse, and long-term side effects.
Previous studies have suggested that opioid use may affect parts of the brain responsible for memory and thinking. This new study aimed to explore whether long-term opioid use could increase the risk of dementia.
The researchers analyzed data from nearly 198,000 people aged 37 to 73 in the UK Biobank study. On average, participants were followed for nearly 14 years. The team used several advanced statistical methods to adjust for other factors that might influence the results.
They found that regular opioid users had a 20% higher risk of developing dementia than people who used other types of painkillers. Those who used strong opioids had an even greater risk—over 70% higher. In contrast, people who used non-opioid painkillers had a similar dementia risk to those who did not take painkillers at all.
The strongest link was found with vascular dementia, a form of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain.
Brain scans of participants showed that people who used strong opioids had smaller brain volumes, including in key areas like the white matter and hippocampus, which are critical for memory and learning. Cognitive tests also showed that opioid users had lower fluid intelligence scores, although there was no clear link to memory decline.
The researchers say these results show the importance of considering how powerful the opioid is and how long a person uses it when thinking about dementia risk. It also highlights the need to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of opioid use, especially in people with long-term pain.
This study provides important insights into how chronic pain, medications, and brain health are connected—and why safer approaches to pain management should be a priority.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about Scientists find a simple solution to fight dementia and findings of Big causes of memory loss, dementia you need to know.
For more about dementia, please read studies about People who take high blood pressure medications have lower dementia risk and findings of Early indicators of dementia: 5 behaviour changes to look for after age 50.
The study is published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
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