[FOX] Opioid use could put dementia patients at a higher risk of death, particularly in the first two weeks after starting a medication, according to new research revealed on Tuesday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in Amsterdam.
Among all patients age 65 and older who were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in Denmark and who took an opioid over a 10-year period, a third of them died within 180 days after starting the medication, researchers found, according to a press release from the Alzheimer’s Association.
The death risk was around five times higher than for those who did not take opioids — but it was 11 times higher within the first two weeks. |