A commonly taken drug for lower back pain could raise the risk of developing dementia by up to 40 per cent, concerning research suggests.
Gabapentin, sold as Neurontin, was approved on the NHS in the early 1990s to treat nerve pain and epilepsy.
But US researchers have found the pill—typically taken three times a day—could increase the risk of developing the memory robbing disorder by 29 per cent among patients of any age who had been prescribed it at least six times.
This risk rose to 40 per cent among those who had been prescribed it on more than 12 occasions.
The team, from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, said the findings suggested patients prescribed gabapentin should now be assessed for potential cognitive decline.
But they cautioned the findings do not prove that taking the drug will cause dementia—merely that it shows an association.
Experts today also suggested that people with chronic pain requiring gabapentin may simply have also been less physically active, a known risk factor for developing dementia, so the medication may be not be to blame.
The drug—manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer of Covid vaccine fame—acts on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a chemical messenger in the brain that functions like a brake on over-excited nerve cells.
Latest NHS data shows 799,155 patients were prescribed gabapentin in England in 2023/24, down slightly on its peak of 926,071 in 2022/23.
Figures suggest more than 8million gabapentin prescriptions are issued every year in the US.
In the study, researchers assessed the health records from more than 26,000 Americans who had been prescribed gabapentin for chronic low pain between 2004 and 2024.
They found those who had received six or more gabapentin prescriptions were 29 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with dementia and 85 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) within 10 years of their pain diagnosis.
MCI can sometimes be a precursor to a dementia diagnosis.
While there was no heightened risk among 18-to-34-year olds prescribed the drug, the risk of dementia more than doubled and MCI more than tripled among 35–49 year old prescribed it.
Patients given 12 or more prescriptions were at even greater risk, the scientists found.
These patients were 40 per cent more likely to develop dementia and 65 per cent more likely to develop MCI than those prescribed gabapentin between 3 and 11 times.
