Common painkillers have anti-Alzheimer’s effect
Pooled data from six studies suggest that all painkillers classified as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs—including aspirin, ibuprofen and celecoxib—reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer dementia to a similar extent.
“This is an interesting finding because it seems to challenge a current theory that the NSAID group which includes ibuprofen may work better in reducing a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s,” Dr. Peter P. Zandi said in a statement.
“The NSAID group that includes ibuprofen was thought to target a certain type of plaque in the brain found in Alzheimer’s patients. But our results suggest there may be other reasons why these drugs may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s,” added Zandi, a researcher with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
As reported in the medical journal Neurology, the researchers analyzed data on 13,499 people, 820 of whom developed Alzheimer dementia during follow-up.
Subjects who took NSAIDs were 23% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than were nonusers, the report indicates.
The benefit provided by the drugs that specifically reduced brain plaque, such as ibuprofen or indomethacin, was comparable to that seen with drugs that didn’t, such as celecoxib. Aspirin use also cut the risk to a similar degree.
On the other hand, acetaminophen, which is not an NSAID, had no apparent effect on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers found.
Since it seems that all NSAIDs are similar in their ability to reduce the risk of Alzheimer dementia, the report concludes, further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying this protective effect.
SOURCE: Neurology, online May 28, 2008.
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