Ibuprofen Battles Alzheimer's

Over-the-counter headache medicine may help prevent Alzheimer's
disease, claim scientists from Quebec, Canada. They found that
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and aspirin reduced
the risk of developing this debilitating disorder—and the longer
the painkillers were used, the greater the benefit.

The analysis, published in the British Medical Journal, included
results from 15 studies that examined the effects of painkillers on the
brain. The research team found that subjects who took the drugs regularly
for more than two years were less likely to develop Alzheimer's, which
slowly incapacitates the mind. Aspirin seemed to have less of a
protective effect than other NSAIDs like ibuprofen and
acetaminophen.

These results may help drug developers invent new treatments for
Alzheimer's. Scientists believe that NSAIDs forestall the disease by
reducing inflammation in the brain. Other researchers have found that the
drugs combat Alzheimer's by lowering the number of amyloid-beta proteins,
which cause damaging plaques in the brain.

Mahyar Etminan, Ph.D. of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal,
Canada, notes that while the Quebecois team's results are promising, they
are preliminary. NSAIDs should not be prescribed as a preventive measure
against the disease until the issue has been studied further.