Health: Alzheimer's & Ibuprofen

CBS 3

May 05, 2008

The popular pain reliever Ibuprofen is in over the counter drugs like Advil and Motrin. A new study of 49,000 people found that seniors who took ibuprofen daily, for five years, had a 40 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's.

Previous research on it has showed conflicting results, but this new study is the longest of its kind.

"The longer you were on the Ibuprofen, the odds ratio of developing Alzheimer's Disease decreased," said Dr. Angela Scicutela, Alzheimer's Expert.

Alzheimer's Disease has been linked to brain inflammation that causes a plaque substance to build up. Ibuprofen relieves pain, by lowering inflammation, which could be why it helps with Alzheimer's.

"Certainly decreasing inflammation in the brain can be beneficial," said Dr. Scicutela.

That's good news for Amelia Tirado, she takes ibuprofen daily for her arthritis.

"That sounds pretty good for me because I need it," said Amelia.

Other anti inflammatory pain relievers were also tested.

Naproxen also showed a benefit, but it wasn't as significant. And Celebrex, a prescription anti inflammatory didn't reduce the Alzheimer's risk at all.

Ibuprofen was by far the best, but experts says it's too early to start prescribing it for Alzheimer's Disease.

"Certainly we're not at a point now where we would advocate that," said Dr. Scicutela.

The dosage was not specifically studied, but it was generally in the range of 600 to 800 milligrams.

Ibuprofen will now be studied further in the hopes of finding better treatments for Alzheimer's and a better understanding of what causes it.

But doctors caution that ibuprofen can be hard on the stomach.

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