Ibuprofen linked to lower Alzheimer’s risk

Long-term use of the painkiller ibuprofen has been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease by a study in America.

The research found that people who used ibuprofen for over five years were more than 40 per cent less likely to develop the form of dementia.

Scientists also found that the longer ibuprofen was used, the lower the risk of dementia was.

The team from the Boston University School of Medicine made the links after studying nearly 50,000 US veterans aged over 55 who developed Alzheimer’s disease and 196,850 veterans without dementia.

Scientists studied over five years of data, including the use of several non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Writing in the journal Neurology, the researchers say that while other NSAIDs such as indomethacin may have been associated with lower dementia risk, others including celecoxib did not affect risk.

Professor Clive Ballard, research director at the Alzheimer’s Society, described the findings as “interesting” and said they add to evidence of the protective effects of long-term NSAID use against Alzheimer’s disease.

“Whilst this is important research it does not mean that people should start taking ibuprofen to reduce their risk of developing dementia,” he added.

“Long term use of NSAIDs is associated with a number of very significant side effects. It is now up to researchers to use these results in the development of future treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.”