Fight Alzheimer's Disease

A team at the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway and the Cleveland Clinic has reported a new finding regarding the debilitating Alzheimer’s disease — common over-the-counter painkillers such as ibuprofen or naproxen may protect people from Alzheimer’s disease.

The team of researchers found that the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, often sold as Advil and Motrin, could stop the production of neuronal cell cycle events (CCEs) — an early molecular event that often leads to Alzheimer’s disease.

The study was done in mice that were given a molecule that triggered the neuronal CCEs.  The mice that were treated with the painkillers did not develop new CCEs, nor did it remove old CCEs.  People would have to take these painkillers from an early age, to prevent the triggering of neuronal cell events.

The researchers said that the findings are supported by past studies that have shown that people who took over-the-counter painkillers long term were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, but that the measure was preventative and not curative.  The studies found that those with mild to moderate symptoms were not affected by painkillers.