Painkillers routinely used by millions may dissolve abnormal plaque deposits in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease, a study suggests.
The test-tube study, published in Neuroscience, adds new evidence to the theory that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and aspirin, actually may prevent Alzheimer’s. The preliminary findings must be verified, but point to some preventive possibility.
Jorge Barrio, a researcher at the University of California-Los Angeles, and his colleagues knew previous studies had suggested that anti-inflammatory drugs protected people from developing Alzheimer’s.
But those studies just showed a statistical link between such protection and the drugs. Barrio’s team looked directly at how such drugs interact with Alzheimer’s plaque, abnormal clumps in the brain thought by some to cause Alzheimer’s.
The team mixed a chemical marker that highlights plaque with diseased human brain tissue. They added naproxen or ibuprofen, painkillers often used to treat arthritis pain.
Using a microscope that detects the chemical marker, the researchers found the drugs melted away some of the Alzheimer’s plaque. That finding suggests people who take such drugs on a regular basis may get some protection against Alzheimer’s.
USA Today