New research shows ibuprofen may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. The study shows people that regularly take the over-the-counter pain reliever have about one third less risk of developing the depilating disease.
“There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, so the possibility that ibuprofen, an existing and relatively non-toxic drug, could help protect against the disease is captivating,” said senior author Alberto Ascherio, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).
Parkinson’s attacks the nervous system and causes the body to shake involuntarily. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about 50,000 people are diagnosed with this disease each year.
Michael J. Fox, a well known actor staring in Family Ties and Spin City, has Parkinson’s. The actor has started a foundation to find a cure for the disease. On his foundation website he states, “I wholeheartedly believe that if there is a concentrated effort from the Parkinson’s community, elected representatives in Washington, DC, and (most importantly) the general public, researchers can pinpoint the cause of Parkinson’s and uncover a cure within our lifetime.”
For now researchers at Harvard say the ibuprofen connection to Parkinson’s isn’t completely understood, but one that researchers would like to do further studies on.
“We observed that men and wom.en who used ibuprofen two or more times per week were about 38% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those who regularly used aspirin or acetaminophen,” Xiang Gao, research scientist at HSPH and associate epidemiologist in the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital said. “Our findings suggest that ibuprofen could be a potential neuroprotective agent against Parkinson’s disease, however, the exact mechanism is unknown.”
While the news isn’t a cure it does provide optimism, scientists say. “These findings raise hope that a readily available, inexpensive drug could help to treat Parkinson’s disease.” Gao said. “Because the loss of brain cells that leads to Parkinson’s disease occurs over a decade or more, a possible explanation of our findings is that use of ibuprofen protects these cells. If so, use of ibuprofen could help slow the disease’s progression.”
