TAKING a cheap over-the-counter medication could lower your risk of dementia by 12 per cent, a study suggests.
Dutch scientists said dosage of the drug doesn’t matter – but people who took the pill long term had lower risk of developing the memory robbing disease.
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Previous studies have shown that inflammation may spur on the development and progression of dementia, researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands said.
As such, drugs with anti-inflammatory effects could help protect against the disease.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications are a class of drug that help reduce pain, high temperatures and inflammation.
They’re widely used, as they include commonly used painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin.
“Increasing evidence from experimental studies in animals and observational studies in humans suggests a central role of inflammatory processes in various pathologies underlying dementia, including vascular brain injury and amyloid-b and tau accumulation,” researchers wrote in a study published to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
A key hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease – the most common form of dementia – is the buildup of amyloid and tau in the brain.
These are toxic proteins that form abnormal structures, interfering with communication between brain cells and causing loss of brain function.
Aside from calming inflammation, researchers suggested that NSAIDs also slow the formation of these plaques.
“Animal studies have shown that NSAID exposure reduces the formation of amyloid-b plaques in the brains of mice,” they said.
“Amyloid-b plaques in the brain are considered a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.”
The team analysed the data of 11,745 people from 1991 to 2020 with an average age of 66.2 at the beginning of the study, tracking their NSAID usage.
By the end of the study, 2901 participants had developed dementia.
“Overall use was similar in males and females, but long-term use was more common in females than in males,” researchers observed.
“Moreover, compared to short-term users, long-term users had higher average BMI and more frequent diabetes but were less often smokers.”
They found that long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs was associated with a 12 per cent lower risk of developing dementia.
Meanwhile, short-term and intermediate use of the drugs didn’t seem to improve people’s odds against the memory-robbing disease.
Their analysis suggested that people who use anti-inflammatory drugs over a long period of time may be at a lower risk of dementia, regardless of the dosage.
Corresponding author Dr Mohammad Arfan Ikram said: “Our study provides evidence on possible preventive effects of anti- inflammatory medication against the dementia process.
“There is a need for more studies to further consolidate this evidence and possibly develop preventive strategies.”
Ways to lower your risk of dementia
There are things you can do to reduce your own risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s.
No single behaviour is guaranteed to prevent dementia – but there’s lots of evidence to suggest that making tweaks to your lifestyle choices could affect your risk.
Dementia risk is lowest in people who have healthy behaviours in mid-life – from the age of 40 to 65 – according Alzheimer’s Society.
Here are a few easy changes you can make:
- Exercise regularly to boost your heart health and circulation and help maintain a healthy weight.
- Drink less alcohol – try to have no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, about one pint of beer or a small glass of wine each day. If you regularly drink much more than this, you are increasing your risk of damage to your brain and other organs, and so increasing your risk of dementia.
- Don’t smoke – it does a lot of harm to the circulation of blood around the body, particularly the blood vessels in the brain, as well as the heart and lungs.
- Engaging in social activities to help to build up your brain’s ability to relieve stress and improve your mood – depression and social isolation have both been linked to dementia.
- Manage health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, which can increase the risk of getting dementia.
- Protect your eyesight and hearing – vision loss increases a person’s risk of developing dementia. The same goes for hearing loss, which can also be an early symptom of dementia.
- Wear a helmet – as traumatic brain injuries can start a process in the brain where the substances that cause Alzheimer’s disease build up around the injured area.
Source: Alzheimer’s Society
Researchers wrote: “Long-term NSAID use, but not cumulative dose, was associated with decreased dementia risk.
“This suggests that prolonged rather than intensive exposure to anti-inflammatory medication may hold potential for dementia prevention.
“Sustained suppression of harmful inflammatory processes might be more beneficial in the prevention of dementia rather than short-term intensive suppression.”
But study authors stressed that they weren’t advocating for people to begin popping NSAIDs in order to prevent dementia.
“Although our results are an indication of the important role of inflammation in the treatment of dementia, they do not justify the recommendation of long-term treatment with NSAIDs for the prevention of dementia, given its potential adverse effects,” they noted.
“NSAIDs are currently listed as potentially inappropriate medications in older adults.”
The NHS notes that people over the age of 65 should be careful about taking the drugs and should speak to a pharmacist or doctor before doing so.
The same goes anyone who is pregnant or trying for a baby, has asthma, is breastfeeding, has suffered from allergic reactions to NSAIDs or stomach ulcers or has problems with their heart, liver, kidneys, blood pressure, circulation or bowels.
Children under the age of 16 also shouldn’t be given aspirin.
The study follows analysis from researchers at the University of Cambridge, which identified drugs that could slash the risk of dementia with the aim of repurposing medications already used for other conditions.
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