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Anti-inflammatory drugs lower risk of Alzheimer’s

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18.07.2003

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, claim researchers in this week’s BMJ.

The authors identified 15 studies published between 1996 and October 2002 that examined the role of NSAID use in preventing Alzheimer’’s disease. They carried out three separate analyses to quantify the risk of Alzheimer’’s disease in NSAID users and in aspirin users and to determine any influence on duration of use.

Their results show that NSAIDS offer some protection against the development of Alzheimer’’s disease and that the benefits may be greater the longer NSAIDs are used.

They also suggest that aspirin has a protective effect, but this result was not significant, probably because of the small number of studies that specifically evaluated the effects of aspirin.

However, the appropriate dose, duration, and the ratios of risk to benefit are still unclear, they conclude.

Emma Dickinson | Source: alphagalileo
Further information: www.bmj.com

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