Ibuprofen and the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

Recent research was done that showed how regularly taking ibuprofen, greatly reduced a person’s changes of contracting Parkinson’s disease. The pain relievers used in the research were, Motrin, Advil, and Nuprin.

The disease generally develops in the elderly, is caused by the loss of brain cells which results in slowed speech and impaired movements. In the US, roughly one million people suffer from the disease and 60,000 more cases are diagnosed annually. It is believed that even more cases exist but cannot be reported since they remain undiagnosed.

Research was done on 136,474 people. They showed no signs of the disease, at the start of the research period. The participants’taking  of non- steroid and  anti-inflammatory drugs (or NSAIDs) was documented. When questioned, the participants stated that they used ibuprofen, aspirin, and acetaminophen, and that use was documented. After six years the participants, were again interviewed, and it was found that 293 of them had Parkinson’s disease.

What the research revealed, was that the participants who regularly used ibuprofen, appeared forty percent  less likely to contract the disease as opposed to those who did not take ibuprofen. Also, the research showed that taking greater  amounts of ibuprofen, made the participants even less likely to contract the disease. These results were exactly the same despite the participants’ age, the amount of caffeine taken daily and whether the participant smoked or not.

It has been reported that Ibuprofen is the only NSAID that can be linked to a reduced chance of developing the  disease. The other analgesics and NSAIDs such as acetaminophen, and aspirin had no such effect of reducing the risk of the  disease. The disease affects about 1 million people living  in the US, and additional research needs to be done to determine how Ibuprofen works to decrease  the risk of developing the disease.