Ibuprofen May Help Parkinson's

Risk of Parkinson's Disease Reduced 35 percent For Regular Users

(WebMD)  The more frequently a person took ibuprofen, the greater the benefit, the study showed. Those who used ibuprofen less than twice weekly were 27 percent less likely to develop Parkinson's disease, while daily users were 39 percent less likely to develop Parkinson's.

But there was no link between the length of time that ibuprofen users had been taking the medication and Parkinson's disease, Ascherio says.

The researchers did not study whether the dose of ibuprofen had any effect on the risk of Parkinson's disease.

Age, sex, and smoking status — known risk factors for Parkinson's disease — could not explain the results.


Surprising Findings

Ascherio says he was "somewhat surprised" that the benefits did not extend to aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs.

It could be a statistical anomaly due to the fact that three-quarters of anti-inflammatory users in the study took ibuprofen. "Maybe we only had the statistical power to see an effect with ibuprofen," he says.

Previous studies have shown a broader impact of anti-inflammatory drugs on Parkinson's disease prevention.

Alternately, there could be an ibuprofen-specific benefit against Parkinson's disease, he says.

Ascherio and his co-investigators plan to follow the patients for at least two more years to see if they can find the answers to these and other questions.