Aspirin Won't Prevent Alzheimer's

Two large studies suggest that aspirin and other common painkillers won't slow dementia and cognitive decline:

The first, in the British Medical Journal, looked at over 6,000 women. The other in Neurology looked at 2,000 with a family history of Alzheimer's. [...]

Past research on the possible benefit of aspirin and NSAIDs has been mixed, with some studies showing slight benefits.

In the studies, by teams at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, participants took either the drug (low dose aspirin, naproxen or celecoxib) or a dummy treatment, called a placebo, for up to 11 years.

Over the course of the investigation, they were asked to complete tasks designed to test memory and were checked for signs of dementia.

The researchers found no differences between the groups, suggesting the drugs offered no protection against Alzheimer's or cognitive decline.

The book on painkillers, however, isn't shut: ibuprofen has been shown to break down Alzheimer's-linked buildups of protein in the brain, and women taking aspirin in the BMJ study appeared to maintain verbal fluency longer than women taking a placebo.

Pain drugs dementia hope dashed [BBC]
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Image: Staffan Enbom*