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Regular Use of NSAIDS May Reduce the Risk of Parkinson's Disease

Beate Ritz, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Epidemiology
University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health
NIEHS Grants P30ES007048, R01ES010544, and U54ES012078

Over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease by a little more than half among regular users of these common drugs according to new epidemiologic research from NIEHS-supported researchers at the UCLA School of Public Health. Even regular usage (defined as greater than or equal to two pills/week) for as little as one month lowered a person's risk of the disease by 20 percent.

Neuroinflammatory markers, such as the presence of microglia, immune cells within the central nervous system, and increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines are frequently found in the brains and cerebrospinal fluid of Parkinson's disease patients. However, the link between anti-inflammatory agents and Parkinson's in humans remains uncertain, although there is a body of evidence in laboratory animal models of Parkinson’s that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs exert a protective effect.

The study participants included 579 men and women about half of whom had Parkinson's disease. A stronger protective effect was seen for regular users of non-aspirin anti-inflammatory agents. Only 44 percent of non-aspirin users who had taken the drugs regularly for more than 24 months developed Parkinson's. Interestingly, a protective effect for regular aspirin use was only seen in women—their risk was reduced by about 40 percent.

Future research by this and other research teams will be focused on trying to determine the exact mechanism by which anti-inflammatory drugs exert this effect.

Citation:Wahner AD, Bronstein JM, Bordelon YM, Ritz B. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may protect against Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2007 Nov 6;69(19):1836-42.

 

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Last Reviewed: January 07, 2008