Studies Suggest Pain Drugs May Prevent Alzheimer's

Recent studies have suggested that people who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, known as NSAIDs, may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease or may be able to delay its onset delayed significantly.

Boston University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and two other medical centers have launched a huge, seven-year clinical trial to study these promising results further, using the drugs naproxen (Aleve) and celecoxib (Celebrex).

The study, called Alzheimer's Disease Anti-inflammatory Prevention Trial (ADAPT), will consist of 2,625 volunteers aged 70 and older, who have a family history of age-related memory loss, dementia, senility, or Alzheimer's disease.

The premise behind the study is that the anti-inflammatory drugs might curb the inflammatory attack that is associated with the buildup of deposits of amyloid, a protein that appears on the brains of sufferers.

Dr. Robert Green, a neurologist at BU who is one of the heads of the study, says that there is growing evidence that inflammation damages or kills nerve cells in Alzheimer's patients.

"We are in a race against time as the baby boom generation ages and enters the period of greatest risk for developing Alzheimer's disease," said Bill Thies, vice president of the National Alzheimer's Association in Chicago, who called the trial an encouraging development.

Studies using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have shown that these medications do not have an effect on those people already suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Other sources: The Boson Globe, U.S. Newswire, Boston Herald