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Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs May Protect Against Parkinson's Disease: Presented at MDS

By Bruce Sylvester
Special to DG News

MIAMI, FL -- November 14, 2002 -- The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can delay or prevent the onset of Parkinson's disease, researchers report.

The research was presented here November 13 at the Movements Disorders Society's (MDS) 7^th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders.

Studies show that NSAIDs can reduce dopaminergic neuron degeneration in Parkinsonian animal models. Epidemiological data on NSAIDs and the risk of Parkinson's disease has not been available to date.

Researchers in this study investigated the association between use of NSAIDs (other than aspirin) or aspirin, and the risk of Parkinson's disease. They studied two large cohorts of 44,057 men (the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, 1986-2000) and 98,679 women (the Nurses' Health Study, 1980-1998). They adjusted for age, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and caffeine intake.

The researchers found that Parkinson's disease developed in 418 subjects (239 men and 179 women). Regular users of NSAIDs had a lower risk of Parkinson's disease than nonusers, among both men and women. The study also noted that the pooled relative risk for users of NSAIDs was 0.55 (p=0.03).

Researchers observed a lower risk of Parkinson's disease among men and women who took two or more tablets of aspirin per day. They also observed that, compared to nonusers of aspirin, the pooled relative risk was 0.56.

"These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may delay or prevent the onset of Parkinson's disease," reported lead author and research presenter Graham Colditz, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

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