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Study Supports Potential of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs to Protect Against Alzheimer's
A DGReview of :"Effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on risk of Alzheimer's disease: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies"
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
07/22/2003
By Joene Hendry
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) offer some reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease but the optimal dosage and duration of use is not yet known.
Mahyar Etminan, an epidemiologist at Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Canada and colleagues conducted an updated meta-analysis to quantify the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in individuals using NSAIDs and, specifically, aspirin.
Of the nine studies of any NSAID use in people over the age of 55 years, six were cohort studies including 13,221 participants and three were case-control studies including 1,443 participants.
The pooled combined data from the cohort and case-control studies showed a relative risk of Alzheimer's disease was 0.72 among NSAID users.
The analysis specific to aspirin users included eight studies that showed a pooled relative risk of 0.87 for developing Alzheimer's disease.
Among subjects using NSAIDs for less than 1 month, the relative risk for developing Alzheimer's disease was 0.95 while for those using NSAIDs for an intermediate duration (less than 24 months in most cases) the relative risk was 0.83.
The greatest benefit was seen in patients who used NSAIDs for more than 24 months, who had a relative risk for developing Alzheimer's disease of 0.27.
While the meta-analysis indicated a protective effect from developing Alzheimer's disease with aspirin use, the investigators note that this protection was not significant, presumably due to the small number of studies that specifically evaluated the effects of aspirin.
The investigators conclude that this systematic review supports the hypothesis that NSAID use may protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease. "The appropriate dose, duration, and ratios of risk to benefit are still unclear," they add.
BMJ 2003;327:7407:128-31.
"Effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on risk of Alzheimer's disease: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies"
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