Ibuprofen could help fight off parkinson's disease

Researchers discovered that adults who regularly take ibuprofen are significantly less likely to have Parkinson's Disease.

The researchers behind the study said that it was too early to recommend Ibuprofen as a treatment for Parkinson's since the long term effect of taking the drug are not yet known. More research studies should be done.

Professor Alberto Ascherio from Harvard University, who worked on the ground breaking study, said: "There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, so the possibility that ibuprofen, an existing and relatively non-toxic drug, could help protect against the disease is captivating."

The scientists studied data from nearly 99,000 women and 37,000 men who had enrolled in a health study.

Six years later they found 291 had developed Parkinson's and analysed and compared all of their subjects use of ibuprofen, aspirin and other anti-inflammatory pain relieving drugs.

They then adjusted the findings to take into account variables such as age, smoking, diet and caffeine consumption.

The results showed that taking ibuprofen two or three times a week reduced the chances of contracting the disease by 38 per cent.

After a larger analysis that combined several other studies on ibuprofen and other drug use, the researchers found that ibuprofen users had a 27 per cent lower risk of developing the disease compared to non-users.

The exact mechanism by which it works is not known but it is believed ibuprofen may reduce inflammation in the brain and protect brain cells from death caused by the disease.

The research was published in the journal Neurology.