Ibuprofen May Protect Against Parkinson's Disease

People who take ibuprofen two or more times a week are considerably less likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who don't take the drug, according to a study published online March 2 in the journal Neurology.

The finding suggests this common over-the-counter painkiller (sold under brand names that include Advil, Motrin and Nuprin) may actually protect the brain against the degeneration that produces the symptoms of Parkinson's, including shaking, muscle stiffness and other difficulties with movement and coordination.

But lead author Xiang Gao, M.D., of Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, says more research is needed to confirm a cause-and-effect link and to understand how the effect works before doctors should consider recommending ibuprofen to slow or prevent Parkinson's.

Who is at risk?

James Beck, director of research programs at the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, concurs. "I think this is real," he adds. "I think there is something associated with how ibuprofen works in the body which may play a role in Parkinson's. This study acts like a compass that will guide the basic research in the right direction.

"Parkinson's disease involves the death of cells in the midbrain responsible for producing dopamine, a key chemical signaler. Its cause is not well understood, but genetic vulnerability, perhaps coupled with exposure to environmental toxins, seems to play an important role. Parkinson's tends to strike around age 60, and the risk increases with age.

Substantially more men than women develop the disease.

The latest analysis examined health and medical reports from a study group of 98,892 female nurses and a group of 37,305 male health professionals, following them for six years beginning in 2000. Those who took ibuprofen regularly had a 38 percent lower risk of ending up among the 291 patients diagnosed with Parkinson's during that time. The likelihood of getting Parkinson's dropped with increasing weekly doses of ibuprofen.

Not ready for prime time

An accompanying editorial says doctors should "absolutely not" begin prescribing ibuprofen for patients with Parkinson's disease. Why? Because it may be that ibuprofen protects against the "initial insult" that leads to Parkinson's but is useless once symptoms appear, or it may be it's not ibuprofen at all but some separate characteristic of ibuprofen users that actually protects against the condition, explains the lead editorialist, James H. Bower, M.D., associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Meanwhile, he says, long-term ibuprofen use comes with the risk of serious side effects. These include irritation and stomach bleeding and increased risk of heart and kidney problems.

In his editorial, Bower compares the findings on ibuprofen to similar observational findings on smoking, caffeine consumption and high blood levels of uric acid, all of which have been associated with lower risk of Parkinson's. Rather than suggest people try these approaches, he says, scientists have incorporated them into research that tests their effect in a safe form and controlled environment.

Mya Schiess, M.D., director of movement disorders and neurodegenerative diseases at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, says she has followed research on the issue closely, and does recommend ibuprofen for patients who have a sharply increased risk of developing Parkinson's — for example, those with a rare and disruptive problem called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, in which they act out their dreams.

Schiess says although she screens patients for problems that could make ibuprofen riskier, and watches them for side effects, the amount linked to reduced risk for Parkinson's is generally not dangerous. "This study is based on whether people use ibuprofen a minimum of two times a week, and that's not an excessive amount of medicine," she says. "It's not a daily, scheduled amount of medicine. I would think that that has to be strongly taken into consideration."

Katharine Greider lives in New York and writes about health issues.