Painkillers May Increase Dementia

New research suggests that older people who want to avoid Alzheimer's disease by taking daily doses of painkillers such as ibuprofen and naproxen might not be the best idea. "If people are thinking, 'Should I take these to prevent dementia?', the answer based on our study would be no," said study author Dr. Eric B. Larson, executive director of the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle. The findings appear in the April 22 online issue of Neurology.

In their study, the drugs in question include ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve) and others. People who used the drugs extensively were 66 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who didn't, according to statistics that were adjusted to account for the number of participants with certain medical conditions. The drugs themselves may not be the problem. Instead, Larson suggested, they could be a sign of chronic medical problems. "The heavy users [of painkillers] had more diabetes, more arthritis, more signs of heart failure," he said. "It's very likely that what you're seeing is people using these medications because they're beginning to fail in their life."

Steve - maybe so, but painkillers are DEFINITELY not the answer for these subjects.