Ibuprofen Lowers Parkinson's Risk

A study from Harvard has determined that ibuprofen that you can purchase in your local store and that is taken by millions of Americans on a regular basis means that they are almost at a forty percent risk reduction for developing Parkinson's Disease. However, keep in mind they are discussing ibuprofen not aspirin or acetaminophen which did not show the same results.

The study will appear in print March 8th edition and is published online in the journal of Neurology.

Ibuprofen commonly referred to as a NSAID. Taking two ibuprofen twice or more weekly was considered regular use. NSAID's are usually taken to treat acute or chronic conditions of pain and inflammation. Research is still looking into their possible use for preventing colorectal cancer and treating other conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The study span ran for six years of observation consisting of 291 participants who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's and had take ibuprofen regularly had a 38% decreased risk for developing the disorder in comparison to those who did not take the ibuprofen.

Among many neurodegenerative disorders like MS, Alzheimer's and Down's syndrome, the inflammatory pathomechanism is soundly supported by experimental and clinical studies. Such inflammatory mechanisms have been affirmed in Parkinson's disease. For many years ibuprofen is acknowledged to decrease inflammation of all types.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous disease which usually occurs after the age of fifty and is estimated to affect nearly a half of million Americans, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Each year, 50,000 new cases are reported, this number is expected to rise as the populace ages. It is assumed that ibuprofen could decrease the inflammation in the brain which could contribute to the disease.

Past studies have shown that those who use NSAID's had a decreased risk of Parkinson's disease however, they did not indicate any differences between ibuprofen and other NSAID's.

The findings of this study indicate that ibuprofen could possibly provide protection against Parkinson's disease, the exact process is undetermined.

The findings of this study does provide hope that there is a drug already which is inexpensive that may aide in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Lead researcher Xiang Gao, research scientist at Harvard School of Public Health and associate epidemiologist at the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital stated that due to loss of brain cells that leads to Parkinson's which occurs over a decade or a more likely explanation to the findings is that the use of ibuprofen protects the cells and therefore could aide in slowing down the disease progression.

Researchers add that this study does not advocate that those who have Parkinson's disease should be taking ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is usually safe but can produce side effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding. Whether the risk is outweighed by the slowing down of the disease progression should be further examined under rigorous supervision in a randomized controlled trail.

There are some alternative treatments that can aide Parkinson's Disease are few are as follows:

Chiropractic

Research conducted by Dr. Erin Elster which had been originally published in the Journal of Verterbral Subluxation Research in 2004 and can still be viewed online at Chiropractic Research. Dr. Elster had gathered information from 44 patients with MS and 37 patients with Parkinson's who had received treatment for five years. After treating upper neck injuries in 81 patients, 91% MS and 92% Parkinson's, patients had shown improvements advocating that by correcting neck injuries it had stimulated a reversal of MS and Parkinson's.

Medical research has indicated that head and neck injuries have been considered a contributing factor for the beginning of Parkinson's and MS. This had been the first study to show that by correcting those injuries it can provide a major effect on improving and reversing both diseases.

There case studies have also shown good results using chiropractic upper cervical chiropractic care.

Reflexology

Reflexology and continued medication treatment has provided good results.

In one study a patient with Parkinson's had received 25 sessions of foot reflexology. After the sessions symptoms of the disease were relieved and improvements were noted.

Reflexology has been shown to be effective to decrease the symptoms of Parkinson's when used with conventional drug therapy. Sources:

Medical News Today

The Atlas of Life

Reflexology Research