Ibuprofen and other common painkillers could hold the key to beating Alzheimer’s, British scientists have said.
They believe the memory-robbing disease is fuelled by a rogue immune response – and ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory drugs might be able to calm it.
Given early enough, the popular pills might be able to stop the cruel disease ever developing.
Blood tests, developed as part of the same multimillion-pound project, will help doctors work out who will benefit most from the drugs and which pills to use.
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However, more work is needed, said Cardiff University researcher Paul Morgan, who is part of the Nima consortium looking for new uses for old drugs. Professor Morgan said the blood test-pill combo could be widely used by 2023, adding: ‘I hope that we will at worst slow the progression and at best stop the progression.’
Alzheimer’s, which has no cure, affects more than 500,000 Britons. Existing drugs delay the disease’s progress but soon wear off, allowing it to take its course.
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Professor Morgan is developing a blood test to enable doctors to predict which elderly patients with memory problems are most likely to develop Alzheimer’s.
In research published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, he studied blood samples from almost 300 men and women in their 70s and 80s and then tracked their health for a year.
If levels of three proteins were extra-high in a person’s blood, they were much more likely to develop dementia. Tests were almost 90 per cent accurate in giving an early warning.
Daily Mail