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Daily Ibuprofen Could Lower Alzheimer’s Risk, Claims New Study

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease and the most common cause of dementia. The characteristic symptoms of dementia are difficulties with memory, language, problem-solving and other cognitive skills that affect a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.

These difficulties occur because nerve cells (neurons) in parts of the brain involved in cognitive function have been damaged or destroyed. In Alzheimer’s disease, neurons in other parts of the brain are eventually damaged or destroyed as well, including those that enable a person to carry out basic bodily functions such as walking and swallowing.

People in the final stages of the disease are bed-bound and require around-the-clock care. Alzheimer’s disease is ultimately fatal.

In the 70 years that it has been identified and recognised as an area requiring serious research, Alzheimer’s has proven to be pretty challenging to even treat, if not completely wipe off.

Now, neuroscientists at Aurin Biotech, have discovered that, in studies conducted using laboratory mice, if medication is started early enough, a daily regimen of the non-prescription NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) ibuprofen could possibly prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

The findings are based on a saliva test developed by Aurin

Biotech president and CEO Dr Patrick McGeer and his team in 2016 to measure the peptide amyloid-beta protein 42 (Abeta 42) levels to diagnose and predict Alzheimer’s.

People who are at risk of developing the disease have higher rates of Abeta 42 production, as the protein is relatively insoluble and gets accumulated in brain. These deposits lead to neuroinflammation and neuron destruction in Alzheimer’s patients.

Contrary to the widely held belief that Abeta 42 is made only in the brain, the researchers demonstrated that the peptide is made in all organs of the body and is secreted in saliva from the submandibular gland.

As a result, with as little as one teaspoon of saliva, it is possible to predict whether an individual is destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease. This gives them an opportunity to begin taking early preventive measures such as consuming NSAIDs such as ibuprofen.

What we’ve learned through our research is that people who are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s exhibit the same elevated Abeta 42 levels as people who already have it; moreover, they exhibit those elevated levels throughout their lifetime so, theoretically, they could get tested anytime,” Dr. McGeer said.

“Knowing that the prevalence of clinical Alzheimer’s disease commences at age 65, we recommend that people get tested ten years before, at age 55, when the onset of Alzheimer’s would typically begin. If they exhibit elevated Abeta 42 levels then, that is the time to begin taking daily ibuprofen to ward off the disease.”

“Unfortunately, most clinical trials to date have focused on patients whose cognitive deficits are already mild to severe, and when the therapeutic opportunities in this late stage of the disease are minimal.”

Consequently, every therapeutic trial has failed to arrest the disease’s progression. Our discovery is a game changer,” he stated. “We now have a simple test that can indicate if a person is fated to develop Alzheimer’s disease long before it begins to develop. Individuals can prevent that from happening through a simple solution that requires no prescription or visit to a doctor.”

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