Anti-inflammatories did not ward off dementia: study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Giving elderly people either Aleve or Celebrex, two anti-inflammatory painkilling drugs, did nothing to ward off the mental decline associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease, researchers said on Monday.

Several studies have suggested that long-term use of certain painkillers in the class known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, can lower the risk of developing the memory-wasting disease.

However, using NSAIDs for long periods can pose health risks such as stomach bleeding and kidney problems.

Barbara Martin of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and colleagues concluded there was no protective effect from the two commonly used drugs. They added that Aleve, known generically as naproxen, may have had a slightly negative impact.

Patients who took two daily doses of Aleve scored slightly lower on tests of mental functioning compared to the groups taking a placebo or celecoxib.

The nearly four-year study, published in the Archives of Neurology, divided 2,117 people aged 70 or older with a family history of Alzheimer's into three groups.

One group received naproxen twice daily in the form of Bayer's Aleve, another Pfizer Inc's Celebrex, known generically as celecoxib, and a third group took a placebo.

Each participant had a close relative with Alzheimer's, a known risk factor for the disease that has no cure and few effective treatments.

The researchers suggested that certain NSAIDs may protect against dementia only when given several years before mental functioning begins to decline.  Continued...