Aspirin: Cognitive Benefits

Aspirin May Slow Brain Decline

Low dose aspirin may ward off cognitive decline in elderly women with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, conclude researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden who write about their five-year study in a paper published 3 October, 2012 in the online journal BMJ Open.

In their introduction, corresponding author Anne Börjesson-Hanson and colleagues explain that many studies have looked at the effect of non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs (NSAID) on cognitive decline and dementia, but few have looked at the effect of aspirin on these conditions.

Yet, while researchers have proposed that inflammation might be important in the development of cognitive decline and cardiovascular diseases, and low dose aspirin is widely prescribed to prevent cardiovascular disease, no study has yet examined the effect of aspirin on cognitive function in people at high cardiovascular risk.

For their study, the researchers followed 681 women aged between 70 and 92 for five years. 129 of the women were already taking aspirin at daily doses ranging from 75 and 160 mg, and after undergoing baseline assessments, 601 were classed as having high cardiovascular risk.

Over the study period, the participants underwent more tests of cognitive and thinking skills, including one commonly used in the UK to diagnose dementia, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

The results showed that while the MMSE scores for the overall group fell over the five years of the study, it fell less for those women taking aspirin.

But although other tests of memory and thinking showed a similar pattern, those results were not statistically significant.

By the end of the study, 41 of the participants developed dementia, but the rate was no different between those on aspirin and those who weren't.

In discussing the possible limitations of their study, the authors say they can't rule out that people with incipient cognitive decline might be less likely to take aspirin anyway.

They conclude that low-dose aspirin treatment "may have a neuroprotective effect in elderly women at high cardiovascular risk".

Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "The results provide interesting insight into the importance of cardiovascular health on cognition, but we would urge people not to self-medicate with aspirin to try to stave off dementia."

He points out the study found no benefit from aspirin on overall dementia rates, and that previous trials investigating potential benefits of drugs like aspirin for dementia have been negative.

"We know that keeping our heart healthy through regular exercise, a healthy diet, not smoking and keeping our blood pressure and cholesterol in check, can help to reduce the risk of dementia," says Ridley, adding that research into risk factors for cognitive decline must nevertheless become a top priority in the UK because of its increasingly aging population.

Aspirin can reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease

Different types of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin, appear to be equally effective in lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the largest study of its kind published in the May 28, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Experts have debated whether a certain group of NSAIDs that includes ibuprofen may be more beneficial than another group that includes naproxen and aspirin.

Using information from six different studies, researchers examined data on NSAID use in 13,499 people without dementia. Over the course of these six studies, 820 participants developed Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers found that people who used NSAIDs had 23 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to those who never used NSAIDs. The risk reduction did not appear to depend upon the type of NSAID taken.

“This is an interesting finding because it seems to challenge a current theory that the NSAID group which includes ibuprofen may work better in reducing a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s,” said study author Peter P. Zandi, PhD, with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD. “The NSAID group that includes ibuprofen was thought to target a certain type of plaque in the brain found in Alzheimer’s patients. But our results suggest there may be other reasons why these drugs may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.”

The study’s lead author Chris Szekely, PhD, with Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, says the discrepancy between studies such as this one and the negative clinical trials of NSAIDs in treatment or prevention of Alzheimer’s need to be further explored.