Narrator:
Sandy Stinson takes an Aspirin a day to prevent heart disease. Her doctor recommended it because her father and grandfather both died of heart attacks before they were 60.
Sandy Stinson:
I always have been worried about it.
Narrator:
Now she hopes the popular pain killer will also prevent Parkinson's disease, a debilitating movement disorder on her mother's side of the family.
Sandy Stinson:
I know that my grandmother became very stiff, she was in a wheelchair and couldn't move very much. And my mother also had Parkinson's disease and suffered for many years with it.
Narrator:
There is some scientific evidence suggesting Aspirin and other NSAIDS, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, may reduce Parkinson's risk.
And for years, the American Heart Association has recommended Aspirin to prevent heart disease and stroke.
Over-the-counter pain killers have also been linked to a reduced risk for breast, lung and colon cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Are they the next generation of wonder drugs?
Jorge Barrio, Ph.D.:
Right now we're forced, all of us, to think about this in a different way.
Narrator:
In a laboratory study at UCLA, Doctor Jorge Barrio found that ibuprofen and naproxen dissolve the brain lesions or plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
Jorge Barrio, Ph.D.:
That interaction means also that these pain killers will slow down the formation of these plaques and even prevent their formation.
Narrator:
Makes you want to start popping pain pills right away, doesn't it? But hold on! Long-term use can cause serious side effects including bleeding, ulcers, and liver problems.
The goal, Doctor Barrio says, should be to develop new drugs that do the same job on Alzheimer plaques as common pain killers, but with fewer side effects.
Jorge Barrio, Ph.D.:
If we are to be successful here, we have to treat it in the same way we treat cancer patients. We have to go very early.
Narrator:
Cancer specialist Paul Engstrom agrees that preventing a disease is better than treating it.
His concern is that because studies show daily Aspirin prevents polyps, a precursor to colon cancer, pill takers will ignore preventive screening for the disease.
Paul Engstrom, M.D.:
Colonoscopy prevents cancer even in a more assured way than does aspirin because at the colonoscopy you remove those polyps.
Narrator:
You don't need a prescription for common pain killers. But that doesn't mean you don't need medical advice about taking them.
Talk to your doctor about your risk of disease and the best way to help reduce it. For WebMD, I'm Sandee LaMotte.
