ASPIRIN USERS MAY HAVE LOWER RISK OF GETTING ALZHEIMER'S : STUDY POINTS TO 20% PROTECTION RATE.

Byline: Kathryn Dore Perkins The Sacramento Bee

Elderly people who regularly take aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs may be at a lower risk of intellectual decline, according to researchers at the National Institute on Aging.

But don't reach for the aspirin or ibuprofen yet.

Several recent studies have found a low prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who typically ease their pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen.

The apparent connection between the drugs and Alzheimer's has fueled the hypothesis that one or more of these types of drugs protect cognitive abilities, defined as the ability to do normal mental functions, including memory, problem solving, orienting one's self to time and place, and being able to work and be creative.

Now the largest study of the connection, with subjects most representative of the nation's older population, found that those who regularly took the drugs were 20 percent less likely to experience decline. In a three-year period, on average their intellectual abilities were three-and-a-half years younger than those who did not use the nonsteroidals.

The findings were released Friday and reported in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

``We've seen this protective effect, but we also have seen people take the drugs and still have cognitive decline, so it's not 100 percent,'' said Dr. Jack M. Guralnik, a co-author of the study and chief of epidemiology and demography at NIA.

``There are many, many reasons why cognitive function declines or remains stable. Based on this single study we would never recommend people take these medications to prevent cognitive decline. Before that, we need more research to get a sense of the magnitude of the effect and balance that with the side effects of the drugs,'' Guralnik said.

The study focused on verifying whether the drugs are protective against cognitive decline. It wasn't aimed at preventing or finding a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, Guralnik said. ``That's a whole other line of research.''

However, the link is there.

``It is quite pertinent to the discussion of preventing Alzheimer's,'' said Dr. Gary Small, professor and director of the University of California, Los Angeles, Center on Aging.

``If we could make impact on age-related memory decline so that it doesn't progress, that would be very important,'' he said.