Using ibuprofen regularly can extended the lifespan by up to 10 years, says a new study.
Dr. Michael Polymenis, an AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station said that they first used baker's yeast, which is an established aging model, and then tried the same process with worms and flies and saw that not only did the organisms lived longer, but they also appeared healthy.
He said the treatment, given at doses comparable to the recommended human dose, added about 15 percent more to the species lives. In humans, that would be equivalent to another dozen or so years of healthy living.
Ibuprofen is a relatively safe drug that was created in the early 1960s in England. It was first made available by prescription and then, after widespread use, became available over-the-counter throughout the world in the 1980s. The World Health Organization includes ibuprofen on their "List of Essential Medications" needed in a basic health system. Ibuprofen is described as a "nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for relieving pain, helping with fever and reducing inflammation."
Chong He, a postdoctoral fellow at Buck Institute and lead author on the paper, said looking deeper into the common drugs that target individual diseases might shed light on understanding the aging process. Ibuprofen is something that people have been taking for years, and no one actually knew that it can have some benefits for longevity and health span.
The research is published in the journal Public Library of Science-Genetics.
