Dec 21, 2014 02:39 AM EST By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests that a common over-the-counter drug that tackles pain and fever could also lead to a longer, healthier life.

Researchers from Texas A&M University, Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the University of Washington found that regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species.

"We first used baker's yeast, which is an established aging model, and noticed that the yeast treated with ibuprofen lived longer," Dr. Michael Polymenis, an AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station, said in a statement. "Then we tried the same process with worms and flies and saw the same extended lifespan. Plus, these organisms not only lived longer, but also appeared healthy."

Polymenis added that 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."

"This study was a proof of principle to show that common, relatively safe drugs in humans can extend the lifespan of very diverse organisms," Polymenis said. "Therefore, it should be possible to find others like ibuprofen with even better ability to extend lifespan, with the aim of adding healthy years of life in people."

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.

The findings are detailed in the journal Public Library of Science, Genetics.

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