Memantine for dementia?
Memantine (Ebixa--Lundbeck Ltd), an oral medicine, is available in the UK for treating "patients with moderately severe to severe Alzheimer's disease". It differs from other licensed dementia medicines in that it is an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. The company has claimed that, with memantine therapy, "improvements in activities of daily living help patients to maintain a degree of independence and be easier to care for, potentially avoiding the need for nursing home care". We assess the efficacy of memantine for dementia and discuss its place in the management of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008559:Memantine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D008559:Memantine