 Memantine: The very latest drug for Alzheimer’s Disease See Also Aricept (Donepezil Hydrochloride) Namenda is the January 2004 marketing launch name chosen in the U S for Memantine following 12 months after U K. During the last year we have been supplying to thousands of Patients in the U S from our Pharmacy. We ship the original English Language pack of Memantine for Alzheimers known as Ebixa in U K. All the doses are clearly labelled on the package. Memantine is a novel new drug that is showing a lot of promise in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease. Although it has been in use in Germany for nearly 10-years (1), it is only recent clinical trials that has highlighted many of its unique properties, particularly for its use in senile dementia. Memantine: Alzheimer Clinical Studies
 There have been numerous clinical studies with Memantine and Alzheimer’s disease. One clinical study, (2) conducted under the proper double-blind placebo-controlled method, concluded that Memantine is a safe drug and may be useful for treating Alzheimer’s disease, vascular and mixed dementia of all severities. Even in elderly patients with general cognitive disturbances, (but not yet diagnosed as a specific senile dementia), Memantine has been shown to enhance vigilance and improve short-term memory and concentration. Furthermore, the tolerance of the drug was good in virtually all cases (3). Perhaps most interesting of all has been the reports of Memantine’s efficacy in late-stage Alzheimer’s disease. This distressing phase of the disease is one where other treatments are not currently available. For example, a Swedish study in 1999 confirmed that; “The results of the trial support that Memantine treatment leads to functional improvement and reduces care dependence in severely demented patients.” (4) A more recent study with 252 patients studied over a period of 28-weeks, (5) receiving either placebo or 20mg/day of Memantine; it was clearly noted that Memantine reduced the clinical deterioration in moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Hans Joerg Moebius stated that; “These promising results represent a breakthrough in terms of significant patient and caregiver benefit by Memantine, in the untapped therapeutic area of advanced dementia. In addition, compared to other anti-dementia drugs, Memantine showed an excellent safety and tolerability profile.” References - Jain KK. "Evaluation of Memantine for neuroprotection in dementia." Expert. Opin. Investig. Drugs 2000 Jun:9(6):1397-406.
- Areosa SA, Sherriff F. "Memantine for dementia." Syst. Rev. 2003; (1):CD003154.
- Ambrozi L, Danielczyk W. "Treatment of impaired cerebral function in Psychogeriatric patients with Memantine: Results of a phase II double-blind study." Pharmacopsychiatry 1988 May;21(3):144-6.
- Winblad B, Poritis N. "Memantine in severe dementia: The benefit and efficacy in severely demented patients during treatment with Memantine." Int. J. Geriatr. Psychiatry 1999 Feb;14(2):135-46.
- Reiseberg B, Doody R, Stoffler A, Schmitt F, Ferris S, Mobius HJ. "Memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease." N. Engl. J. Med. 2003 Apr. 3;348(14):1333-41.
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