Memantine: Another Expensive Drug for Alzheimer’s Dementia -- Part 1

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There are millions of elderly individuals who have some degree of dementia. With the aging population, these numbers are going to increase a lot more in the next two decades.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can create havoc in the life of the affected individual and all those who surround him/her. Despite decades of research, we still do not know what causes AD, how to prevent or treat it. The few drugs that have been developed only help relieve symptoms of AD. One of the latest drug hyped up as a miracle for patients with AD is memantine (Namenda).

Memantine has been around for decades but only recently has it been approved for treatment of dementia. Unlike Aricept, Namenda targets a different chemical in the brain- glutamate. In the laboratory, Glutamate has been shown to help improve learning and mental cognition.

Memantine works on certain areas of brain and has been shown to alter levels of a several neurotransmitters, including glutamate. The company that makes Memantine claims that the drug can help individuals who have AD.

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