Memantine for dementia
Open accessAbstract
Background Memantine, a low affinity antagonist to glutamate NMDA receptors, may prevent excitatory neurotoxicity in dementia. Objectives To determine efficacy and safety of memantine for people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular (VD) and mixed dementia. Search strategy The Specialized Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group was searched on 8th February 2006. This register contains references from all major healthcare databases and many ongoing trial databases and is updated regularly. In addition, the search engines Copernic and Google were used to identify unpublished trials through inspection of the websites of licensing bodies like the FDA , EMEA and NICE and of companies' websites (Lundbeck, Merz, Forest, Suntori etc) and clinical trials registries. Selection criteria Double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled, randomized trials of memantine in people with dementia. Data collection and analysis Data were pooled where possible. Intention-to-treat (ITT) and observed case (OC) analyses are reported. Main results 1. Moderate to severe AD. Two out of three six month studies show a small beneficial effect of memantine. Pooled data indicate a beneficial effect at six months on cognition (2.97 points on the 100 point SIB, 95% CI 1.68 to 4.26, P Authors' conclusions Memantine has a small beneficial effect at six months in moderate to severe AD. In patients with mild to moderate dementia, the small beneficial effect on cognition was not clinica…
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Trials of cytidinediphosphocholine, nimodipine, piracetam, huperzine A, and vinpocetine have not produced convincing data.
“Trials have been conducted with other compounds, including cytidinediphosphocholine,412,413 nimodipine,414 piracetam,415 huperzine A,416 and vinpocetine,417 but so far without convincing data”
Although data from RCTs of memantine in patients with moderate to severe dementia had indicated that it might also confer benefit, a recent trial specifically examining the efficacy of this agent for Alzheimer's dementia with agitation found no benefit over placebo.
“Although data from RCTs of memantine in patients with moderate to severe dementia had indicated that it might also confer benefit,151 152 153 a recent trial specifically examining the efficacy of this agent for Alzheimer’s dementia with agitation found no benefit over placebo.154”
From Assessment and management of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (2015) · cites this paper as [153]
Cholinesterase inhibitors are associated with diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, and less commonly with symptomatic bradycardia and syncope.
“Cholinesterase inhibitors are associated with diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, and less commonly with symptomatic bradycardia and syncope.153 155”
From Assessment and management of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (2015) · cites this paper as [153]
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- Authors
- McShane, R., Areosa Sastre, A., & Minakaran, N.
- Affiliations
- John Radcliffe Hospital (GB)
- c/ Mauricio Legendre 17, 5-A Madrid Spain 28046
- Venue
- Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-04-19
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- CD003154-CD003154
- ISSN
- 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-1858
- PMC
- PMC6425228
- OpenAlex
- W1962254068
- Cited by
- 1,155
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 61 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 66 · 2021: 70 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 51 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 56 · 2014: 67 · 2013: 64 · 2012: 57
- FWCI
- 9.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- new_version (2019-03-20)
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Keywords
- memantine, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, NMDA receptor antagonists, cholinesterase inhibitors, combination therapy, cognitive function, activities of daily living, functional status, agitation, off-label drug use, drug safety, adverse events, mild Alzheimer's disease, publication bias, risk of bias assessment
- MeSH terms
- Activities of Daily Living, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Cognition Disorders, Dementia, Humans, Memantine, Dementia, Vascular, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
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