Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Use of memantine for the treatment of dementia

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1586/ern.11.132

1744-8360

Daphne Lo, George T. Grossberg,

Alzheimer's disease research and treatments

The term 'dementia' encompasses a number of neurodegenerative diseases of which Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common. Prior to 2003, cholinesterase inhibitors, such as donezepil, were the only class of drugs approved to treat mild-to-moderate AD. In 2003, memantine became the first drug approved by the US FDA to treat moderate-to-severe AD. Currently, both memantine and donepezil are FDA approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD. This article examines the pharmacologic profile of memantine, evidence for memantine's efficacy in moderate-to-severe AD and other dementias, its novel use in other neuropsychiatric disorders and future implications and research directions for memantine.