09/02/2010 - News
Unique Approaches to Alzheimer’s Disease
By: June Chen, MD
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A new study published in the August 18, 2010 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience sheds new light on how the Alzheimer’s drug, memantine, works and why it is safe in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease destroys brain cells and their connections, causing memory loss and other cognitive problems that interfere with daily life. Memantine, marketed in the U.S. as Namenda®, is currently approved to treat moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s and it is partially effective in treating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. According to this latest research, memantine improves Alzheimer’s symptoms by blocking abnormal activity of a chemical called glutamate that transmits messages between nerve cells in the brain. And, it seems that memantine is both effective and safe because it only interferes with glutamate signaling that occurs away from the brain cell connections that are needed for normal brain activity.
Although these new findings may contribute to the development of future therapies that are even more effective at treating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, the reality is that we still have a long to go before there is a cure. So, prevention may be your best weapon against Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Dakim BrainFitness is a breakthrough in brain training – its clinically tested software helps you to improve memory, increase attention and focus, and build a cognitive reserve against the threat of dementia. With its Nurologic™ Technology, Dakim BrainFitness cross-trains the brain and even self-adjusts the levels of challenge to help you build your brain power. In fact, in a recent clinical trial, using Dakim BrainFitness was found to produce significant improvements in memory.
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Reference:
Xia P, et al. Memantine preferentially blocks extrasynaptic over synaptic NMDA receptor currents in hippocampal autapses. J Neurosci 2010; 30(33): 11246-11250.
Created on: 08/21/2010
Reviewed on: 09/02/2010
Reviewed on: 09/02/2010
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