memantine

(Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care) After the manufacturer of the Alzheimer's drug memantine submitted a supplementary analysis of study data, the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) sees proof of a benefit of the drug for cognitive function, as well as indications of a benefit for activities of daily living, at least for a treatment period of 6 months.

This changes the conclusions of the first IQWiG benefit assessment of 2009.

(Burnham Institute) Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research, UBC and UCSD have found that normal synaptic activity in nerve cells protects the brain from the misfolded proteins associated with Huntington's disease.

They also found that the drug Memantine, which is approved to treat Alzheimer's disease, successfully treated Huntington's disease in a mouse model by preserving normal synaptic electrical activity and suppressing excessive extrasynaptic electrical activity.