BNH 101 ( AD )
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in industrialized nations. If more effective therapies are not developed that either prevent AD or block progression of the disease in its very early stages, the economic and societal cost of caring for AD patients will be devastating.
- Alzheimer’s disease
Only two types of drugs are currently approved for the treatment of AD: inhibitors of acetyl cholinesterase, which symptomatically enhance cognitive state to some degree but are not disease modifying; and the adamantane derivative, memantine.
Memantine preferentially blocks excessive NMDA receptor activity without disrupting normal receptor activity and is thought to be a neuroprotective agent that blocks excitotoxicity. Memantine therefore may have a potentially disease modifying effect in multiple neurodegenerative conditions.