Meta-Analysis Questions Memantine Effectiveness for Mild Alzheimer’s

In the United States, that in turn could have spared the half of patients with mild AD and the "substantial portion" of those with mild cognitive impairment from receiving memantine when there is no evidence that the drug is helpful to them and some evidence that it is not helpful, the researchers said.

The meta-analysis was supported by the U.K.’s Medical Research Council, the California Alzheimer Disease Center program, and the University of Southern California Alzheimer Disease Research Center. Dr. Schneider reported being an editor of the Cochrane Collaboration Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group, which oversees the systematic review of drugs for cognitive impairment and dementia; he also reported having ties to numerous drug companies, including some that market memantine.