What treatments exist for Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's disease
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Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter of the nervous system, although excessive amounts in the brain can lead to cell death through a process called excitotoxicity which consists of the overstimulation of glutamate receptors. Excitotoxicity occurs not only in Alzheimer's disease, but also in other neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.[174] Memantine is a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist first used as an anti-influenza agent. It acts on the glutamatergic system by blocking NMDA receptors and inhibiting their overstimulation by glutamate.[174][175] Memantine has been shown to have a small benefit in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.[176] Reported adverse events with memantine are infrequent and mild, including hallucinations, confusion, dizziness, headache and fatigue.[177] The combination of memantine and donepezil has been shown to be "of statistically significant but clinically marginal effectiveness".[178]