Research summaries for autism therapy: Namenda (memantine hydrochloride)

definition of Namenda (memantine hydrochloride): Brand name is Namenda®. Memantine is available as tablets or oral solution and is indicated for treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer’s dementia. For people with autism, memantine may be prescribed off-label to help improve language, social behavior, and other behaviors. Namenda® is a glutamate receptor antagonist (inhibits glutamate binding to its receptors).
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Memantine: A Comprehensive Review of Safety and Efficacy, Summarized Dec 21, 2009

Memantine may be helpful for people with moderate-to-severe autism disorders.

The glutamate pathway may be out of balance in brains of people with autism. Memantine is a medication that reduces certain brain activities by blocking glutamate receptors in the brain. Two clinical trials of memantine in people with autism had different results. One trial reported that memantine was helpful for improving language and social interactions in people with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).... Read more...

A Review of Recent Reports on Autism: 1000 Studies Published in 2007, Summarized Oct 28, 2008

Children with autism have medical and therapy costs that are $4,110-6,200 more than children without autism.

This article reviews the autism research studies that were published in 2007. The most common drug therapy is risperidone, which may lessen irritability, repetition, and social withdrawal. Other drugs used as autism therapy include atypical antipsychotics, antibiotics, and memantine. One study found that acupuncture helped over half of the children with autism who received treatment. The article also reviewed massage therapy, robots, electroconvulsive therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), and music therapy. Read more...

A Systematic Review of Off-Label Uses of Memantine for Psychiatric Disorders, Summarized Sep 11, 2008

While memantine may help with some of the problem behaviors associated with autism, more research is needed.

This review article describes the use of the brain drug memantine to treat pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). Memantine acts on the brain chemical glutamate, which is known to be involved in brain growth. Some genetic studies point to glutamate as having a role in autism. Memantine drug therapy may be most helpful with regards to routines and rituals that are observed in some people with autism. The authors found five open label studies and one case report on the use of memantine to treat autism in children and adults. Read more...

Treating Autism Pharmacologically: Also Tacrine Might Improve Symptomology in Some Cases, Summarized Oct 26, 2007

Drugs that are used to treat Alzheimer's disease may help people with autism. In this letter to the editor, Dr. Niederhofer points out that rivastigmine, memantine, and tacrine have been mentioned as being helpful therapies for autism. He tested the effects of tacrine on three patients (average age 17) with autism. He found that tacrine only helped a little bit with symptoms of autism.

Dr. Chez answered the letter by writing that tacrine should be researched further as a treatment for autism. He notes that he has shown in his research that memantine helps patients with autism in terms of language and behavior. He believes that Alzheimer's drugs may be able to improve the quality of life for patients with autism. Read more...

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Synonyms for Namenda (memantine hydrochloride) include: memantine, memantine hydrochloride, Namenda, Namenda®
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