Namenda, a popular Alzheimer’s drug approved to treat patients in the latter stages of the memory-robbing disease, doesn’t appear to work in those with more mild disease, according to a recent Archives of Neurology study . The researchers pooled and analyzed data from previously conducted clinical trials and found that for the 431 patients  with mild Alzheimer’s, there wasn’t a difference in cognitive function between those who got Namenda (generically known as memantine) and those who got a

placebo. There was some benefit shown for people with moderate-stage disease. The drug is approved for more severe Alzheimer’s but often prescribed off-label in those with mild symptoms, according to the authors. The LA Times points out that this use has occurred despite the fact that the FDA declined in 2005 to approval the drug for use in the mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s population. Image: iStockphoto

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Popular Alzheimer’s Drug May Not Work in Mild Cases: Study