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Clinical Experience of Memantine in Alzheimer’s Disease
studies reflect the potential of memantine to have positive outcomes in all other patients.
52,53
Severe AD is the most difficult and stressful stage of this
of the key symptoms of AD. Case studies take into consideration the disease for carers.
54
Thus, improving the QoL of AD patients is a worthy
broader implications of AD and the impact of treatment, including allowing aim
55,56
because a small improvement in QoL may result in large gains for
carer burden to be recognised. This is particularly important given that the both patients and care-givers.
32
In addition, memantine is able to reduce
cost of AD in terms of the burden on family and care-givers is extremely patient dependency, thus reducing the overall care-giver time required.
high. Although lost productivity associated with time spent caring for
relatives with AD is, to some degree, quantifiable, there is also a large In summary, clinical trial results and the real-world experiences of patients
personal burden that may go relatively unnoticed but is no less important. and their carers together suggest that memantine is effective in the
Care-givers of AD patients have been shown to experience significantly treatment of AD in the ‘real-life’ setting, and offers hope to AD patients
more stress and psychological morbidity compared with those caring for and their carers for greater independence and better QoL. ■
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