Study finds that dementia drug is safe and effective

A study into a leading drug used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease has found that it is both safe and effective.

Researchers from the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in the US identified how the drug works and continues to provide patients with relief from some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Memantine improves these symptoms by blocking the abnormal activity of a chemical called glutamate, which transmits messages between nerve cells, according to the findings published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The drug is safe because it restricts excessive levels of this chemical without blocking its normal function.

"We showed definitively for the first time that memantine, the drug our group developed for Alzheimer's disease, works in a unique way," said lead author Dr Stuart Lipton.

It was recently announced that pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly has halted two trials of its latest dementia drug after it was not found to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Read more about Barchester's dementia care homes.