Amantadine in Senile Dementia: Electroencephalographic and Clinical Effects

Abstract

Nineteen patients with senile brain disease (including 2 with parkinsonian symptoms) were treated with amantadine in an oral dosage of 200--300 mg daily. Seven showed definite clinical benefits such as increased alertness and decreased agitation, and 2 others showed slight benefits. However, in only one instance was the benefit maintained without complications. Toxic effects such as overactivity, anxiety and visual hallucinations were observed in 8 patients. Withdrawal effects (e.g., lethargy and staggering) occurred when amantadine was discontinued. The electroencephalograms (EEGs) of all 19 patients showed a frequency increase, chiefly of occipital alpha activity, and sometimes a return to normal, irrespective of clinical changes. Toxic side effects were associated with particularly prominent EEG acceleration. In 10 of the 19 patients, the clinical changes were further validated by by additional psychologic assessments. Although the value of amantadine is limited when given in this way to patients with senile brain disease, it seems important to observe its effects in drug combinations aimed at correction of neurotransmitter imbalances.

Oral Mg2+ Supplementation Reverses Age-Related Neuroendocrine and Sleep EEG Changes in Humans

“…Original Paper marker for cognitive functioning. The competitive NMDA-receptor antagonist, amantadine, which acts synergistically with Mg 2+ on hippocampal neurones, increases sleep spindles in patient with Parkinson's disease [66]; studies have shown an improvement of cognitive function in patients with senile dementia [58] and multiple sclerosis [69] under the treatment with this substance. The closely related substance, memantine, has been shown to act synergistically with Mg 2+ on long term potentiation (LTP), a model of cognitive function [29].…”

The Families of Cognition Enhancers

“…Daviset al, 1984;H. Daviset al, 1983;Gibson et al, 1983;Peterson and Gibson, 1982); -the noradrenaline precursor L-threo-DOPS [(-)-{2S,3R)-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine] ( Shimizu et al, 1986for clinical investigations, Hirose et al, 1988, for preclinical studies) and the racemic D,L-threo-DOPS (Langlaiset al., 1988); -the indireet dopaminergie agents amantadine (Neri et al, 1984;Ishizuet al, 1981;Bavazzanoet al, 1980;H. Mueller et al• 1979;Schubert and Reischhacker, 1979;Chierichettiet al, 1977;Montanari et al, 1976) and memantine (Reischhackeret al, 1986); -the NMDA antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801), whieh has been tested in patients with attention deficit disorders (Reimhe"et al, 1986).…”

A Potential Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease?

“…To the Editor: —While searching the literature for other reasons, I came across a number of articles concerning the use of amantadine for treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. Amantadine, which has been used around the world for almost 25 years for both short‐ and long‐term treatment of influenza A and Parkinson's Disease, has been tried with encouraging results on a short‐term basis on persons with advanced Alzheimer's disease, 1 , 2 Creutzfeld‐Jacob disease, 3 and other types of cerebral dysfunction 4–6 . In addition, amantadine has been reported to have a beneficial effect on depression, 7 fatigue, 8 and inactivity, 9 which are common problems in people with Alzheimer's Disease.…”