PARKINSON'S: AN IMPULSIVE RESPONSE
Four Impulse-Control Disorders Associated With Dopamine Drugs
Drugs that treat Parkinson's disease known as dopamine agonists have some unfortunate side effects called impulse-control disorders. One of these aberrant behaviors-compulsive gambling-has been studied for years, according to researchers.
But University of Pennsylvania scientists have found using the drug levodopa or other dopamine agonists can also double or triple the risk of repetitive movement, compulsive buying and increased sexual behavior. "In almost 14 percent of treated Parkinson's disease, patients had at least one of the four impulse-control disorders," lead researcher Daniel Weintraub, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry, says. And about a third of them had more than one impulse-control disorder, he adds. For six months, Dr. Weintraub and his colleagues followed compulsive behaviors in 3,090 patients taking dopamine agonists for Parkinson's disease and other patients not taking these drugs. They found a twofold-to-threefold increased risk for these four compulsive behaviors among those taking the medication. Higher doses of levodopa or dopamine agonists increase the risk of developing an impulse-control disorder, he says.
The findings were presented in June 2008 at the 12th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Chicago.
Report any compulsive behavior in patients to a doctor.