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Parkinson's and gambling: Is it the drugs or the disease? Newer treatments for the movement disorder may be associated with compulsive behaviour Doctors and researchers are puzzling over why certain people taking medication for Parkinson's disease become compulsive gamblers, binge eaters or sex addicts. Parkinson's disease causes shaking and difficulty with walking, movement and co-ordination. It involves a shortage of the chemical messenger dopamine in the brain. Newer medications called dopamine agonists help activate brain receptors for this chemical. Jeanne Rosner, director of the Parkinson's Information Service in Chicago, says her organization's hotline has received numerous calls from patients and caregivers reporting excessive gambling and sexuality among patients with Parkinson's disease, many of whom exhibited those behaviours after taking dopamine agonists. "Some studies seem to indicate it is the drugs. However, some patients exhibit some compulsive behaviours when not taking medication," Rosner says. Dr. Jennifer Hui, an assistant professor of neurology with the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, says underlying personality traits such as novelty seeking may be significant risk factors for the development of these behaviours. "Compulsive behaviours, including pathological gambling, hypersexuality and binge eating, are increasingly reported in Parkinson's disease," she says. In her study, 13 of 48 Parkinson's disease patients (27 per cent) had these novelty-seeking traits. But Hui was not able to determine if these traits were evident before the person began treatment for the disease. "That, of course, is the big question." In any case, she cautions against jumping to the conclusion that the behaviours are affected by the drugs. "We need further studies to figure that out." However, her study did show that compulsive behaviour is associated with younger Parkinson's patients. In her study, patients without compulsive behaviours averaged 75 years of age; those with compulsive behaviours averaged 62 years of age. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn