Dopaminergic Therapy for Parkinson's Disease Raises Risk for Impulse Control Disorders
News Author: Kathleen Louden
CME Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
Disclosures
Release Date: June 26, 2008
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/576691?src=rss
June 26, 2008 (Chicago, Illinois) — A new study performed in 3090 patients with Parkinson's disease found a 2- to 3-fold increased risk of having an impulse control disorder among patients treated with dopamine agonists compared with those who did not receive dopaminergic therapy.
The multicenter cross-sectional study examined in Parkinson's disease patients the prevalence of
4 impulse control disorders: problem or pathologic gambling, compulsive buying, compulsive sexual behavior, and binge eating.
The results were presented here at the 12th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders.
"It is the largest study showing an association [between impulse control disorders and Parkinson's disease medications] and the only one to study all 4 of these disorders," lead author Daniel Weintraub, MD, told Medscape Neurology & Neurosurgery.
Dr. Weintraub, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, said that impulse control disorders appear to be common in patients with Parkinson's disease receiving dopamine agonists. Their study showed that 13.6% of all treated patients had at least 1 such disorder (17.1% in patients receiving dopamine agonists). Of the patients with an impulse control disorder, 36% had more than 1 of these disorders.
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