Parkinsons Drugs And Gambling
People who had never
gambled before suddenly were losing thousands of dollars
at casinos sometimes more than $100,000. Men who had
been content with just once-a-week sex began having sex
three and four times a day. Few began to overeat,
gaining 50 pounds in just a few months. What did all
these people have in common besides their irrational
behavior? They were all taking this type of medicine,
called dopamine agonists, to treat Parkinson's disease.
Most of these people were taking a specific dopamine
agonist: pramipexole (Mirapex). This started coming up
at doctor appointments, the patients or their family
members started bringing it up. Most of the patients
suffered problems of gambling generally but over half of
our patients also manifested other compulsive behavior
like hyper sexuality or compulsive overeating. It
started out as a interest, but then we found case
reports that showed there might be some connection
between this compulsive behavior and a particular type
of medication. When people stopped these medications,
the compulsive behavior would go away.
What is this drug?
People who have
Parkinson's drugs are deficient in a brain chemical
called dopamine. Dopamine agonist is a synthetic version
of dopamine that binds to dopamine receptors in the
brain. Pramipexole binds to one particular type of
dopamine receptor — the dopamine receptor D3 — much more
than to other dopamine receptors. These D3 receptors
highly concentrates in the area of the brain devotes to
mood, behavior and rewards. It's exciting to think that
future studies may reveal more about how the D3 portion
of the brain may be associated with addictive behavior.
Ultimately, such studies could lead the way to
development of medications that curb addictive behavior.
Pramipexole is also used to treat restless legs
syndrome, but at much lower dosages than those used for
Parkinson's disease. A common dosage for restless legs
is 0.125 milligrams (mg) per day, while the daily dosage
for Parkinson's is more like 4.5 mg. Studies of 529
people taking pramipexole for Parkinson’s symptoms
revealed that 1.5 percent of them have developed
compulsive gambling behaviors. Our study evaluated only
11 people, all with Parkinson's, and all of them had
started gambling compulsively while being treated with
dopamine agonists.
How is this new information helping people?
A lady, from a family with a modest income, lost
$100,000 and her husband and children left her. She
remarried and her second husband was also about to leave
her. Then she stopped taking the drug and within two
weeks the gambling compulsion disappeared.
In a few tragic cases, people have lost their financial
security and their relationships because of this. One
man said that his wife woke him up, crying, with a
newspaper article about this study in her hand. She's
had a gambling addiction for two years and now they're
hopeful that they've found a possible answer.
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