Meds, Not Parkinson’s, Can Increase Risk of Compulsive Behavior

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on January 9, 2013

For decades, researchers have found that some individuals with Parkinsons disease struggle with impulse control problems such as compulsive gambling and shopping.

Now, new research determines the impulse problems come not from Parkinsons disease itself, but as a side effect of medications used to control it.

The new research is published in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Weve known for some time that these behaviors are more common in people taking certain Parkinsons medications, but we havent known if the disease itself leads to an increased risk of these behaviors, said study author Daniel Weintraub, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania.

The study involved 168 people who had recently been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and had not yet taken any medications for the disease. They were compared to 143 people of similar ages who did not have the disease.

The participants were given a questionnaire asking how often they had impulse control symptoms such as compulsive gambling, shopping, sexual behavior or eating.

Participants were also asked about aimless wandering, punding (which is excessive repetition of non-goal directed activity, such as continual handling and sorting of common objects) and hobbyism (the compulsive pursuit of a hobby such as collecting, cleaning or excessive Internet use).

Those with Parkinsons disease were no more or less likely to have the impulse control symptoms than those without the disease, with about 20 percent of each group having symptoms.

These results provide further evidence that impulse control disorders that occur in people with Parkinsons disease are related to the exposure to the dopamine-related drugs, not just the disease itself, Weintraub said.

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Meds, Not Parkinson’s, Can Increase Risk of Compulsive Behavior