Up to 20 percent of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and their families may confront a common but largely unrecognized challenge: the occurrence of impulse control disorders (ICDs) such as compulsive gambling, sexual behavior, eating, or spending. Yet the presence of PD in these patients can severely limit or complicate treatment options. A team of investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center conducted a pilot study and found that the opioid antagonist naltrexone may be an effective treatment for diminishing ICD symptoms in PD patients. The results were published in the journal Neurology. Researchers believe that these issues may arise as a result of medications used to treat the disease, but also could be a result of the disease itself, or a combination of both. ICDs can create financial, personal, employment, and social problems that add to the burden on patients and caregivers whose lives are already devastated by PD. A sample of 50 PD patients, all of whom began displaying their ICD symptoms after both the onset of PD and the initiation of dopamine agonist treatment (which was … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 30-Jul-2014 Contact: Lee-Ann Donegan leeann.donegan@uphs.upenn.edu 215-349-5660 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (PHILADELPHIA) Up to 20 percent of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and their families may confront a common but largely unrecognized challenge: the occurrence of impulse control disorders (ICDs) such as compulsive gambling, sexual behavior, eating, or spending. Yet the presence of PD in these patients can severely limit or complicate treatment options. A team of investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center conducted a pilot study and found that the opioid antagonist naltrexone may be an effective treatment for diminishing ICD symptoms in PD patients. The results were published in the journal Neurology. Researchers believe that these issues may arise as a result of medications used to treat the disease, but also could be a result of the disease itself, or a combination of both. ICDs can create financial, personal, employment, and social problems that add to the burden on patients and caregivers whose lives are already devastated by PD. A sample of 50 PD patients, all of whom began displaying their ICD … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise (PHILADELPHIA) Up to 20 percent of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and their families may confront a common but largely unrecognized challenge: the occurrence of impulse control disorders (ICDs) such as compulsive gambling, sexual behavior, eating, or spending. Yet the presence of PD in these patients can severely limit or complicate treatment options. A team of investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center conducted a pilot study and found that the opioid antagonist naltrexone may be an effective treatment for diminishing ICD symptoms in PD patients. The results were published in the journal Neurology. Researchers believe that these issues may arise as a result of medications used to treat the disease, but also could be a result of the disease itself, or a combination of both. ICDs can create financial, personal, employment, and social problems that add to the burden on patients and caregivers whose lives are already devastated by PD. A sample of 50 PD patients, all of whom began displaying their ICD symptoms after both the onset of PD … Continue reading →