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Posted on Feb 14, 2007, 8 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
Among patients with Parkinson's disease, the results of earlier research has suggested that pathological gambling is associated with drug treatment, specifically drugs in the class called dopamine agonists. A research team has now identified specific patient characteristics that appear to increase the likelihood that they will develop this drug-related compulsive behavior, including younger age at onset of Parkinson's disease, higher novelty-seeking personality traits, and a history of alcohol abuse.
Among patients with Parkinson's disease, the results of earlier research has suggested that pathological gambling is associated with drug treatment, specifically drugs in the class called dopamine agonists. A research team has now identified specific patient characteristics that appear to increase the likelihood that they will develop this drug-related compulsive behavior, including younger age at onset of Parkinson's disease, higher novelty-seeking personality traits, and a history of alcohol abuse.
Dr. Valerie Voon, currently with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, and her team conducted a study with Parkinson's disease patients who were treated at the Toronto Western Hospital in Ontario. The findings are reported in the Archives of Neurology.
Twenty-one patients with compulsive gambling and 42 patients without compulsive behaviors completed psychological assessment questionnaires and were examined by a neurologist and a psychologist. Voon's team also compared the patients with compulsive gambling with a second group of 286 Parkinson's disease patients who did not gamble and had participated in a previous trial.
Patients who were compulsive gamblers differed from the other two groups in their individual characteristics. The compulsive gamblers were younger when they were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, had a personal or family history of alcohol abuse, and were on therapies that included dopaminergic drugs.
The pathological gambling group also had higher scores on novelty-seeking behavior and medication-induced mania, and had impaired planning skills.
Voon and her associates recommend that clinicians screen for these risk factors they have identified and suggest that Parkinson's disease patients who have a higher risk of developing compulsive gambling may benefit from consulting.
