Eleven patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) developed pathological gambling behavior following dopamine agonist therapy, a drug therapy to control movement problems caused by Parkinson's disease, according to a study posted online which will appear in the September print issue of Archives of Neurology.
Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder marked by the death of the neurons of an area of the brain called the substantia nigra, is primarily treated by drugs that restore or improve brain chemical signaling system dependent on dopamine, according to background information in the article. Brain dopamine, a chemical that helps regulate movement, balance and walking, also plays a central role in the behavioral reward system, reinforcing a myriad of behaviors. It has been implicated in the reward of gambling behavior.
M. Leann Dodd, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and colleagues, present reports of eleven patients seen and evaluated between 2002 and 2004 in the Mayo movement disorders clinic with Parkinson's disease who had recently developed pathological gambling and review similar cases from the medical literature. Pathological gambling is defined as a failure to resist gambling impulses despite severe personal, family or vocational consequences