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Parkinson’s alone failed to increase risk for impulse control disorders

Parkinson’s disease itself did not increase the risk for impulsive behavior — such as gambling or shopping — that has been observed in patients taking medication for the disease, according to recent study data.

“We’ve known for some time that these behaviors are more common in people taking certain Parkinson’s medications, but we haven’t known if the disease itself leads to an increased risk of these behaviors,” study researcher Daniel Weintraub, MD, of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a press release.

Weintraub and colleagues compared the impulse control and related behavior symptoms in 168 untreated patients who had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease vs. 143 patients of similar ages who did not have any neurologic dysfunction. For the study, patients completed a questionnaire, which asked about compulsive gambling, shopping, sexual behavior and eating, as well as related behaviors, including “punding” — or repetitive activity with no discernible goal — hobbyism and aimless wandering.

Results indicated that a Parkinson’s diagnosis was not associated with symptoms of any impulse control or related behaviors (P≥.10). Patients with Parkinson’s disease and those assigned to the control arm of the study both exhibited symptoms of compulsive gambling (1.2% vs. 0.7%, respectively), shopping (3% vs. 2.1%), sexual behavior (4.2% vs. 3.5%), eating (7.1% vs. 10.5%), punding (4.8% vs. 2.1%), hobbyism (5.4% vs. 11.9%) and aimless wandering (0.6% vs. 0.7%).

“These results provide further evidence that impulse control disorders that occur in people with Parkinson’s disease are related to the exposure to the dopamine-related drugs, not just the disease itself,” Weintraub said. “More long-term studies are needed to determine if the 20% of people who have some symptoms of these disorders are more likely to develop impulse control disorders once they start treatment for Parkinson’s.”

Disclosure: Weintraub reports financial relationships with Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, Eli Lilly and Company, Lundbeck Inc., Pfizer and Teva Pharmaceuticals. Study researcher Andrew Siderowf, MD, MSCE, is an employee of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals and reports financial relationships with General Electric, Ipsen Pharmaceuticals, Schering-Plough and Merck Serono, and Teva Neuroscience. See the study for a full list of disclosures.