Dopamine dysregulation syndrome, addiction and behavioral changes in Parkinson's disease.
Degeneration of the dopaminergic system in Parkinson's disease and longstanding exposure to dopaminergic drugs may cause reward system malfunction. This may manifest as addiction to l-dopa and behavioral disturbances associated with the impulse control system. These disturbances include: gambling, excessive spending (shopping), hypersexuality and binge eating. We included one such patient's personal story to emphasize the devastating consequences of these potentially reversible phenomena: the patient describes in his own words how gambling induced by an exposure dopamine agonist therapy significantly worsened his disease-related difficulties.
Merims
Doron
D
Movement Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Giladi
Nir
N
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000209:etiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000009:adverse effects; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology*
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D007980:Levodopa; D004298:Dopamine