It is newsworthy when a retired physician with PD gambles away more than 10 million dollars in a few months, or when a man's marriage, job, and finances fall apart due to new, outrageous behaviors. Agonist manufacturers, scientists, physicians, and the FDA should drill down on this aggressively to find out what is wrong—and they are. The FDA has removed some high-profile drugs from the market, such as Vioxx (not a PD drug). However, such extreme reactions to agonists among PD patients are quite rare. Removing agonists from the PD arsenal by legal means, or through the court of public opinion would be a mistake.
The agonists implicated keep countless people moving, working, and enjoying family relationships. Nevertheless, these events, while significant, are infrequent In the words of the Washington Post: “The behavioral anomalies, though dramatic, are probably rare among the thousands of Parkinson's sufferers who take the drugs.” Studies published to date, identify small percentages of agonist users who develop new, impulsive behaviors.
A team of Mayo Clinic researchers identified 11 Mayo Clinic patients with Parkinson’s who complained of a sudden urge to gamble during a two year time period. That is certainly a small percentage of the Mayo Clinic’s PD patients. The authors of the Mayo study labeled gambling a “rare potential complication related to treatment of Parkinson disease.”
Out of fairness, gambling is not the whole picture. This stretches into numerous activities that result in pleasure and thrill. Some agonists may indeed encourage a small number of people to seek thrills they have never craved before. They may contribute to the destruction of some marriages and fortunes. We cannot turn our backs on these events. If you begin to act compulsively, or you have new compulsive urges, call your doctor today. Whether you are taking an agonist or not, if you find yourself experiencing new, overwhelming cravings, something is out of balance.
Still, the benefit for the vast majority of people with Parkinson's far outweighs the risks.
If you would like to share your opinion about the issue, please email Matt at: mnilsen@myparkinsonsinfo.com
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