…people with Parkinson’s disease temporarily became compulsive gamblers after taking [...] drugs designed to control movement problems caused by the illness…

That’s the lead in this Forbes story on the matter, and that’s not all. A variety of ‘interesting’ side effects popped up among a relatively small number of study participants:

• pathological gambling
• compulsive eating
• increased alcohol consumption
• obsession with sex.

The drugs in question are “dopamine agonists” and are part of the standard treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Though the story emphasises the rarity of these side effects, it talks up the dramatic effects when they do crop up:

One 52-year-old married man started gambling “uncontrollably” after raising the dose of his dopamine agonist. His wife phoned the neurologist to report that her husband had lost more than $100,000, was eating compulsively — he gained 50 pounds — and had an obsession with sex that resulted in him carrying on an extramarital affair. The man lost his excessive interest in gambling and sex when the medication was tapered off, according to the report

Another man with no history of gambling started frequenting casinos for days at a time, exhibited an increased sex drive, drank more alcohol and ate excessively. When his medications were stopped, he reverted to having sex once weekly instead of four times a day.

And one 68-year-old man lost more than $200,000 gambling in six months and left town for days at a time without telling anyone where he was.

But instead of celebrating the fact that they’ve found a drug that might be used to make the entirety of earth’s population as drunk, sex hungry, and overweight as we Americans appear to be, these killjoy doctors are looking in the results for clues to combatting compulsive or addictive behavior elsewhere. Dr. M. Leann Dodd senior associate consultant in the department of psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota wonders:

It would be very interesting to see whether or not medications that have the opposite effect on [these nerve receptors] might curb some of these behaviors. Does this lead to potential treatments for blocking [the neural activity driving these obsesive behaviors]? That’s clearly something to look at.

Anyway, thanks to Jon for pointing the article my way.

tags: alcohol, compulsive arousal, compulsive eater, compulsive eating, compulsive gambler, compulsive gambling, disease, dopamine, dopamine agonist, dopamine agonists, drug effect, drug effects, drug side effect, drug side effects, drugs, extramarital affair, increased alcohol consumption, obsession, obsession with sex, obsessive compulsive, obsessive drinker, obsessive drinking, obsessive eater, obsessive eating, obsessive gambler, obsessive gambling, ocd, parkinson’s, parkinson’s disease, pathological gambling, side effects, uncontrollable urge, uncontrollable urges

Posted August 20, 2005 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Questionable...funny. Pointless.. Tags: alcohol, compulsive arousal, compulsive eater, compulsive eating, compulsive gambler, compulsive gambling, disease, dopamine, dopamine agonist, dopamine agonists, drug effect, drug effects, drug side effect, drug side effects, drugs, extramarital affair, increased alcohol consumption, obsession, obsession with sex, obsessive compulsive, obsessive drinker, obsessive drinking, obsessive eater, obsessive eating, obsessive gambler, obsessive gambling, ocd, parkinson's, parkinson's disease, pathological gambling, side effects, uncontrollable urge, uncontrollable urges.

1 Comment(s)

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

 

User contributed tags for this post:

bluetooth sex (182) - effects (152) - absinthe side effects (110) - funny drug side effects (104) - bluetooth side effects (87) - drunk sex com (85) - sex bluetooth (70) - side effects of absinthe (49) - absinthe sex (48) - funny side effects (39) - vedio sex (34) - bluetooth side effect (28) - side effects of bluetooth (24) - sex Bluetooth com (23) - bluetooth sex video (22) - effects of absinthe (22) - drunksex orgy com (22) - absinthe and sex (21) - arab sex bluetooth (17) - SEX BLUETOOTH VIDEO (16) - parkinson's and sex drive (16) - drink sex orgy com (15) - bluetooth video sex (14) - absinthe side effect (14) - vedio effects (14) - bluetooth sex videos (13) - sex side (13) - doctors sex com (13) - sex movie (12) - bluetooth headset side effects (12) - side effect of BLUETOOTH (12) - absinth side effects (12) - Copyright 2004 Drunk Sex Orgy com (12) - dopamine sex drive (11) - video bluetooth sex (11) - Absinthe effects (11) - DRUNKSEX.ORGY.COM (11) - sexs movie (10) - funny side effects of drugs (10) - increased urge to gamble (10) - drink sex orgy (10) - energy drinks side effects (9) - Bluetooth sex vedio (9) - parkinson s sex drive (9) - parkinson s and sex (9) - dopamine agonist side effects (9) - funny medicine side effects (9) - gogle eat (8) - video sex bluetooth (8) - bluetooth movie (8) - bluetooth effects (8) - does alcohol increase sex drive (8) - SEX ON THE SIDE (8) - drug side effect urge parkinson s (8) - drunk sex orgy.com (8) - sex vedio (7) - all (7) - Leann Dodd (7) - sexs side (7) - doctor sex com (7) - arabic sex bluetooth (7) - sex bluetooth movie (7) - sex drive drink (7) - funny drug effect (7) - bluetooth effect (7) - absinthe drink side effects (7) - drug vedio (7) - drugs vedio (7) - blutooth sex video (7) - mss (7) - drink sexorgy (7) - sexs video (6) - arabic sexs (6) - what to eat to increase sex drive (6) - side effects of drinking Absinthe (6) - sex obsession parkinson (6) - excessive sex drive (6) - drunk side effects (6) - side effects of bluetooth headset (6) - side effects absinthe (6) - dopamine agonist blog (6) - SEX DRIVE vedio (6) - sex drive drugs (6) - sex klinic (6) - side effect gamble (6) - side effects from drinking absinthe (6) - drunk sex orgy com (6) - sex drive energy drink (6) - bluetooth vedio sex (5) - sex film (5) - side effects increased sex drive (5) - Bluetooth sex arab (5) - Gogle DRive (5) - drugs sexs (5) - obsession medication (5) - effects of bluetooth (5) - drank sex com (5) - absinth sex (5) - bluetooth sex com (5) - gambling side effects (5) - DRUG SIDE EFFECTS GAMBLING (5) - side effect of absinthe (5) - side effects absinth (5) - sex bluetooth vedio (5) - funny medication side effects (5) - vedio effect (5) - drunk sox orgy com (5) - arab porno side (5) - drunksex orgy.com (5) - m6 (4) - effects of extramarital sex (4) - gambling side effect (4) - sex drugs side effects (4) - effects of rock sex and drugs (4) - faq sexs (4) - film sex bluetooth (4) - bluetooth sex movie (4) - sex bluetooth film (4) - absinthe side effect stories (4) - sex bluetooth movies gallery (4) - bluetooth videos of sex (4) - drink sex com (4) - download Bluetooth sex (4) - Drunk sexs (4) - movie sex bluetooth (4) - VEDIO SEX COM (4) - effects of obsession with sex (4) - parkinsons increased sex drive (4) - parkinson drug side effect (4) - celexa increased sex drive (4) - parkinson medication side effects (4) - parkinsons medication side effects (4) - uncontrollable sex drive (4) - sex videos bluetooth (4) - obsesive sex (4) - PARKINSONS SEX DRIVE (4) - drug increased sex drive side effects (4) - SEX MOVIES 68 OLD (4) - what to eat to increase sex (4) - effect drug (4) - absinthe side (4) - parkinson s and sex drive (4) - curbing sex obsession (4) - gamble and drink (4) - affects of absinthe (4) - drunk sex drive (4) - Bluetooth vedeo sex (4) - sex drive dopamine (4) - dopamine side effects (4) - what are the side effects of absinthe (4) -