Study finds clues to Parkinson's drug gambling

CHICAGO, Feb 13 (Reuters) Parkinson's disease victims who become compulsive gamblers as a result of the drugs they take share some common traits including age and alcohol use, a study said.

The finding, if confirmed by more research, may help doctors identify which patients are at high risk for the drug side effect, the report in the Archives of Neurology said yesterday.

Compulsive gambling is one of several well-documented reactions to dopamine drugs, which are used to treat Parkinson's. Others are hypersexuality, compulsive shopping and binge eating.

The study from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, looked at 63 Parkinson's patients, 21 with pathological gambling habits after taking dopamine drugs and another 42 who did not develop the reaction after using the drugs.

They were checked at a clinic in Toronto, Canada, between June 2003 and October 2005.

The gamblers were likely to be younger when they developed the disease, have a family or personal history involving alcohol abuse and have a personality trait called novelty seeking meaning they tended to be impulsive, quick-tempered and easily bored, among other things.

Previous studies have shown that the gambling side effect is unrelated to how big the drug dose was, an indication that some other underlying traits trigger the response, the study said.

''Screening for such features and advising those at higher risk may be warranted,'' the report concluded.

REUTERS SY HS0909