Dopamine-based drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease would be responsible for compulsive behaviors that are rather disabling, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Indeed, they would cause disorders such as hypersexuality, kleptomania or addiction to gambling.
The American researchers carried out a meta-analysis on all the side effects (there are still 2.7 million side effects) of the drugs identified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). medications). Scientists wanted to understand whether dopamine-based treatments, used for restless leg disease and Parkinson’s were responsible for behavioral problems.
Scientists discovered that sexual hyperactivity, gambling addiction or kleptomania were correlated with the use of 1580 drugs, including 710 dopamine-based and 870 for other treatments.
“There is a greater risk of developing compulsive behaviors with pramipexole and ropinirole” explains Thomas J. Moore, AB researcher at the Institute of Medication Safety in Virginia (United States).
“Our results confirm that dopamine can generate behavioral disorders. The warnings should be clearer and more precise on all drugs containing dopamine, ”concludes the researcher.
Parkinson’s disease in numbers
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in France, after Alzheimer’s disease.
It manifests itself by tremors and difficulty moving and performing everyday actions. It comes from a decrease in the brain’s production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter necessary for good movement control.
Every hour a new case of Parkinson’s is detected in our country. Today, more than 150,000 people suffer from it in the country and, contrary to popular belief, it is not a disease reserved for the elderly since 20% of patients are under 50 years old.
