Warn families of risk of sex and gambling addictions with Parkinson’s drugs, doctors told – Telegraph.co.uk

The familiesof Parkinson's sufferers must be warned about dangers of sex and gambling addictions caused by drugs used to treat the disease, doctors have been told.

New NHS guidelines, due to be released next month, include impulse control disorders for the first time, stating that health professionals should discuss the potential for dramatic change in behaviour with the "family and carers" as well as the patient.

It comes amid growing evidence that the drugs can lead to secret gambling or shopping addictions, which have been shown to destroy people's relationships and financial security, and in extreme cases have led to criminal convictions.

The Nice guidelines have emerged as one woman in her early 60s revealed how her life was torn apart when her partner suffered from hypersexuality - a focus on sexual feelings and thoughts - after taking dopamine agonists.

Around 127,000 people in the UK live with Parkinson's, a progressive brain disease that causes uncontrollable tremors, slow movement, and impaired speech. Studies suggest that around five to 10 per cent of those taking common drugs have an impulse control disorder.

The side effects are most likely with dopamine agonists, which mimic the effect of dopamine in the brain to suppress symptoms, but can occur with other medication used to treat the disease.

ProfRichard Walker, a consultant physician and one of the four doctors who contributed to the new guidelines, said that when the first instructions were written in 2006, the evidence surrounding impulse control disorders was only just emerging.

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Warn families of risk of sex and gambling addictions with Parkinson's drugs, doctors told - Telegraph.co.uk