Pathological gambling is an impulse disorder previously found as a side effect of dopamine agonist therapy in Parkinson's disease patients.

Now, though occurring only in small number of restless legs syndrome (RLS) patients, the treatment of drugs called dopamine agonists has been found to be linked to compulsive gambling.

Such were the findings of a Mayo Clinic study appearing in the January 23, 2007 issue of Neurology.

The compulsion to gamble in these RLS patients gets worse with increasing dosage of dopamine agonists.

Considering this potential side effect of dopamine agonists, the mayo clinic authors suggest that physicians screen all RLS patients for compulsive behaviors while taking a thorough medical history prior to prescribing dopamine agonists. Patients should be monitored closely for signs of compulsive behaviors once dopamine agonist treatment has begun.

Dopamine agonists are compounds that activates dopamine receptors and are used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Read the full report.