Medicines prescribed for movement disorders can have extreme side effects
When Sarah climbed the attic of his father’s house, he was not prepared for what he would find.
His father, James, was a modest man who had worked throughout his life in the same company and retired 20 years ago when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
With the help of a medicine called ropinirolo, he was checking the tremors and balance caused by the disease. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sarah began to worry about his father’s reserved behavior and decided to investigate what was taking his time.
In the penthouse, he found several handmade notes and a dozen recording devices that James was using to spy on his house.
In the texts and recordings, he had recorded innocent sounds that his wife emitted as he walked for the house or sleeping in an attempt to demonstrate that he was having an extramarital relationship.
He also recorded in detail numerous conversations on chat and visits to porn sites, which he accessed accessible.
When Sarah told her mother what she had discovered, she was horrified in learning that she had been sexually forced to James.
But it was only when Sarah led his father to see an expert five years ago, who discovered that the drugs he took could cause such extreme side effects.
“Ah, it’s very libido, right?” He asked the nurse.
The elderly couple lives separately today, as James places a great risk for his wife, according to Sarah. He lives in a specialized residence and his daughter says that he even sexually attacked local employees.
“This medicine destroyed my family,” Sarah said, whose name has been changed, as with his father, to protect identity.
Sarah has a prosecutor who gives her legal power over her parents, which includes decisions on her medical treatment.
According to her, their interest has been carefully evaluated before deciding to share family history so that more people know the impacts that these drugs can cause.
Change of behavior
The case of James is one of the 50 BBC, most of whom involve men in treatment for movement disorders, whose behavior has changed radically after receiving a prescription of medicines from a specific class.
Overall, the behavior started to change after many years taking medicine, increasing doses, as the patients themselves report.
In March, the BBC revealed that the doctors had not warned women that the use of the same type of drug for restless legs (SPI) could cause a compulsive desire for sex and betting games, putting them at personal risk and damaging their finances, careers and relationships.
Many of the cases that the BBC has listened involves the exploitation of women and children. Among them:
- A man condemned for sexual crimes against minors after abusing a child;
- A man over 80 who claims to have been dependent on pornography, including images of zoophilia and abuse for children;
- A father of three children who said that the drug caused the need to have sex up to seven times a day, which led him to leave two marriages, since his partners could not accompany him;
The three men said they did not have such sexual behavior before taking their drugs. They also said they had tried a profound shame for their behavior, but they believed that the drugs had helped them with their diseases.
Other men interviewed by the BBC said they did not want to stop taking medicines because they had discovered new sexual interests – that they are fantastic and consensual – and have enjoyed the increase in libido.
A married gentleman, about 60 years old, began to dress with women’s clothing and online relationships with men. Another said that drugs have useless homosexual feelings that he had never explored before.
The registers of the prescriptions show that some of the men we talked about have tried to reduce the dose, but have reported a negative impact on their health.
Known risks
The ropinirol, a remedy used by James, belongs to a class of medicines known as dopamine agonists, prescribed to treat parkinson, restless legs syndrome, pituitary cancers and other conditions.
The risk of side effects related to impulsive behavior caused by dopamine agonist drugs has been known for years, but the BBC has discovered that doctors in the United Kingdom continue to prescribe for various conditions without warning all patients.
In March, the BBC revealed that the British pharmaceutical company GSK had discovered, in 2003, a relationship between ropinirolo and what described as “deviated” sexual behavior, including cases of pedophilia.
GSK told the BBC that he shared these results with the health authorities, included a safety notice in the flyers of medicine and conducted rigorous clinical studies with the drug, which has already been prescribed in 17 million treatments.
However, the warnings on this type of behavior have been included only in the flyers of 2007 and, even today, only specify risks such as “altered sexual interest” and “excessive libido” or “increased”.
According to the provisional president of the Health Commission, the parliamentarian of work Paulette Hamilton, it is urgent to strengthen the recommendations on safety on the “toxic” side effects of the drug, since its impact can be “devastating”.
“Nine out of ten people do not read what is in the flyers,” he says.
“And even if they read, what does it mean” changes in the sexual interest “? I have no idea.”
What the studies say
Medicines act by imitating the effects of dopamine, a natural chemical that helps to transmit messages in the brain, such as those that control movements.
Dopamine is also known as “happiness hormone”, since it is activated when we feel pleasure or a sense of reward.
Dopamine agonists can stimulate these excess sensations, which help people suffering from certain movement disorders associated with low dopamine levels.
However, these drugs can also reduce the perception of the consequences, leading to impulsive behavior, according to researchers.
According to dozens of people listened to by the BBC, the drug can also aggravate the existing symptoms of restless leg syndrome, causing, in some cases, an uncontrollable necessity to move other parts of the body.
This is a well documented risk among those who take medicine for prolonged periods and is known as “increase”.
The BBC also found concerns raised in two studies that analyzed the ability of another dopamine agonist, routigotine, to fight the health conditions of the worsening.
Both studies were sponsored by the drug manufacturer, the Belgian UCB company.
According to information obtained by the BBC, the company managers repeatedly rejected the evidence of growing (aggravation of the symptoms) caused by Routigotina during the first study, conducted in 2012.
Diego García-Boreguer, one of the authors of the study, said that the representatives of the UCB participated in the meetings and discussed the results with the researchers. He said the interference was “subtle”, but the results published were not impartial.
The BBC also discovered that eight of the nine authors of the second Routine study, conducted in 2017, had received UCB payments at some point – and five of them were direct employees of the company.
The conclusions of the study – according to which routigotine was effective in the treatment of the increase – were classified as “ridiculous” by the neurologist Andy Berkowski, co -author of the clinical guidelines for the treatment of restless leg syndrome in the United States.
According to Berkowski, the data show that over 50% of patients stopped taking medicine during study, much due to adverse effects or lack of effectiveness. In addition, over half of those who have completed the treatment necessary to increase the dose, probably due to the aggravation of the SPI symptoms.
In response, UCB said that the studies were impartial, presented at an independent equal review and that all the authors – including the employees of the company or with previous bonds – followed the guidelines on the conflict of interest.
The company also stressed that the effectiveness of routigotine has been demonstrated in several clinical studies and that most patients who completed the 2017 study showed a significant clinical improvement. This corresponds to 37 of the 99 patients who started the study.
Monitoring of side effects
Last year, basic doctors in England prescribed almost 1.5 million agonist drugs for dopamine, according to the published data to which the BBC had access.
Another medicine, aripiprazole – a partial dopamine agonist used to treat mental health problems – is also known to cause impulsive behavior.
It has been prescribed in over 1.7 million treatments in England alone last year, especially for young patients.
A patient who took the drug reported that his addiction to gambling has become so great that he even stolen to finance his addiction.
The mother of another patient believes that the drug has made the son in public.
The regulatory agency of medicines and health products of the United Kingdom claims to have no intention of modifying warnings on dopamine competitive drugs.
Previously, the agency informed the BBC that sexual impulses vary and that there is already a general warning about potentially harmful behaviors.
The real doctors of the United Kingdom have announced that its curriculum up -to -data, used in the formation of doctors and will be published next month, will include the monitoring of the side effects relating to impulsive behavior in patients with restless legs syndrome, an estimated condition between 6% and 17% of patients.
A side effect can be considered “common” when it affects only 1% of people who take medicine, according to the United Kingdom health care agency (Nice).
The Department of Health and Social Assistance has refused to comment on the case.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
