The drugs, called 'dopamine agonists,' also have been found to boost patients' appetites for sex, food, and alcohol.
J. Eric Ahlskog, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic says the findings are "a striking effect. Pathological gambling induced by a drug is really quite unusual."
A report in National Geographic cites a 54-year-old married pastor on medication who gambled daily at the local casino, hiding his losses from his wife.
In another case, a 41-year-old computer programmer on medication who had never wagered in his life became "consumed" with Internet gambling.
In a third case, a 68-year-old man with no history of gambling lost more than U.S. $200,000 at casinos over a six-month period while on the medication.
The study will appear in the September issue of Archives of Neurology.
