Finasteride Attenuates Pathological Gambling in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Finasteride, a drug commonly used to treat hair loss, has been found to reduce pathological gambling (PG) in male patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who are undergoing dopamine replacement therapy. Two male patients with PD and PG were given finasteride and both reported a reduction in PG symptoms. The study suggests that finasteride could be a novel therapy for iatrogenic impulse-control disorders in patients with PD. However, caution should be exercised in generalizing the results due to the small cohort size and open-label nature of the assessment.