Expanding the spectrum of impulse control disorders in Parkinson's disease: the phenomenology of sweet craving

Background: The recognized spectrum of impulse control disorders in Parkinson’s disease (PD) includes pathologic gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive buying, and binge eating, and is commonly related to exposure to dopamine agonist medications. Sweet craving in the general population is a phenomenon that is closely linked to several factors, including poor impulse control. Craving for sweets, though recognized to occur in PD, has not previously been studied. Methods: First, patients with idiopathic PD and normal controls who reported craving sweets completed craving questionnaires (CQ), taste threshold testing, assessment of mood symptoms and olfactory testing. CQ scores were correlated with these results and other demographic information. A pathologic craving score was identified as the 75th percentile of the mean CQ score for all PD patients. Second, patients with PD and controls completed a series of questionnaires addressing the presence of a variety of