LONG TERM EFFECTS OF OPIATE ADDICTION ON MALE FERTILITY

Objective: To assess the fertility of chronic opiate addicts by correlating their semen analysis with the healthy controls.Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 25 opiate addicts admitted in Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar and Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar. All patients were male and were more than 15 years of age. All patients were studied for harmone analysis including FSH, LH, prolactin and testosterone. Semen analysis of addicts was compared with 25 normal healthy controls.Results: Study included 25 male opiate addicts of mean age of 30.16 years (+/- 8.56) and 25 healthy controls of mean age 31.06 (+/- 9.76). Mean duration of opiate addiction was 27.36 months (+7.64). 36% of patients had urinary metabolites of 200-1000 ng/ml. The rest had levels of more than 2000 ng/ml. Reduced sexual ability was present in 64% of patients. No significant difference among levels of FSH, LH and testosterone before and after treatment except for prolactin level which raised from pretreatment level of mean 3.95 (±3.14) to mean 16.39 (±1.87) ng/ml.Conclusion: Severe abnormalities in opiate addicts may result from hyper prolactinemia.