Heroin addicts and diabetes mellitus

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Aneta Spasovska Trajanovska
 

Psychiatric Hospital Skopje, Greece

: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry

Abstract

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Very little is known about the range of hormones affected in opiates users. Various endocrine abnormalities have been reported in these subject included: increase levels of thyroxin, increase prolactin levels and abnormalities in sexual hormone insulin and glucose metabolism similar for those seen on type 2 diabetes. The mechanism was explained by the direct action of heroin on Hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Also some researchers reported that stabile methadone therapy normalize that condition. So the AIM of this study is to assess the effectiveness of methadone therapy in normalizing plasma concentration of blood sugar. Materials and methods: The prospective study was conducted at the Day hospital for Addictions- department of Psychiatry Hospital Skopje. In this study was evaluated group of 15 heroin addicts who were entering in methadone treatment aged 23±12 years with a high plasma concentration of blood sugar and daily methadone dose of 60-120mg. In the evaluation of the study was used non-standardized questionnaire to determinate (gender, age, marital status, employment) and CLIA methods for determinate the serum blood sugar levels. Student t-test was used for statistical processing of the data. The results obtained in our study indicated that blood sugar levels were higher in heroin addicts before treatment with methadone therapy but without statistical significance (p=0,03). So we may have concluded that treatment with adequate methadone therapy was stabilization heroin addicts and also stabilization their hormonal status (normalization of blood sugar valves).

Biography

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Aneta Spasopvska Trajanovska is psychiatrist, of the Psychiatric Hospital Skopje. She became a founding member of the South Eastern European and Adriatic Addiction Treatment Network (SEEA net.) and World Federation for the Treatment of Opiate Dependence. She has published more than 50 research articles in journals.