Content area
Abstract
The review article by Demarest et al in the February issue of the publication is timely to increase the awareness of clinicians of the existence of opioid-induced endocrinopathy and to highlight the unmet need for more research to be conducted in this area. The discussion of this article is centered on previously published studies conducted between 1980 and 2014 focusing on prospective randomized controlled trials but does not involve any new studies of humans or animals performed by the authors themselves. The authors divided the effects of opioids into acute and chronic categories on each individual endocrine axis and also raise the issue of opioid-induced osteoporosis. Current evidence appears to suggest that the acute effects of opioids are more variable and less predictable. Further research is therefore urgently needed to better define the incidence and prevalence of this phenomenon so that strategies to improve the detection and management outcomes of these patients can be outlined.