Researchers at the National Centre for Epilepsy in Norway report that the use of antiepileptic drugs can lead to decreased fertility and an increased incidence of sexual hormone disorders in both men and women. The new study, published in Epilepsia investigated the effects of withdrawal from two common antiepileptic drugs, carbamazepine and valproate, on the sex-hormones of males and females.
Thankfully, the study found that reproductive endocrine (hormonal) dysfunction resulting from antiepileptic drug use is reversible, even after years of treatment. After withdrawal from carbamazepine and valproate, sexual hormone levels returned to pre-treatment levels, and treatment-associated reproductive endocrine changes reversed.
"These findings provide further evidence of the potentially negative effects of epilepsy treatment on reproductive endocrine functions in men and women, but they also show that some of these changes may be reversible," says researcher Morten I. Lossius.
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Source: Epilepsia
