DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE

DHEA is a naturally occurring hormone produced in your adrenal gland. No one has yet figured out everything that it does or how important it is, but among other things, it is part of the process by which testosterone is produced. DHEA has been around a long time and has been studied for its effects on heart disease, cancer, mood, viral infections and weight, mostly in test tube and animal studies. It has been available on and off again on the underground for several years, has been used in a few small HIV studies but never in a sizeable long term study that would give us some clear answers about if and how it works, and at what dose.

In 1981, The Life Extension Foundation had introduced DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) to its members through an article that described the multiple antiaging benefits that this hormone might produce. However, the general public did not learn about DHEA until 1996, when the benefits of DHEA were touted by the news media and in several popular books

DHEA became credible to the medical establishment when the New York Academy of Sciences published a book entitled DHEA and Aging. This book provided scientific validation for the many life extension effects of DHEA replacement therapy.

The Life Extension Foundation has been investigating DHEA for more than 20 years. In more than 2,000 published studies, DHEA has been shown to have a role in improving neurological function, immune function, stress disorders, hormonal modulation and numerous diseases associated with normal aging.

 The most remarkable finding about DHEA comes from a human study by S.S.C. Yen and associates at the University of California, San Diego, in which 50 mg a day of DHEA over a 6-month period restored serum levels of DHEA in both men and women to youthful ranges. DHEA replacement was associated with an increase in perceived physical and psychological well-being for both men (67%) and women (84%). Increases in lean body mass and muscle strength were reported in men taking 100 mg a day, but this dose appeared to be excessive for women. 

 DHEA (50 or 100 mg per day) was also shown to significantly elevate insulin growth factor (IGF). Aging causes a decline in IGF levels that contributes to the loss of lean body mass, as well as to excess fat accumulation, neurological impairment and age-associated immune dysfunction. 

 Clinical studies provide evidence that DHEA improves memory, mood, and EEG readings, and may play protective role against neurodegenerative diseases. DHEA was shown to prevent pharmacologically induced amnesia and mental impairment by benzodiazepine (Valium-like) drugs.

 Epidemiological studies show that low DHEA levels are associated with the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and a new study provides some molecular mechanisms for how DHEA supplementation may help in part to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. 

In one study, DHEA inhibited chemically induced cancers in the colon, lung, breast, and skin. When DHEA was applied directly to the skin, DHEA prevented chemically induced skin cancer. DHEA had this affect by inhibiting the binding of carcinogens to skin cells and by inhibiting the enzyme G6PDH. 

 DHEA often declines 80-90% by age 70 or later. DHEA demonstrates a striking ability to maintain immune system synchronization. Oral supplementation with low doses of DHEA in aged animals restored immunocompetence to a reasonable level within days of administration. DHEA boosted beneficial interleukin-2 and suppressed levels of damaging interleukin-6 which is overproduced in the aged, contributing to autoimmune disease, immune dysfunction, and osteoporosis and reduced healing. Suppression of interleukin-6 with 200 mg a day of DHEA was shown to be effective against systemic lupus erythematosus. 

Elderly people often fail to develop sufficient antibody response to vaccination. For a vaccine to work, the immune system has to generate an immune response to the vaccine. This immune response involves the production of antibodies that recognize a specific antigen on the cell of a virus or bacterium, which directs the immune system to destroy the disease-causing organism. A study in elderly volunteers showed that 100 mg a day of DHEA markedly enhanced the antibody response to the influenza vaccine. In influenza epidemics, 80-90% of mortality occurs in people over age 64. While influenza vaccines can be highly effective in young adults, 30-50% of the elderly fail to generate protective immunity. Elderly people who take an annual flu shot may want to consider taking 50 mg of DHEA daily at least two days before vaccination to help the vaccine induce an immune response. 

 DHEA has been shown to protect against heart disease and atherosclerosis. A new study using coronary artery angiography showed that low DHEA levels are a significant risk factor for coronary artery disease. Another new study showed that DHEA inhibits abnormal blood platelet aggregation, a factor in the development of atherosclerosis, sudden heart attack and stroke. 

DHEA DOSING AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
A DHEAS (dihydroepiandrosterone sulfate) blood test should be taken 3-6 weeks after beginning DHEA therapy to help determine optimal dosing. Some people neglect to test their blood levels for DHEA and wind up chronically taking the wrong dose. When having your blood tested for DHEA, blood should be drawn three to four hours after the last dose. DHEA testing may save you money if it shows that you can take less DHEA to maintain youthful DHEA serum levels.

The standard blood test to evaluate DHEA status is one that measures DHEAS. The DHEAS is calculated in micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL) of blood. 

The youthful ranges of DHEAS are   as follows:

Men

400-560

Women

350-430

  People over age 40, who do not supplement with DHEA, usually have serum levels below 200, and many are below 100. Chronic DHEA deficiency is a risk factor for developing the degenerative diseases of aging according to the preponderance of evidence existing in the scientific literature.
 

Some people obtain a baseline DHEAS blood test before beginning DHEA replacement therapy, however, based upon numerous DHEA blood tests evaluated by The Life Extension Foundation, anyone over age 40 who does not supplement DHEA is already deficient in serum DHEA. Therefore, it may be more economical to have the first DHEA blood test 3-6 weeks after initiating DHEA replacement therapy. There are precautions that should be observed that are different for men and women.