It’s been called the fountain of youth hormone, and despite all the hype about DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), research shows healthy DHEA levels, and maybe DHEA supplements could actually be a part of the equation to help you create a long, healthy life.
We do know that the human body’s natural production of DHEA deteriorates as we age. “In fact, DHEA levels may fall by as much as 90 percent between the ages of 20 and 90,” says Allen Josephs, M.D., author of Natural Cures.
Think of it like a wind-up toy running down. It’s an apt comparison, since as DHEA levels fall, energy levels decrease and we begin to experience the fatigue, aches and [pains and general lack of energy many of us associate with “just getting older.”
DHEA is manufactured by the adrenal glands, those walnut sized glands that sit on top of the kidneys and do so many things, including regulating our responses to stress. It’s also produced by the skin and brain and, in men, the prostate gland, in smaller amounts.
The primary sex glands, the ovaries or the testes do not produce DHEA, but when DHEA is secreted into the bloodstream in its sulfate form (DHEAS), it helps your body produce estrogen and/or testosterone as needed.
Of course, none of us will live forever, but there is compelling evidence that people with the highest DHEA levels in their blood have lower death rates and that it can reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer and obesity, all risk factors in an early death.
Heart disease
Low blood levels of DHEA have been associated with heart disease in older men and women.
Italian research showed that a small group of men who took DHEA supplements were able to lower their total cholesterol and their LDL (bad) cholesterol by taking 50 mg. of DHEA daily for two months.
Cancer
More than 30 years ago, Temple University’s earliest animal research showed DHEA could almost completely wipe out cancerous tumors in middle-aged mice and even eliminate as many as 75% of the skin, lung, bowel breast and liver cancers to which the animals were exposed.
Recent research suggests that those protective effects can cross over into humans, at least in some cases. A 2006 study from Quebec’s Universite Laval shows that DHEA-based treatments for prostate cancer can prolong life and even offer a 90 percent hope of a cure for men with the disease. And a new Japanese study shows that DHEA effectively helps shrink cancerous tumors.
Overall Mortality
The best news about DHEA is its ability to help increase the human lifespan. In a study of elderly men and women, UCLA researchers included DHEA in a list of long-life substances. Low levels of DHEA acted almost as a crystal ball to predict serious health problems and even death in the study’s participants over a 12-year period.
A French study went a little further, saying low DHEA levels predict an early death for elderly men who are smokers.
Weight control
Sadly for those of us who struggle with our weight, the early promise of DHEA in animal studies appears not to apply to humans.
Scientists at the University of Rochester in New York gave a small group of healthy men huge doses (1,600 mg) of DHEA daily for four weeks, but found it had no effect on their weight.
However, it is interesting that Japanese research shows approximately half of the women with low thyroid function had low DHEA levels, and it’s important to remember that weight gain is one of the most common symptoms of low thyroid function, so we may have more to learn.
The question of supplementation
While there is a great deal of research on DHEA and there seems to be little question that low DHEA levels in humans can predict numerous health problems, there are still widely varying opinions about the effectiveness of taking DHEA as a long life supplement.
One problem is that many of the studies used extremely large amounts (such as the 1600 mg. used in the above-mentioned weight loss study). These amounts are not recommended for most people and many doctors recommend a blood test to determine your DHEA levels before you consider taking a supplement.
Dr. Josephs recommends 5 to 15 mg of DHEA daily for women and 25 to 50 mg for men.
In any case, talk to a knowledgeable healthcare professional before you take this or any supplement.
