DHEA: The mother hormone

If an antidote to aging exists, it may well be DHEA. Improved sex drive, enhanced immune function, renewed energy and stamina, brighter mood, keener memory – all have been attributed to replenishing a dwindling blood level of the ‘mother hormone’, so named because it is the source of all other sex and steroid hormones. The body makes DHEA (dehy- droepiandrosterone) from cholesterol, that infamous blood lipid so valued by me and so reviled by mainstream medicine. DHEA’s very presence is yet another example of our undeniable need for dietary cholesterol. Without an adequate amount, DHEA and its hormonal offspring would be in short supply.

When DHEA levels are less than optimal, health is less than optimal. By the time we’re seventy years old, we have just 10 per cent of what we had at twenty-five. As a truly remarkable body of research shows, it’s no coincidence that good health is associated with youth and a strong blood concentration of DHEA. I began to prescribe the hormone several years ago, and now more than half of my older patients take it.

The initial inspiration came from a University of California study, headed by Samuel Yen, MD Every day for three month, he gave either 50 mg of DHEA or a placebo to a small group of men and women who ranged in age from forty to seventy. Then, over the next three months, the groups were switched As it turned out, during the period of DHEA use, more than three-quarters of the men and women said they felt an extraordinary increase in general physical and psychological well-being. Arthritis discomfort improved, sleep was more restful and energy levels rose dramatically. Only 10 per cent felt better when taking what turned out to be the dummy supplements. In this sort of study, such statistical results involving the question of simply ‘feeling better’ are almost unprecedented.

Since I began to measure my patients’ DHEA levels, I’ve noticed several interesting correlations. One in particular stands out: my sickest patients, regardless of their afflictions, almost invariably had the lowest DHEA readings. Even younger patients who don’t respond well to specific therapies typically run a DHEA level far below what I expect for their age. Most important, though, the majority of all patients, young and old, begin to feel much better once supplementation restores DHEA to an optimal level.

Although the hormone elevates overall health and well-being, the medical literature and my own clinical patients’ outcomes point to several specific benefits, including the following:

Fatigue
One of the most common reasons doctors prescribe the mother hormone is to overcome fatigue. Our adrenal glands, increasingly overworked and exhausted as we age, secrete diminishing amounts of their hormones, including DHEA. Supplements, especially for people older than fifty, can revive energy levels in just a few days to a few weeks.

Immune Weakness
In lab experiments, researchers see that DHEA protects the immune system from some of the damage inflicted by stress and the stress-triggered release of cortisone and other glucocorticoids. It also bolsters certain components of the body’s natural self-defence system, including natural killer cells and T cells. What does this mean in practice? Well, for many of my patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS and other immune-crippling illnesses, DHEA readings are often very low before taking supplements, and correcting the deficit will, with similar consistency, strengthen immune function, relieve depression, boost energy and sharpen thinking.

Autoimmune Diseases
DHEA may regulate our internal defences in another way – when the immune system turns against the very body tissues it should protect. A six-month course of DHEA, in a daily dosage of 200 mg, markedly diminished symptoms of lupus for a small number of women involved in a study of the hormone. Because of the improvements, researchers were able to reduce the women’s medication dosages (always an objective because of the side effects from these immune-suppressing drugs).

Rheumatoid arthritis is another autoimmune ailment for which I prescribe DHEA. Most people who contend with the degenerative joint disease have lower than usual readings of the hormone.

Cancer
Little human research has been published on DHEA’s anticancer potential, but a lot of work is in progress, including studies in which up to 3,000 mg daily are given to patients with active cancer. People in their sixties face a cancer risk ten times higher than a twenty-year-old, and the decline in DHEA may be one of the explanations. Blood concentrations are lower in people with bladder cancer than in their cancer-free counterparts. Thus it would seem that DHEA is a good safeguard against many types of malignancies.
There is, however, one major exception: prostate cancer. DHEA can stimulate testosterone production, and the male hormone feeds prostatic tumours. Any man with prostate cancer or who has a high risk of prostate cancer should take DHEA supplements – but only when prescribed by a doctor who

1.  understands the risks and benefits,
2.  is willing to frequently monitor PSA blood levels (which measure prostate cancer risk).

Heart Disease
Cutting down on cholesterol consumption probably won’t reduce blood cholesterol, but it may inhibit DHEA production. Taking supplements of DHEA, though, may reduce a high cholesterol level. That’s just one way the hormone helps to prevent heart disease. It also thwarts blood clot formation and may encourage blood vessels to relax, which could lower high blood pressure. In men who have had a fatal heart attack, DHEA levels are notably depressed, as they are in men with narrowed arteries.

Weight Loss
Much of the excitement over DHEA in magazine and newspaper articles centres on its supposed ability to burn off body fat. Experiments on lab animals do show a drop in fat – but only if very high doses are taken. In my practice, DHEA’s performance in aiding weight loss has been unimpressive.

Low Libido
Although we still need clinical verification, the anecdotal evidence is in. DHEA rejuvenates sex drive in older adults, both men and women. Men with a decidedly low natural level seem to benefit the most, probably because the body uses DHEA to make testosterone. Perhaps more valuable in this regard is a metabolite of DHEA called andristeriedione, which serves as the immediate precursor of testosterone. It is able to raise blood levels of male hormone.

Mental Disturbances
As demonstrated by a four-week study of older adults who took 75 mg supplements daily, DHEA improves memory and brightens mood. It may also guard the brain against Alzheimer’s disease, but that research is so far inconclusive.

Blood Sugar Instability
Studies of people (not lab animals) are also sparse in this area. If the results of animal experiments apply to humans, supplements may improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which would help keep blood sugar in line.