by Elmer M. Cranton, M.D.

Link to a more recent article by Dr. Cranton

Recent medical research shows that DHEA (short for DeHydroEpiAndrosterone), when taken by mouth as a nutritional supplement, can improve health and well being and prevent premature aging. DHEA has been hailed by some health care professionals on the leading edge of medicine as an "Anti-Aging Hormone."

By taking DHEA as a supplement from middle age into old age, it is possible to bring DHEA levels in the body up to those levels normally present in healthy young adults. In the process, many aspects of youthful vitality can be restored. DHEA is a totally natural substance that is normally present in the body. Restoring DHEA to normal levels is very safe and beneficial.

Conditions reported to improve with DHEA include: chronic fatigue, allergies, chemical sensitivities, osteoporosis, obesity, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, liver disorders, adrenal exhaustion, impaired immunity, arthritis, lupus erythematosis, recurrent infections, chronic viral infections, herpes, Epstein-Barr syndrome, AIDS, menopause, depression, heart disease, atherosclerosis, memory loss, senility, Alzheimer's syndrome, cancer, and symptoms of premature aging. According to many reports, life span is lengthened, aging is slowed, and quality of life is improved. Cognitive brain function improves and intelligence increases. DHEA increases the number of neurons (brain cells) and expands the network of neural connections.

Many reports of benefits from DHEA are anecdotal, without statistical proof from research studies, but a growing number of well-designed scientific studies do lend credence to such claims. Some research has been performed using laboratory animals and has not yet been proven to apply directly to humans. Nonetheless, DHEA is very safe substance, if used properly, and this growing body of scientific evidence supports its safety as well as its routine supplementation in adults.

Normal blood levels of DHEA-sulfate (DHEA-S) in healthy young adults vary between approximately 3 to 4 micrograms per milliliter. Up to 8 micrograms per milliliter appears to be quite safe, and is the upper limit found naturally in vigorous young people. People with chronic fatigue, people under stress, people with chronic illness of any type, and older people often have levels as low as 0.1 to 0.5.

Research at the University of California Medical School shows that for every one microgram per milliliter increase in blood level of DHEA-S, achieved by supplementing by mouth with capsules, death from all causes was diminished by 36%. These results were reported in a study of 242 men between 50 and 70 years old. A 48% decrease in death rate from atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease was reported in the DHEA-treated patients.

In another long-term study of 5,000 women it was found that DHEA levels fell drastically up to nine years before the development of breast cancer. The highest risk factor for cancer was low levels of DHEA. DHEA has been shown to enhance immunity, prevent cancer, and prolong life in laboratory animals.

In another medical school study, 31 elderly people with memory loss were given DHEA by mouth daily for 3 months. There were no side effects and, when compared with similar patients who received only a placebo, those receiving DHEA performed better on tests of metal function and memory.

In other clinical studies, low levels of DHEA were found to be valid predictors of heart attacks. It is not yet fully understood why so many diseases occur when DHEA declines, but it is becoming increasingly clear that supplementation to restore DHEA to normal, youthful levels may be very beneficial.

DHEA is a naturally-occurring substance and is quite safe when taken in doses not exceeding 50 mg per day for women and 100 mg per day for men. In earlier research studies the doses of DHEA were very high, up to 3,000 mg per day, but with minimal side effects nevertheless. Some practitioners routinely give up to 200 mg per day without any problems. It is only necessary to restore DHEA to levels normally present when young to achieve optimal benefit.

Most doctors know very little about DHEA. There is no patent and therefore no large company will market it. Nutritional supplement companies compound the pure powder into capsules. The cost is very low.

There are herbal products on the market promoted to contain DHEA. But plants do not contain any DHEA. The plant substances marketed as precursors do not have any measurable effect on DHEA levels in the body. Cholesterol is the primary DHEA precursor and if the body had an ability to make adequate DHEA it would only be necessary to eat an egg each day. It is the process of making DHEA from its precursors in food that seems to decline with age and illness.

To test the effectiveness of any DHEA supplement, including non-prescription herbal products, it is only necessary to measure blood levels of DHEA before starting and again after a week or two of daily use. To date, all herbal, Mexican yam, and other plant products tested have not resulted in any measurable increase in blood levels of DHEA. Only pure DHEA in capsule form has thus far been effective.

To understand DHEA and its functions, it is helpful to first have a general understanding of the seven major glandular centers in the body and their interrelated actions.

The endocrine glands release tiny amounts of hormones into the blood stream, which govern cellular activity in all cells and organs of the body. Those glands are mainly centered in seven anatomical locations. The lowest and first set of glands produces the sex hormones. They also make the sperm and ovum for reproduction. Sex hormones are made from a steroid nucleus, which comes from DHEA, which in turn comes from cholesterol. Without cholesterol we would be deficient in many vital hormones. Cholesterol is necessary and is unjustly maligned.

In addition to causing anatomical and functional differences between males and females, the sex hormones are also potent anabolic steroids. In other words, they support protein synthesis, bone structure, skin tone, muscle strength, neural networks in the brain, and many aspects of strength and vitality. The sex hormones include estrogen and progesterone in women and testosterone in men, although women make some male hormones and men make some female hormones in much smaller amounts.

Moving upwards in the body, the second level of hormone production is in the uterus of women and the prostate gland of men. Those areas are closely related to the sex hormones. During pregnancy, the uterus produces massive amounts of progesterone and also estrogen. The prostate produces various constituents of semen and also contains a tiny vestige of a uterus that never develops further in men.

The third area of hormone production is just below the waist and includes the adrenal glands on the left and right and the pancreas in the center, associated with a large plexus of nerves. The core of the adrenal glands produce adrenaline, the fight-and-flight hormone. On the outer layer or cortex, the adrenal glands produce a variety of steroid hormones, using DHEA as a raw material. Those hormones include aldosterone, which preserves minerals in the body, and cortisone, which controls immune responses and also affects energy and mineral metabolism. The adrenal glands also make both male and female sex hormones, but in much lower amounts than the reproductive organs.

It is primarily in the adrenal cortex that cholesterol is made into DHEA. DHEA then becomes the source for all other adrenal cortical hormones as well as sex hormones in the reproductive organs. DHEA is thus a vital raw material for hormone production. DHEA declines steadily with age in everyone. From age 20 onward, production of DHEA decreases until at age 80 only ten percent or so of earlier levels persist. Because many benefits experienced from taking DHEA supplementation by mouth are unique, and cannot be attributed to the other hormones which are made from DHEA, DHEA itself has been shown to have direct effects on the body, not just as a raw material.

DHEA production varies widely from person to person. Some people seem to maintain youthful levels into later life while some young people exhaust their adrenals and become deficient in DHEA at a young age. Chronic illness or major stress depletes DHEA at a younger age.

When taken by mouth, DHEA is rapidly absorbed into the circulation and converted to its storage form DHEA-S. DHEA levels themselves fluctuate widely during the day and from day to day, depending on stress levels and the need to manufacture other hormones. DHEA is stored in a reservoir of DHEA-Sulfate (abbreviated DHEA-S), which remains relatively constant from day to day. DHEA-S blood levels therefore reflect the overall adequacy of DHEA. Measurements of DHEA-S in blood are used as the most reliable indicator of DHEA metabolism. Saliva and urine have also been used but are not as reliable.

The fourth hormone-producing center, moving further up in the body, is in the chest, behind the heart. This called the thymus gland. The thymus controls the body's immunity. A type of white blood cell, called a lymphocyte, is produced and stimulated by the thymus to make antibodies and to recognize and destroy disease-causing viruses, bacteria, funguses, yeast, parasites, and other undesirable substances which are foreign to the body. The thymus produces hormones and other factors which in turn cause white blood cells to clean up and dispose of unwanted invaders and potential toxins.

The thymus gland is the size of a plum in adolescence. At puberty it begins to shrink and eventually becomes the size of a small raisin in old age. Resistance to infection and other aspects of youthful vitality diminish with this decrease in the thymus gland. DHEA slows and partially reverses the loss of thymus activity in later adulthood.

Higher up in the body we come to the fifth glandular area, the thyroid. Thyroid hormone controls production of energy in cells, as fuel from food and stored fat is combined with oxygen to release chemical energy for metabolism; including growth, healing, warmth, movement, strength, circulation, and brain function. Thyroid sometimes diminishes with age and levels are easily measured in the laboratory. Thyroid can be replaced by mouth with natural thyroid extracts, which are only available by prescription.

The sixth glandular level is the pineal, which makes melatonin from serotonin for proper sleep and dreams. Melatonin is converted to other substances in the brain, which are important for visualization and imagination. Melatonin has recently been shown to be an effective free-radical scavenger, an anti-oxidant, and slows and prevents premature aging and cancer.

The master gland at the seventh level is called the pituitary. The pituitary is an extension of the hypothalamus, at the base of the midbrain. The hypothalamus signals the pituitary to release tiny amounts of many different controlling hormones, which in turn affect the hormone output of the six lower glandular centers described above. TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) from the pituitary governs output of the thyroid gland. ACTH (Adrenal Cortical Stimulating Hormone) governs output of specific adrenal cortical hormones by the adrenal gland. Other pituitary hormones regulate production of sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone), and control the monthly female reproductive cycle.

Sensors in the hypothalamus detect circulating blood levels of the many specific hormones and signal the pituitary to turn up or turn down production by the lower centers as needed. This is much like the action of a thermostat upstairs sending a signal to the furnace on a lower level to produce more heat when the temperature drops. In fact, thyroid hormone does produce heat in the body and is controlled in exactly that way by the pituitary.

The pituitary also produces growth hormone (abbreviated HGH for Human Growth Hormone). HGH is another important anti-aging key hormone, which, like DHEA, declines steadily from adolescence to old age. Supplementation with growth hormone is another effective anti-aging treatment but must be given by injection on a doctor's prescription. HGH will be covered in more detail elsewhere.