FEEL YOUNGER AND SEXIER WITH THIS AMAZING Nutrient

What is DHEA?

According to biochemist Dr. Norman Applezweig, DHEA de-excites the body's aging processes and the diseases of aging caused by runaway production of nucleic acids, fats and hormones. DHEA regulates their production and thereby slows down aging.

Maintaining levels equivalent to those found in youth ensures energy, vitality and the natural support of most functions that involve our endocrine system. Supplementing DHEA to youthful levels has anti-aging, anti-obesity and anti-cancer influences. In addition, it is known to stabilize nerve-cell growth and is being tested in Alzheimer's patients.

Supplementation of DHEA has been tested in laboratory conditions with very encouraging results. DHEA is difficult to obtain in natural food sources unlike vitamins and minerals. It is simply not there. But today, pharmaceutical-grade DHEA is available. without a prescription.

Drs. Regelson, Kalimi and Loria stated in the introductory remarks, "DHEA modulates diabetes, obesity, carcinogenesis, tumor growth, neurite outgrowth, virus and bacterial infection, stress, pregnancy, hypertension, collagen and skin integrity, fatigue, depression, memory and immune responses."

DHEA appears unique among hormones. Just as vitamin E does not have a specific metabolic role (it is only proven essential as a general antioxidant), DHEA may serve an equally general purpose. "DHEA is the first example of a buffer action for hormones that I know of," states William Regelson. "It is a broad-acting hormone that only demonstrates itself under a specific set of circumstances. In that way, it is like a buffer against sudden changes in acidity or alkalinity. That is why when you get older, you're much more vulnerable to the effects of stress. As DHEA declines with age, you are losing the buffer against the stress-related hormones. It is the buffer action that [helps prevent] us from aging." The decrease of DHEA with age results in gradual decline in suppression of enzyme systems responsible for creating the building blocks of new cells, like lipids, nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) and sex steroids. The rise in enzymatic activity in advanced age may be responsible for the proliferative events (cancer) and degenerative disease that increase with advanced age. In this respect, DHEA is best considered an anti-hormone, to "de-excite" steroid-sensitive receptors that otherwise lead to enhanced metabolic activity.

 Media Stories on DHEA

Consumers Digest, "The Truth About  Anti-Aging Products" by Ruth Winter, v35, n3, p. 20-24, May/June 1999

"DHEA may help improve well-being and reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease."

"Most people produce plentiful amounts of DHEA until they reach age 30, at which point DHEA’s production begins to fall gradually. In a 1986 study, Samuel Yen [M.D., an endocrinologist at the medical shcool of the University of California at San Diego] and a colleaguefound a correlation between low DHEA levels and death from cardiovascular disease... The researchers concluded that the restoration of DHEA was associated with a ‘remarkable increase in perceived physical and psychological well-being’ defined as ‘the ability to cope, increased mobility, less joint pain and sounder sleep.’"

"There seems to be a gender difference, and DHEA effects seem to be more pronounced in men. Administration of DHEA to animals has produced tantalizing results. In rodents, DHEA has reversed Type II diabetes, the kind that usually appears in overweight, middle-aged humans. DHEA has also been shown in rodents to inhibit cancer of the lung, breast, and skin, promote weight loss by increasing metabolism and suppressing appetite, improve memory and decrease stress. Elderly men and women taking DHEA became more responsive to influenza vaccines, suggesting that the hormone could improve immunity."

"There is a strong potential for side effects. There are indications that it might cause liver problems. DHEA is a precursor for estrogen and testosterone, and excess amounts of these hormones derived from DHEA may be linked to increased risk for breast and prostate cancers. High testosterone levels in women can lead to excessive facial hair growth and changes in blood fats which increase the risk for heart disease."

"Experimental evidence that DHEA benefits mice that spontaneously develop a lupus-like disease, coupled with the observation that DHEA levels are abnormally low in patients with lupus, led researchers James McGuire and Ronald F. Van Vollenhoven to test the hormone in 57 women with lupus. The women took 50-200 mg of oral DHEA every day for 3-12 months. About two-thirds reported some relief of symptoms including rashes, joint pain, headaches, and fatigue. Most participants said both their ability to concentrate and their tolerance for exercise improved, according to Dr. McGuire, chief of staff at Stanford University Hospital, and Dr. Van Vollenhoven, assistant professor of immunology and rheumatology at Stanford."

Limiting burn damage: "Bad burns are 'chemical chain reactions,' according to immunologist Barbara A. Araneo, associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah Medical School. She has been evaluating DHEA’s effects on thermal burns covering 50-60% of the skin surface of anesthesized laboratory mice. 'When given DHEA shortly after a burn, the mice heal incredibly quickly and well,' said Dr. Araneo. In humans, as in animals, the ultimate extent of a burn is not immediately apparent. Damage evolves over time, as the cells that were burned directly stir up an inflammatory process that damages surrounding tissues in several ways. One problem is reduction of blood flow to the periphery of the burn, another is that severe burns can suppress immune function and create an opportunity for dangerous infections. When DHEA is given within three hours of a burn it 'preserves immune function in severely thermally injured mice,' Dr. Araneo said."

"The outlook for this research is brighter than ever before. Says Dr. Schwartz, 'DHEA was in the realm of the quacks for a long time, which kept a lot of reputable scientists out of the field. But today there’s too much good work going on to ignore."

Newsweek, "Super-Hormone Therapy: Can It Keep Men Young?" by Geoffrey Cowley, p. 68-75, September 16, 1999.

"Right now, a likelier tonic [than testosterone] for the masses is DHEA... Both males and females produce DHEA in their adrenal glands, males at a slightly higher level. Like testosterone, it floods out bodies during early adulthood but dwindles as we age. And because it helps fuel the production of sex hormones - particularly testosterone - it can have similar (though milder) effects. Proponents believe that maintaining youthful DHEA levels can improve mood, memory, energy, and libido, while preserving lean body mass and countering the effects of stress hormones.

"In test-tube and animal studies, scientists have found preliminary evidence that the hormone can protect and strengthen the immune system (by holding stress hormones in check), forestall diabetes (by normalizing the production of insulin), enhance learning and memory by stimulating brain-cell development) and help control obesity (by inhibiting fat formation). Researchers are only beginning to pin down DHEA's effects in humans. In small studies, people taking moderate doses have reported many benefits and few side effects (women taking excessive doses sometimes develop acne and facial hair). But as with testosterone, the long-term risks and rewards remain uncertain."

The author bulks up: "...[I] soon noticed that I was lifting more weight with less effort. Last week, after 30 days of treatment, I had my weight and body composition measured, and I could hardly believe what the trainer told me. In just one month, I had put on another six pounds. ...According to the skin-fold calipers, my fat level was down from last year's 7 percent, to just 5.4. ...I realize that my experiment had roughly the scientific merit of a toothpaste commercial... but I think I'll stick with this stuff."