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Anti-Aging and DHEA
DHEA may offer some benefit to individuals in terms of aging. Restoring
DHEA levels to young adult values seems to benefit the age-related decline
in physiological functions.
It
should be clear that maintaining a lifelong high DHEA /low cortisol ratio is
a key anti-aging strategy. And the simplest way to maintain high blood
levels of DHEA from the 30's onwards is through DHEA supplementation.
As part
of a comprehensive approach to fighting the diseases of aging, people should
monitor their blood levels of DHEA and strive to reproduce hormone levels of
a healthy 21-year-old. Fortunately, DHEA is well tolerated as a supplement,
with only minimal side effects even at relatively high doses.
Restoring DHEA levels to young adult values seems to benefit the age-related
decline in physiological functions.
Clinical Studies
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New Study Connects Aging and DHEA Levels in Men
New Study Reveals Compelling News about the Importance of DHEA
Conducted in southwestern Japan over a 27-year period, the Tanushimaru
Study, as it’s commonly known, analyzed the link between longevity and
levels of blood serum dehydropiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), the sulfated
form of DHEA. The largest and longest study of its kind to date, it
tracked 940 subjects, aged 21 to 88, beginning with a baseline study
in
1978. The participants received a complete physical exam, which included a
measure of their serum DHEAS levels. Researchers continued to follow these
subjects until the end of 2005.
Even after adjusting for factors like age, blood pressure and glucose
levels, the study found a strong correlation between DHEAS levels and
mortality risk in men. Men who began the study with DHEAS levels under 129
mcg/dL had about a 25% death rate, while the men with DHEAS levels over
200 mcg/dL had a death rate of less than 9%.
So if there is a link between DHEAS levels and longevity in men, why was
the Tanushimaru Study the first such study to discover it? The researchers
found that the benefits of higher DHEAS levels weren’t apparent until 15
years after the baseline study. And since all previous studies were
shorter, that may explain why the Tanushimaru Study was the first study to
find this link.
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In his recent book The Anti-Aging Zone, B.
Sears declared age-related increases in insulin levels/insulin resistance
to be
the chief "pillar of aging." Similarly, Dilman and Dean in their
masterpiece The Neuroendocrine Theory of Aging and Degenerative Disease
also consider age-related derangements of insulin /glucose metabolism to
be a chief culprit of aging and degenerative disease. A growing body of
evidence indicates DHEA has a significant role to play in reducing
age-related increases in insulin levels, insulin resistance, and blood
glucose.
In 1995 Jakubowicz, Beer and Rengifo reported their results from
a 30 day double blind, placebo controlled study with 22 men (mean age:
57), using 100 mg DHEA nightly. Serum insulin decreased from 35.3 to 25.8
mU/ml, while serum glucose declined from 93.4 to 88.9 mg/ml. Serum insulin
and glucose did not change significantly in the placebo group.
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In 1996 a group led by C. Berr and E.E. Baulieu
(the pioneer of DHEA research) published their epidemiological results
from a 4 year study of 622 subjects over 65 years of age living in a small
community in France. Among the 356 women assessed, lack of limitation in
activities of daily living, lack of confinement to bed or home, lack of
dyspnea [shortness of breath], lack of depressive symptoms, self-perceived
good health, general life satisfaction and low medication use were all
statistically significantly correlated with high mean levels of DHEA-S.
Among men (266) only self-perceived good health and low medication use
were statistically correlated with high mean DHEA-S levels. Clearly, for
the elderly women of this study, high (natural) levels of DHEA-S were
strongly correlated with well-being and quality of life.
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Preliminary study suggests the possibility of
using DHEA topically as an anti-skin aging agent.
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