Dr. Mercola April 26 2003 1,674 views
DHEA, a steroid-like supplement version of a naturally occurring hormone that is often promoted as an anti-aging solution, does not appear to fight Alzheimer’s disease, according to a preliminary study.
Previous studies have found the artificial hormone DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) to be helpful for some patients with the autoimmune disease lupus.
The hormone reaches its highest levels in the body during a person’s 20s, and scientists have questioned whether it could play a role in sustaining mental abilities.
It is not known how DHEA functions in the brain, but preliminary studies in mice have suggested that the hormone may increase memory.
However, the current study found that DHEA did not statistically improve mental function among a group of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
The study involved 28 men and women with Alzheimer’s disease who took 50 milligrams of DHEA two times each day and another 30 individuals who took a placebo.
Researchers note that many participants dropped out during the study, possibly in search of other medications, leaving 19 people in the DHEA group and 14 in the control group at the end of the study.
After three months, there were small improvements in mental functioning among participants in the DHEA group, however the finding was not statistically significant, meaning that it might have been due to chance.
Researchers concluded that more studies are needed to determine whether or not DHEA is helpful for people with Alzheimer's disease.
Neurology April 8, 2003;60:1060-1061,1071-1076
No surprise here. DHEA is a natural hormone and may benefit some people when used appropriately, but there are many challenges to its effective use.
I played around with salivary testing and using DHEA and the other hormones in my practice, but I was never impressed with their usefulness.
It was rare when I saw remarkable improvement in someone taking it. In retrospect, the reason for this is quite obvious.
In my experience, most of the time adrenal hormones like DHEA are disturbed it is due to impairment of the adrenal glands.
Adrenal hormones like DHEA, pregnenolone, testosterone or even adrenal glandular products can be used to improve them, but while these products may work they really are very similar to drugs in that they are only treating the symptoms. They are not treating the cause of the problem, which is typically impaired adrenals.
So what causes the adrenals to go south?
Occasionally it will be due to elements of diet, such as high intake of sugar or processed foods, or, less commonly, it could be due to an infection or heavy metal exposure. Typically though it is due to stress.
So most commonly the effective strategy in addressing impaired adrenals involves helping the body resolve emotional stresses. There are many ways that you can improve such stress, but in my experience EFT appears to be one of the most effective treatments for stress.
You can do this technique yourself with my free, 25-page manual, but more than likely you will benefit from an experienced EFT practitioner. Gary Craig has a list of EFT Practitioner Referrals from the United States and the world. Many of these therapists even offer a free 15-minute phone session in which you can ask them questions to see if you connect.
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