Life Extension

DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is a naturally occurring steroid that is very abundant in young people. It begins to drop sharply as people age past 35. Life extensionists are utilizing DHEA supplements to help restore a youthful hormone balance in an effort to prevent disease and to maintain good health.

DHEA has been studied since the 1950s and in 1981 the Life Extension Foundation published an article promoting the anti-aging benefits. Several years later in 1996 the more mainstream New York Academy of Sciences published its findings on the correlation of DHEA and the aging process. The findings validated what the Life Extension group had been saying. Still DHEA is not widely embraced by most doctors. It is still an unregulated supplement.

DHEA functions in the body as a fundamental building block. It allows our bodies to create the hormones that are needed for many different functions. As people age, those hormone levels drastically decline. By taking a DHEA supplement, people hope to restore the basic environment that will allow the body to produce those hormones at higher levels like it once did. Both estrogen and testosterone production appear to be stimulated by the DHEA supplement.

Patients with many different diseases have been found to have low levels of DHEA. These diseases include chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, certain cancers, excessive body fat, heart disease, mental decline and osteoporosis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful condition that often strikes women as they age. It is a type of chronic inflammation caused by destructive chemicals in the body known as cytokines. DHEA has been shown to suppress these chemicals. Chronic inflammations are more than rheumatoid arthritis. They are also involved in atherosclerosis, cancer, heart valve dysfunction, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and Alzheimer's disease.

DHEA is also being studied as a virus and infection fighter. Because some scientists believer that a state of inflammation is needed for a patient with HIV to progress into full-blown AIDS. Because DHEA has anti-inflammatory properties it could play a major role in the fight against AIDS.

As a person ages the levels that control body mass decline and the person loses lean body mass and they can gain excessive fat. Studies of DHEA taken over a six month period by both men and women show an increase in the lean body mass and muscle strength.

DHEA is also shown to have a relationship with depression. While depression can and does strike people of all ages, it is frequently associated with elderly people. This may be due in part to reduced levels of DHEA in older people.

Studies are establishing the link between DHEA and better sleep. DHEA is found in high levels in the brains of younger people. As people get older they typically have trouble sleeping and getting the same quality of sleep as when they were younger. DHEA seems to be able to restore a better level of sleep.

DHEA can also play a role in the battle against cancer. Studies show that the DHEA gets in the way of the cancer cell and stops it from producing harmful enzymes. In cases where DHEA is applied directly to the skin, it is blocking cancer-causing agents from being able to attach to the skin.