DHEA: The Mother Hormone
From Holistic Health News - written by Ray Gebauer
What single weakness would you guess that aging, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, os teoporosis, and chronic fatigue have in common? According to Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health and Healing Newsletter (Feb. 1994), having low blood levels of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is the common factor! He concludes that DHEA is the "closest we can get today to the Fountain of Youth."
DHEA, produced by your adrenal glands, is the most dominant hormone in your body. Dr. William Regelson, the most noted of DHEAresearchers, calls it the "mother hormone," because your body converts it upon demand into whatever hormone the body needs, such as estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and adrenaline.
Blood levels of DHEApeak around age 20. It is the only hormone that declines in a linear fashion in both sexes, making it one of the most reliable markers of aging. Levels fall to 0-5% the last year of life! Its decline signals age-related diseases. According to Dr. Deepak Chopra, in his best selling book, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, the more stress you have, the lower your blood levels of DHEA are!
There have been over 40,000 studies and articles on DHEA. In one 22-year study on 5,000 appar ently healthy women, it was discovered that all women whose DHEA(blood) levels were less than 10% of the expected level for their age group died of breast cancer! These same women had subnor mal DHEA levels up to nine years before their cancer was diagnosed. All women with higher than average DHEAlevels remained cancer free! In a subsequent study, DHEAwas given to rats geneti cally bred to always develop breast cancer. Amazingly, DHEA blocked it 100% of the time.
Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, M.D., from the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the University of California School of Medicine, tracked DHEAlevels in 242 men aged 50 to 79 for twelve years. She found that a 48% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 36% reduction in mortality from any cause was correlated to a 100 microgram per deciliter increase in DHEA sulfate blood levels. In the New England Journal of Medicine , she concluded that DHEAseems to protect against early death from any cause.
A 1988 study was done at John Hopkins in which rabbits with severe atherosclerosis were treated with DHEA. They had an almost 50% reduction in plaque size. Arthur Schwartz, a researcher at Temple University in Philadelphia, found that DHEAblocks the enzyme called G6PD so it cannot promote cancer cell division or cause fat production. "There isn't any question," Schwartz says, "DHEA is a very effective anti-obesity agent." In mice, it gives almost a 50% reduction in excess fat, according to Norman Applezweig of Progenics, Inc.
In fact, DHEAappears to be the first substance that when laboratory tested, caused the loss of fat (instead of weight loss due to the breakdown of primary lean muscle tissue or fluid loss) without changing eating habits. DHEA helps the body to produce lean muscle tissue. Calories are simply converted to heat rather than stored as fat.
In the January 1994 issue of Health Revelations , Dr. Robert Atkins states "DHEA shows every sign of becoming an important treatment for diabetes." Dr. Alan Gaby cites the strong association between low DHEA levels and bone loss in post-menopausal women. Dr. Whitaker states that DHEA's effec tiveness against so many age related diseases is consistent with its anti-aging properties. He states, "I can not imagine practicing medicine without it."
Dr. Kenneth Bonnet, a research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, describes detailed testing with a 47 year old woman with lifelong multiple learning disabilities and low levels of memory retention. Within just one week of low doses of DHEA, the patient reported feeling an increase in clear thinking and ability to remember.
After one month, a higher dose of DHEA was given to the woman. Testing showed more advanced ability to recall, with long term memory increasing. Also, for the first time in her 47 years of life, she was able to begin and continue to run a small business!
Unfortunately, until January 1994, DHEA has been available only by prescription in a synthetic form. The problem has been that taking any naturally occurring DHEA was ineffective due to break down in the digestive track. This challenge has now been overcome with the development of Proteusterone, an all-natural DHEA precursor complex (from Mexican yams) with a proprietary delivery system that allows for proper absorption.
Personally, I've been very surprised and impressed with my own results. People typically experience increased energy and sex drive, handling stress better, less irritability and depression, and feeling younger. One friend already looks years younger and lost 40 pounds and 12 inches in the waist in just four months (With no dietary changes.)
Another friend had a hysterectomy last June. She had been extremely miserable ever since, having elected to forgo the use of estrogen due to the increased risk of cancer. Within 2 weeks of using the all-natural DHEA precursor complex, her severe night sweats, hot flashes, and other symptoms disappeared!
I'm thankful that this product is finally readily available to everyone. People often feel a difference the first day (as I did), but the long term benefits are immeasurable. Americans are already spending millions to appear younger; now they can do something rather inexpensively that can actually make them look, feel, and be younger (and happier), and possibly live longer too!