Dhea Recent NEWS

“DHEA gives you energy and makes you feel stronger, more focused, and even happier. These benefits at this point are already well documented.”

Dr. Regelson
Author The Super-Hormone Promise

for more detailed research see medical studies on DHEA

MONDAY, February 7, 2005

OVER-THE-COUNTER SUPPLEMENT APPEARS EFFECTIVE IN TREATMENT OF MIDLIFE-ONSET DEPRESSION

The over-the-counter hormonal therapy known as DHEA may be an effective treatment of midlife-onset minor and major depression, according to a study in the February issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), an adrenal androgen and neurosteroid is available as a supplement in the U.S.

DHEA has been previously reported to have antidepressant-like effects. ( also see dhea & deppresion )

The current study was designed to evaluate DHEA as a treatment for depression with a midlife onset.

Peter J. Schmidt, M.D., from the Behavioral Endocrinology Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Md. and colleagues, evaluated 23 men and 23 women aged 45 to 65 with midlife onset major or minor depression of moderate severity. They were randomly assigned to either receive six weeks of DHEA therapy, three weeks each of two dosages, or six weeks of placebo treatment. Following the six weeks of DHEA therapy and a period of one or two weeks without any therapy, the treatment groups were reversed. The participants in the study were evaluated at three and six weeks during the treatment phases with standard measures of depression and a sexual functioning scale.

A 50 percent or greater reduction in the baseline of their score on a depression rating scale was observed in 23 patients after DHEA and in 13 patients after placebo. Six weeks of DHEA treatment was associated with significant improvements in measures of depression and sexual functioning compared to both baseline and six weeks of placebo treatment, the researchers found.

In conclusion the authors write, "At present, there are no predictors of response, and with a 50 percent response rate one would obviously select more reliable first-line treatments for this condition. However, in the 50 percent of depressed outpatients who do not respond to first-line antidepressant treatment, or in those unwilling to take traditional antidepressants, DHEA may have a useful role in the treatment of mild to moderately severe midlife-onset major and minor depression."

press release JAMA/Archives Feb 2005

Despite all the info on the benefits of Dhea for women and men; it is important to note that there are some Dhea dangers that you should be aware off. Also we do not recommend taking over 25mg a day unless closely monitoring your dhea blood levels on a regular basis. (see Dhea dosage levels)The latest research seems to show that to maximize your benefits from dhea and other hormones, it is best to take small doses of several natural hormones. This is mainly because hormones interact with each other, and if you are only boosting one this may effect your production of other hormones.

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