October 2006

DHEA study: No magic anti-aging pill

DHEA, used by many individuals to fight aging, has little value in preventing age-related bone and muscle changes, according to research published Oct. 19, 2006, in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But the published study holds some promise, according the Andrew Shao, PhD, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs of the Council of Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

“This is the longest duration human supplementation trial confirming the safety of relatively high-dose DHEA in both men and women, and we are encouraged by those results, particularly because there is a need for safe bone builders in this age group,” said Shao.

The study evaluated a group of 87 men older than 60 and 7 women older than 60 over a two-year period. The people chosen in the study all had low DHEA levels prior to the study.

According to the Mayo Clinic researchers, who conducted the study, taking DHEA raised the participants’ DHEA to high-normal levels. But, those higher levels did not result in significant body-composition measurements, peak volume of oxygen consumed per minute, muscle strength, or glucose tolerance. No major adverse effects were observed, either.

Shao said that the study also showed a significant increase in testosterone levels in DHEA; a significant increase in bone-mineral density (BMD)at the femoral neck in men; and a significant increased in bone-mineral density in women at the ultradistal radius.

Shao also indicated in a press release that the study had its limitations:

• The authors downplay the effects observed on bone mineral density in comparison to those achieved by prescription drugs;

• They failed to report the reduction in fracture rate that would be associated with the observed BMD improvement;

• The study’s scoring on quality of life left little or no room to indicate an improvement;

• Researchers did not look at other clinically relevant outcomes in which DHEA has been shown to provide benefit, such as libido and sexual performance.

Source: The Mayo Clinic, www.mayoclinic.com; Council for Responsible Nutrition, www.crnusa.org

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