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20 October 2006
DHEA’s Anti-Aging Properties “Quackery” 
A supplement said to have anti-aging properties has no effect on muscle strength, peak endurance, muscle mass or fat mass, say Mayo Clinic researchers. Their two year study into DHEA's alleged anti-aging properties has just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is marketed extensively as an anti-aging supplement in health and grocery stores, with claims that it can reverse age-related alterations in body composition and function. But the study's lead author, K. Sreekumaran Nair, said that after two years of boosting DHEA levels in the test subjects, no beneficial effects were observed. The new findings contradict some previous studies that showed a beneficial effect from DHEA. But Dr. Nair says the earlier studies were done over shorter periods of time and didn't involve a large enough group of subjects. Additionally, Mayo's new study was strengthened because it was a double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, he claimed. DHEA's role as an antiaging supplement, says Dr. Nair, stems in part because high levels of DHEA have been associated with longevity in non-human test subjects. But studies involving rodents aren't applicable to humans, as rodents have very low levels of DHEA, he added. Dr. Nair advises elderly people using DHEA to stop, because it is unlikely to offer any anti-aging effect. Going even further, Paul Stewart, of the University of Birmingham, suggests that DHEA should no longer be accepted as a food supplement, and should instead be treated as a regulated drug. "Appropriate regulation would dispel much of the quackery associated with this elusive hormone," said Dr. Stewart. Source: Mayo Clinic
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