DHEA under the microscope

[CF-OC_gal]

It doesn't mention the outcome for youth who use it but interesting none the less!
source

Study turns off tap for 'fountain of youth' hormone

The supplement DHEA is touted as a "fountain of youth" but it has no effect on muscle mass or strength, endurance or other markers of aging in elderly people, a new study finds.



"There's no evidence based on this study that DHEA has an anti-aging effect," concluded the study's lead author, Dr. Sreekumaran Nair, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
The body uses DHEA to make sex hormones. Based on limited human studies, DHEA is promoted as an anti-aging supplement, and high levels are linked with long life.
Studies on rodents also suggest anti-aging effects, but since the animals make little DHEA they may not be a suitable research model.
Nair's new, two-year study involved testing DHEA and testosterone supplements in 87 men and 57 women over the age of 60. Participants, who had low DHEA and testosterone levels when the study began, were randomly assigned to receive the supplements or a placebo.
Although the treatments did raise hormone levels, "treatment with neither DHEA nor testosterone had any detectable effect on physical performance, insulin sensitivity, or the physical and mental components of the quality of life," the researchers said.
Nair advised elderly people to stop using DHEA because it likely won't help them.
'Erroneous and misleading claims'
Giving men testosterone in the form of 5 mg supplements daily also showed no benefits, the researchers report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
Given the findings of the study and previous shorter ones that came to the same conclusion, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should start regulating the substance as a drug rather than as a food supplement, said Paul Stewart of the University of Birmingham in Britain.
"Online vendors extol DHEA as the 'fountain of youth,' with erroneous and misleading claims," Stewart wrote in a journal commentary.
The FDA has no requirements for the composition of supplements, and some commercial products contain 0 per cent of the amount stated on the package.
"Without a reversal of the current U.S. legislation, DHEA is likely to continue to be used inappropriately, and quackery will prevail."
There were no side-effects reported from testosterone, but the study was conducted in men without prostate problems, the team noted.
The Women's Health Initiative study of estrogen replacement in postmenopausal women "is a telling reminder that reversing an age-related endocrine deficit may actually cause more harm than good," Stewart cautioned.
That study concluded the hormone replacements slightly boosted the chances of developing breast cancer and coronary heart disease compared with a placebo.
Stewart called for more research on the safety of DHEA, saying it might lead to its reclassification as a drug instead of a supplement that is defined as causing no harm.

[Maxgain]

they forget to mention the DHEA caused an increased sex drive in women.

Testosterone was given at a dose that is too low for most men and wasnt a proper trt protocol i think they erred too much on th side of caution with the doses and thus effects were limited. We all know testosteron is effective.
lso they note know increase in muscle. how many of them trained?
I could go on abusive amounts and if i never trained would gain no muscle.