DHEA: Blessing or curse?

Ever since the book What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Menopause was published, women have been led to believe that natural hormone supplementation was a cure for many post-menopausal symptoms. While I agree that natural hormones are better than synthetic ones, they still shouldn't be used without medical consultation and testing.

Get tested before supplementing with any sex hormone
Higher estrogen levels are common after menopause, while going through menopause or when approaching menopause. Among other things, it's often responsible for a reduced libido and that extra weight you can't shake later in life. If your DHEA levels have dropped - allowing more estrogen to get a foothold, the current thinking is that taking DHEA supplements is a sure-fire cure.

Before taking DHEA, get tested to find out where your hormone levels stand. It could be that your hormones are in proper balance and that your problems are not related to them. There are a number of home test kits that collect your saliva to test your hormones, and you send your saliva (in a special container) to a lab. The results are mailed back to you, and you can share them with your doctor, if you like.

You can also get saliva and blood tests through your physician, but they're often hesitant to give you the results. There's also a chance that they'll work with you to correct an imbalance with natural hormones. Many doctors have been brainwashed by the pharmaceutical companies and prefer to prescribe synthetic hormones, which are made from horse urine. Yes, you read that right - horse urine!

Side effects can wreak havoc with your health
Some side effects have been noted with DHEA supplementation. In one study involving women suffering from adrenal failure (DHEA is made by the adrenal cortex), 89% of the subjects experienced side effects, in particular increased sweat odor and scalp itching." The researchers also stated that "premenopausal androgen levels can be restored with 25mg DHEA daily in most female patients."

Another medical article indicates that there are potentially more serious side effects associated with DHEA supplementation. These include "unfavorable effects on lipid metabolism (a cardiovascular risk factor) and a possible growth-stimulating effect on hormone-dependent malignancies (prostate, breast)." These were general findings based on a search of clinical trials and not a result of one trial or test of DHEA supplementation.

Because DHEA is produced in miniscule and almost immeasurable amounts in animals, testing on humans is the only reliable way to determine what happens with supplementation. The going is slow, making it all the more difficult and frustrating to get good guidance.

No matter which type of hormone supplementation you select - natural or synthetic - get tested every few months to be make your hormones are still in proper balance.

Additional sources:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Mar;88(3):1112-8
Prescrire Int. 2002 Aug;11(60):118-23

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