DHEA obtained credibility in the medical establishment when the New York Academy of Sciences published a book entitled DHEA and Aging and summarized in their journal, Aging (Dec. 29, 1995, 774:1-350).

DHEA has been shown to improve neurological function (including memory, mood enhancement, and EEG readings), immune surveillance, and stress disorders. DHEA replacement therapy has become popular as an antiaging regimen and offers aging patients help in preventing diseases such as osteoporosis, fatigue, depression, atherosclerosis, and cancer.
The most remarkable finding about DHEA came from a human study by S. S. C. Yen and associates at the University of California, San Diego, in which 50 mg a day of DHEA over a 6-month period restored youthful serum levels of DHEA in both men and women. Dr. Yen showed that DHEA replacement was associated with an increase in perceived physical and psychological well-being for both men (67%) and women (84%)

In the journal Drugs and Aging (Oct. 1996), an analysis of previous studies on DHEA showed that:

• In both humans and animals, the decline of DHEA production with aging is associated with immune depression, increased risk of several different cancers, loss of sleep, decreased feelings of well-being, and increased mortality.
• DHEA replacement in aged mice significantly improved immune function to a more youthful state.
• DHEA replacement has shown a favorable effect on osteoclasts and lymphoid cells, an effect that may delay osteoporosis. (Editor's note: DHEA has been shown in other studies to promote the activity of bone-forming osteoblasts.)
• Low levels of DHEA inhibit energy metabolism, thus increasing the risk of heart disease and diabetes mellitus.
• Studies in humans show essentially no toxicity at doses that restore DHEA to youthful levels.

DHEA deficiency may expedite the development of some diseases that are common in the elderly.

Depression Responds to DHEA Treatment

DHEA is the only hormone besides cortisol that has consistently been linked with depression. It was studied as far back as the 1950s as an antidepressant

A group at the University of California, San Francisco went at the DHEA/depression question another way. They decided to give DHEA to people with depression and see if it would help. In the first double-blind, placebo-controlled study on DHEA's potential as an antidepressant, 11 patients with major depression were given up to 90 mg/day of DHEA for 6 weeks, and 11 were given a placebo. Some of the participants were taking antidepressants. For these people, the antidepressants were either working partially, or not working at all. Only people who had been on the same antidepressant for at least 6 weeks without changing were allowed in the study, and no changes could be made in anyone's medication during the study.