DHEA Dosing and Safety Precautions

Properly managed DHEA therapy can be useful for most older men and women to increase energy, vitality and to foster an overall youthful feeling. However, there are guidelines that should be followed for safe long-term use of DHEA.

When taking oral supplements of DHEA, it is important that antioxidants are available to the liver because DHEA can promote free radicals in liver cells. Animal studies have shown that extremely high doses (from 2000 to 10,000 mg DHEA daily in human terms) caused liver damage in mice and rats. When antioxidants were given along with the DHEA, liver damage did not occur despite the massive doses of DHEA being administered to these animals

Alpha lipoic acid, vitamin E and N-acetyl- cysteine (NAC) are antioxidants that have been shown to be especially effective in suppressing free radicals in the liver.

Most human studies use a daily dose of 50 mg, and this is the typical daily dose the majority of people use to restore serum DHEA to youthful levels. DHEA can be taken with or without food, though some believe that fat helps DHEA to assimilate better. Some people absorb DHEA better by taking it 20 to 30 minutes before meals.

A DHEA-s blood test should be taken three to six weeks after beginning DHEA therapy to help determine optimal dosing.

The standard blood test to evaluate DHEA status is one that measures DHEA-s (sulfate). The DHEA-s is calculated in micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL) of blood.

The youthful ranges of DHEAS are as follows:

Chronic DHEA deficiency is a risk factor for developing the degenerative diseases of aging according to the preponderance of evidence existing in the scientific literature.

Men

Before initiating DHEA therapy, men should know their serum PSA (prostate specific antigen) level and have passed a digital rectal exam.
We have previously recommended that men with prostate cancer should avoid DHEA. Our concern is that in some men, DHEA may convert into testosterone and other growth factors that could cause existing prostate cancer cells to propagate. In some men, however, DHEA will mildly elevate estrogen levels, which would theoretically be good for those with prostate cancer since estrogen is known to help suppress prostate cancer cell growth.