| DHEA was first identified in 1934. Since then,
thousands of articles have been published on various aspects of this
hormone. Some of these investigations concerned the efficacy of
supplemental DHEA administration. Unfortunately, very few of these
studies were conducted in humans and many of them were poorly designed
and/or lacked control for important variables.
The first human study and the one probably most responsible
for generating the initial interest in supplementation was published
in 1994. In this study, researchers investigated changes in middle-aged
volunteers supplemented with 50mg of DHEA nightly for three months(2).
The results showed an increase in subjective feelings of physical and
psychological well-being by the volunteers.
Subsequent to this study, there was
a large amount of publicity within the popular media. Much of what
was reported, however, was information from previous studies, almost all
of which were conducted in rodents. These studies seemed to show
potential benefits in the treatment of many ailments, including
breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, impaired memory and mental
function, osteoporosis, cancer, and lupus.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
removed DHEA supplements from the market in 1985 due to false claims
about health benefits. However, since the passing of the US
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, DHEA has made its
way back on the market and its popularity continues to grow. |
