DHEA - WELCOME To - YOUR THYROID And YOU



DHEA……In Relation to Depression, CFS and Women’s Sex Lives.

Dehydroepiandrosterone.

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Pronunciation: de·hy·dro·epi·an·dros·ter·one

Function: noun

: an androgenic ketosteroid C19H28O2 secreted by the adrenal cortex that is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of testosterone -- abbreviation DHA, DHEA

Who is likely to be deficient?

* Please take note: DHEA should be taken with a ZINC supplement

Meaningful levels of DHEA do not appear in food, and therefore dietary deficiency does not exist. Some people, however, may not synthesize enough DHEA. DHEA levels peak in early adulthood and then start a lifelong descent. By the age of 60, DHEA levels are only about 5–15% of what they were at their peak at younger ages. Whether the lower level associated with age represents a deficiency or a normal part of aging that should not be tampered with remains unknown.

People with true adrenal insufficiency (i.e., Addison’s Disease; not the hypothetical adrenal “fatigue” or “burnout” that is sometimes incorrectly referred to as “insufficiency”) have below normal levels of DHEA. When women with adrenal insufficiency were treated with 50 mg of DHEA every morning for three or four months, their DHEA and DHEAS levels returned to normal, with a simultaneous improvement in well-being and sexuality.

Some studies have reported lower DHEA levels in groups of depressed patients. However, in one trial, severely depressed people were reported to show increases in blood levels of DHEA. Despite these contradictory findings, a few clinical trials suggest that at least some people who are depressed may benefit from DHEA supplementation. (See “What does it do?” above for more information about use of DHEA supplements in the treatment of depression.)

People with multi-infarct dementia (deterioration of mental functions resulting from multiple small strokes) may have lower than normal DHEAS levels, according to a preliminary trial. In this trial, intravenous injection of 200 mg per day of DHEAS for four weeks increased DHEAS levels and improved some aspects of mental function and performance of daily activities.

• Check out St. John’s wort

• Take 600 to 1,200 mg a day of a standardized extract (containing of 0.3% hypericin) to help with mild to moderate depression

• Seek counselling

• A mental health professional may help you make a full recovery

• Move your body

• Get exercise that increases your heart rate at least three hours a week (or 30 minutes a day) to boost your body’s natural mood-enhancing compounds (endorphins)

• Try B-vitamins

• Take a B-vitamin supplement that contains folic acid and vitamins B12 and B6 to help correct deficiencies associated with depression

• Get enough iron

• A lack of iron can make depression worse; check with a doctor to find out if you are iron deficient

These recommendations are not comprehensive and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Continue reading the full depression article for more in-depth, fully-referenced information on medicines, vitamins, herbs, and dietary and lifestyle changes that may be helpful.

The key to women's sex lives June 25, 2004 [pic]

The recipe for a good sex life looks to include more than just romance, with the discovery that a little-known hormone plays a vital role in the female libido. Low levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone, otherwise known as DHEA, appear to be linked to low sexual activity in women, women's health expert Professor Susan Davis has discovered.

Prof Davis, the research director of Melbourne's Jean Hailes Foundation, tested the blood of 1,400 randomly recruited women to find out whether there was a link between sexual activity and either DHEA or testosterone, which has traditionally been thought to boost libido.

"We couldn't find any associations between low sexual function and testosterone but we found that women with low sexual function had a very strong likelihood of having low DHEA, so low DHEA appears to be a marker of low sexual function in women," Prof Davis said.

Circulating levels of DHEA and testosterone both progressively decline with age, she added, but women with low libidos under the age of 45 appear to experience a much steeper decline. DHEA, one of the hormones produced by the adrenal glands, circulates in the bloodstream as DHEA-sulfate before being converted in cells into testosterone, which is itself later converted into oestrogen.

"DHEA is a pre-hormone for the production of testosterone and oestrogen," Prof Davis explained. "It's like saying if we don't have lots of milk production we can't make any cheese." Produced in massive quantities at birth and just before puberty, DHEA starts to decline when a woman hits her 20s.

Despite her results of her trial, Prof Davis cautioned that DHEA couldn't be turned into a libido-boosting pill for all women - stress, general health and the state of a woman's relationship all have a part to play in her desire for sex.

"A woman with low libido will go to the doctor and say `I don't know if it's because I'm tired, I don't know if it's because I'm stressed, but doctor, would hormone treatments help me?'," she said. "At least there's a test that can now be done to say yes or no to whether hormone treatments would help.

"If the DHEA-sulfate is not low, it's probably unlikely the hormone treatment would help but if it is low it's more likely that hormone therapy would be a part of treatment."

DISCLAIMER:

All material supplied by Thyroid Australia (Brisbane) is for information purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.

For medical advice please see a Doctor.

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