Posted on 11/10/2004 4:28:05 PM PST by shrinkermd
Context Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) administration has been shown to reduce accumulation of abdominal visceral fat and protect against insulin resistance in laboratory animals, but it is not known whether DHEA decreases abdominal obesity in humans. DHEA is widely available as a dietary supplement without a prescription.
Objective To determine whether DHEA replacement therapy decreases abdominal fat and improves insulin action in elderly persons.
Design and Setting Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in a US university-based research center from June 2001 to February 2004.
Participants Fifty-six elderly persons (28 women and 28 men aged 71 [range, 65-78] years) with age-related decrease in DHEA level.
Intervention Participants were randomly assigned to receive 50 mg/d of DHEA or matching placebo for 6 months.
Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome measures were 6-month change in visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat measured by magnetic resonance imaging and glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).
Results Of the 56 men and women enrolled, 52 underwent follow-up evaluations. Compliance with the intervention was 97% in the DHEA group and 95% in the placebo group. Based on intention-to-treat analyses, DHEA therapy compared with placebo induced significant decreases in visceral fat area (–13 cm2 vs +3 cm2, respectively; P = .001) and subcutaneous fat (–13 cm2 vs +2 cm2, P = .003). The insulin area under the curve (AUC) during the OGTT was significantly reduced after 6 months of DHEA therapy compared with placebo (–1119 µU/mL per 2 hours vs +818 µU/mL per 2 hours, P = .007). Despite the lower insulin levels, the glucose AUC was unchanged, resulting in a significant increase in an insulin sensitivity index in response to DHEA compared with placebo (+1.4 vs –0.7, P = .005).
Conclusion DHEA replacement could play a role in prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome associated with abdominal obesity.
Author Affiliations: Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo.
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Used to take it when I was bodybuilding. Never noticed a difference in mass, but it seemed slightly easier to stay lean.
I have been using it or about a year,only 25 mg a day and it has helped me. At 52 I need the help.
Not part of the ban, as far as I know.
You should introduce about 500mg of Tribulus terrestris to combat the DHEA being turned into estrogen.
im not a big fan of those natural homeopathic nutritional supplements. i havent had much success with OTC stuff. the only thing i liked was the e/c/a stack like xenedrine that the government kindly banned since it worked. when i want to cut i use the real deal. if you dont want to then your best bet is be strict with the diet and exercise regularly.
My mother took DHEA to "stay young" but ended up growing a beard and going bald. I believe it helps to produce male hormones and shouldn't be taken lightly.
ping
>> the only thing i liked was the e/c/a stack like xenedrine that the government kindly banned since it worked.<<
If you want the same effect to to the store and buy some Primatine (sp) tablets. Same active ingredient.
If you want a combination of supplements that are worth your money and cheap even. 1000mg a day of Alpha Lipoic Acid and Acetyl L-Carnitine works well and is available at Walmart. I took DHEA and it does have an effect, I had increased breakouts so I stopped it. Tribus is better, AD-1 is good too if you are a body builder. www.biotestedge.com is a good site but I wouldn't bother with diet supplements, pick up some weights and hit the cardio. You'll feel better overall and you won't need viagra.
I love ALA and ALCAR.....
L-Carnosine is also good, as is CoQ10. There's also a CoQ10 analog which is Idebenone.
If you want access to quality bulk powders at incredible prices, check out www.beyond-a-century.com. For example, 100 grams of ALA is $10.50, and 100 grams of Acetyl L-Carnitine is $9.50. Some may wonder why the price is so cheap compared to stuff you buy in a health food store. First, the markup is huge when the product is capped in gelatin capsules. Secondly, by purchasing large lots of a particular vitamin, amino acid, Etc, (ie like 1-10kg) the price breaks are huge when you divide it into lots of 100g, 300g, etc.
They have a great reputation, I've been doing business with them for 3-4 years, have no complaints. I buy pretty much all of my stuff from them and purchase 1000 gelatin capsules and cap my own. :)
Sounds like your mother was either taking very large amounts, or had some pre-existing endocrine problem. DHEA is a precursor to both male and female hormones, and in sane doses the body makes its own choices about how much of each to turn it into. Decreasing testosterone levels are part of the menopausal and post-menopausal hormone-related problems, so it's not a bad thing for older women to increase testosterone levels, as long as it's not out of balance with increasing estrogen levels. A recent study in monkeys found the that the negative effects of long term hormone replacement therapy could be eliminated by adding testosterone to the mix, suggesting that returning estrogen to younger/higher levels should only be done along with returning testosterone to younger/higher levels. The former without the latter seems to cause some serious problems.
I do not take DHEA, but I'm wondering if you guys are aware of this metabolite:
7 Keto DHEA
DHEA, 7-KETO(tm), a patented metabolite of DHEA, claims not to be able to be converted to testosterone or estrogen, yet to have many of DHEA’s energizing effects, improved immune response, and increased fat loss by maintaining T3 levels and increasing thermogenic liver enzymes. Usual dose is 2-3 25mg caps per day. Fat loss may require more. 25mg, 90 caps. $16.00 Code 749.6
Please see my post #13 above for a highly recommended company for vitamins/herbs/amino acids. In addition, iherb.com has some great prices as well.
thats interesting. i actually stopped using the stuff after daily use because i felt it was causing a certain bag to srhivel up after a workout. it didnt stay that way but still i didnt like it and realized i couldnt use it daily forever. i have things now that i prefer that have a more anabolic effect along with leaning me out.
i think another popular diet drug, clenbuterol, was used as an asthma medication.
My (extremely subjective) perception was that the feedback correction was present on timescales of days..I.E. after several days of use, it no longer had any immediately perceptible effects, until I discontinued use at which point it took several days to get back to my normal (heh!) mental state.
oh yeah, big time.
So that's what the Dems were on before the election!
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