Page 4 - The DHEA Debate - Life Extensions Magazine

DHEA-mediated reduction of cardiovascular risk is a gradual process, resulting from decreased
platelet aggregation, reduction of serum lipids, and improvements in insulin sensitivity and
endothelial function.3,22 A study on DHEA and heart disease uncovered the following:
“A 100 micrograms per deciliter increase in DHEA sulfate concentration corresponded
with a 48% reduction in mortality due to cardiovascular disease and a 36% reduction in
mortality for any reason. The natural level of DHEA sulfate was measured and those
individuals with higher DHEA sulfate levels lived longer and had a much lower risk of
heart disease.”23
Seeking to explain these remarkable benefits, researchers found that DHEA sulfate levels are
positively associated with HDL and negatively correlated with LDL and total cholesterol.24 A
human study in the Journal of Epidemiology concluded:
“The mean Atherogenic index was significantly inversely correlated with the rise of
tertiles in DHEAS levels, both before and after adjustment for age, total cholesterol HDL,
and triglyceride. These results suggest that DHEAS may have an important role in the
etiology and prevention of atherosclerosis.”25
Recently, scientists found a strong correlation between low DHEA levels and
hypothyroidism.26 But instead of looking at the long-term benefits of DHEA therapy, naysayers
pointed to the failure of DHEA to restore thyroid function in short-term studies. They missed the
point entirely.

Naysayer: And the point is?

Stephen Cherniske: That restoring DHEA levels is very likely to have a beneficial effect on the
entire endocrine system, including the thyroid, but this effect will be gradual. In fact, most
pathology is cumulative, but conventional medicine acts only when problems become acute.
In other words, a person does not become thyroid deficient overnight. In most cases, years of
degeneration precede the metabolic disease state. Unfortunately, this degeneration goes
unnoticed and a pharmaceutical “fix” known as thyroxine is used for the end-stage disease.
Naysayer: What’s wrong with thyroxine?

Stephen Cherniske: Nothing. It is a useful drug to treat hypothyroidism;
but there is something wrong with a health care system that does
nothing to prevent a disease, and only springs to action when the
problem becomes acute. The data strongly suggest that hypothyroidism
develops in part due to declining levels of DHEA, and there is good
evidence that people with optimal levels of DHEA are at decreased risk
for thyroid disease.27-29 Moreover, hypothyroidism is often caused by
an autoimmune reaction, and high levels of antithyroid antibodies have
been correlated with low levels of DHEA.30
Bottom line, we think the problem is our thyroid, or our blood pressure,
cholesterol, blood sugar, expanding waistline, or failing memory. But
these are not the problem, they are the symptoms of one problem
Stephen Cherniske, known as aging. Until we address the underlying cause of aging, we will
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simply be chasing after each of the symptoms as they inevitably arise.
Naysayer: But you said that aging was a complex process. Now you’re saying that it has a
simple underlying cause that can be easily altered.

Stephen Cherniske: No, declining production of DHEA is not the single cause of aging. The
underlying cause of aging is the loss of regenerative capacity and the accumulation of cellular
damage. The Metabolic Model of Aging describes this as a seesaw between damage and