GREGORY CHANDLER, ATTORNEY AT LAW, ON DHEA

There has long been a debate among those who study bodybuilding about the efficacy of what is commonly called DHEA.

5-Dehydroepiandroepiandrosterone (5-DHEA or simply DHEA) is a 19-carbon natural steroid hormone. DHEA is the major secretory steroidal product of the adrenal glands and is also produced by the gonads and the brain. DHEA is the most abundant circulating steroid in humans. DHEA is produced from cholesterol in the body.

DHEA acts on the androgen receptor both directly and through its metabolites, which include androstenediol and androstendione, which can undergo further conversion to produce the androgen testosterone and the estrogens, including estrone, estradiol, and estriol. In this context, DHEA can be understood as a prohormone for the primary sex steroids: testosterone and estrogen.

DHEA supplements are sometimes used as bodybuilding or performance enhancing drugs by athletes. However, a randomized placebo controlled study found that DHEA supplementation had only marginal effect on lean body mass, strength, or testosterone levels.

The use of DHEA by males is problematic. DHEA gives males a small increase in the male sex hormone: testosterone. At the same time, DHEA gives males an increase in the major female hormone: estrogen. The result is often that the estrogen increase is greater than the testosterone increase in males.

My recommendation is that males who take DHEA should take the supplement with an estrogen suppressor. Supplements that are thought to be estrogen suppressors can be purchased at nutrition supplement stores. Many studies indicate that foods such as broccoli act as estrogen suppressors.

The bottom line is that DHEA can be used by males as a limited builder of testosterone, but care should be used to block the estrogens that DHEA promotes.

GREGORY CHANDLER, Attorney at Law