Does DHEA prevent heart disease?
The possibility that DHEA could treat or prevent heart disease first arose in 1986 when Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor reported that higher DHEA levels were associated with a decreased risk of heart disease in men. She published her findings in the well-known New England Journal of Medicine and thereby stimulated much of the research that has been done in this area. However, many other studies done since then have failed to confirm that DHEA is in some way protective for heart disease. Although the controversy in men continues, the data in women is clearer. Most studies on women suggest no benefit from DHEA in heart disease, and some have suggested that DHEA may actually be detrimental. This negative effect may occur because DHEA can decrease HDL (“good cholesterol”). DHEA appears to have different effects in men and women.
