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DHEA may help decrease abdominal fat Via IFT 11-17-04
Preliminary research indicates that the dietary supplement DHEA could play a
role in reducing abdominal fat in elderly men and women with age-related
decreases in DHEA levels, according to a study in the November 10 issue of
JAMA http://jama.ama-assn.org/.
The accumulation of abdominal fat increases with advancing age, and there is
extensive evidence that abdominal obesity increases the risk for development
of insulin resistance, diabetes, and atherosclerosis, according to
background information in the article. Hormonal/metabolic changes that occur
with aging may contribute to the increase in abdominal fat that generally
occurs during middle and old age. One such change is the decline in
production of the adrenal hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). The blood
level of DHEA, most of which is present in the sulfated form (DHEAS), peaks
at approximately 20 years of age and declines rapidly and markedly after age
25. DHEA administration has been shown to reduce accumulation of abdominal
fat and protect against insulin resistance in laboratory animals, but it was
not known whether DHEA decreases abdominal obesity in humans. DHEA is widely
available as a dietary supplement without a prescription.
Dennis T. Villareal, M.D., and John O. Holloszy, M.D., of Washington
University School of Medicine, St. Louis, conducted a study to test the
hypothesis that DHEA replacement therapy results in a decrease in abdominal
fat and an improvement in insulin action in elderly persons.
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial included 56 elderly
persons (28 women and 28 men, average age, 71 [range, 65-78]) with
age-related decrease in DHEA level. The study was conducted at Washington
University School of Medicine from June 2001 to February 2004. Participants
were randomly assigned to receive 50 mg/d of DHEA or matching placebo for 6
months.
The researchers found that DHEA replacement therapy induced significant
decreases in both visceral fat (within the abdomen) and subcutaneous
abdominal fat (below the skin surface) in elderly men and women. "The
decrease in visceral fat relative to initial values averaged 10.2 percent in
the women and 7.4 percent in the men. The DHEA therapy also resulted in a
significant decrease in abdominal subcutaneous fat, averaging approximately
6 percent in both the men and women," the researchers write. The DHEA
replacement also resulted in a significant improvement in insulin action
that correlated with the reduction in visceral fat.
"These findings provide evidence that DHEA replacement may partially reverse
the aging-related accumulation of abdominal fat in elderly people with low
serum levels of DHEAS. They also raise the possibility that long-term DHEA
replacement therapy might reduce the accumulation of abdominal fat and
protect against development of the metabolic/insulin resistance syndrome,"
they write.
"Limitations of our study include the relatively small number of
participants and the short duration of DHEA replacement. Therefore, our
findings should be considered preliminary," the authors write. "Larger-scale
and longer-term studies are needed to determine whether DHEA replacement has
any adverse effects ... and will be needed to verify our findings and should
include patient groups that are fully representative of the population at
risk."
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