In the interim, however, I'm convinced that we can all do battle with Father Time by a constant replenishing of our "Dehydroepiandrosterone" (DHEA) -- the hormone that is produced by our adrenal glands, located on top of the kidneys and look like 3 cornered Napoleon ic hats, serve a variety of functions. It's known as the "mother" hormone and has the ability to convert itself into other hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone upon demand.

Because the levels of DHEA decline with age, the older you get the less DHEA you have. At age 25, the body begins to reduce the natural production of DHEA, and the aging phenomenon begins. In our early 30's, our bodies produce about 30 mg. of DHEA per day. By the time we reach our 60's, DHEA levels are under 5 mg. per day. These figures show us that by the time an individual reaches the age of 80, he or she will be producing only about 10 to 20 percent of the DHEA produced in their second decade of life. Clearly, this decline signals the beginning of many age-related diseases.

If you have high levels of DHEA, you are less likely to develop atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, not to mention its noted effects in such areas as autoimmune disease, obesity, ulcerative colitis, arthritis, osteoporosis, Epstein-Barr virus, chronic fatigue syndrome, memory and learning deficiencies, HIV infection and Aids, and Herpes viral infections.

In 1986, Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor found that levels of DHEA were inversely related to death due to all causes in men over 50, particularly in deaths from cardiovascular disease. Her work at UC San Diego, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that a 100 mcg/ml of increase in DHEA sulfate levels in the blood was associated with a 48 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease.

Other studies have shown the life span of laboratory animals to be extended by 50 percent when administered DHEA. Mice did not age as rapidly when they were fed DHEA, maintaining their youthful hair color and sleekness compared with the graying, coarsening hair of the control animals that were not given DHEA. Administering DHEA in elderly men and women has also shown to increase the "IGF-1" (insulin growth factor). Oddly enough, IGF-1 is the protein made in the liver which, upon stimulation by human growth hormone, is the protein that generates age reversal effects, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1990.

Immune-enhancing effects show that DHEA protects against bacterial growth and viral infections, and has shown to stimulate the T-cells, B- cells, and macrophages. In additional studies with laboratory mice who had the autoimmune disease known as lupus, the production of auto- antibodies were significantly restrained by the treatment with DHEA. For those of you that don't know, Lupus is an incurable, and sometimes fatal, autoimmune disease that results when a person's immune system, for unknown reasons, attacks the body's own connective tissues including the skin, joints and internal organs. Nine times as many women as men seem to contract this disease, usually during childbearing years. Women with lupus generally have lower levels of DHEA in their blood, and it is believed by the respected rheumatologist from Stanford University, Dr. Von Vollenhaven, that by bolstering the levels of this hormone, one might alleviate some of the symptoms of the disease. Other autoimmune diseases in men such as ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis has been successfully treated with a supplementation of DHEA.

The replication of the HIV virus has been reduced by the use of DHEA, and clinical trials are underway for the use of DHEA as an adjunct therapy for HIV infected individuals. Abnormally low levels of DHEA are associated with increased progression of HIV infection. In patients infected with HIV virus, the AIDS syndrome does not develop until DHEA levels begin to fall, or rather, the fall of DHEA levels warning the onset of the AIDS disease.

Studies done in 1981 showed that DHEA had an inhibitory effect on Epstein-Barr virus and chronic fatigue syndrome. However, one of the most impressive effects of DHEA is it's ability to induce weight loss in laboratory animals, even when these animals were given as much food as they wanted. In one human study with 5 male adults, the results showed (after 28 days with diet and physical activity remaining normal) a decrease in body fat without affecting muscle weight. At the same time, their LDL levels fell by 7 percent to confer protection against cardiovascular disease.

Epidemiologic studies indicate that the risk of developing a wide variety of cancers is directly related to the serum level of DHEA, and that DHEA has prevented occurrence of many types of chemically induced tumors, including colon cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, and breast cancer. In a study of 5,000 women, it was found that those who had developed breast cancer had abnormally low DHEA blood levels as long as nine years prior to development of the cancer. And when they reached menopause, the DHEA levels measured in their blood began to drop significantly, women with osteoporosis having significantly lower blood levels of DHEA as well. In 1987, it was reported that DHEA was positively correlated with bone density in postmenopausal women. Therefore, there is a strong association of declining DHEA production with declining bone density during progressive aging.

Memory, comprehension, and learning disorders have all also been affected by the use of DHEA, including dementia, amnesia and Alzheimer's disease. When the circulatory levels of DHEA were studied in 86 patients with Alzheimer's disease, they all had lower blood levels of DHEA than the average healthy person.

If we could keep our DHEA levels the same as when we were 25, it might be possible to remain youthful for an extended period of time. The commonly used dosage levels ranging from 50 mg. per day to 3,000 mg. per day, depending on the condition and the physicians form of treatment. There is no universal standard determining optimal usage. The good news is, however, that scientists have found that a rare Mexican plant, "Dioscorea Villosa" (commonly called the Mexican Wild Yam), contains the basic DHEA compound in precursor form, which our bodies can use to manufacture DHEA.

You do not need a prescription for Dioscorea, but it is hard to find the "real thing" when your dealing with rare Mexican Yams. It was only after some investigative effort that I found a product that seems to be doing the trick. Disocorea Villosa was discovered around 1941 by a Professor at Pennsylvania State College. It’s from the Mexican Wild Yam and it is not a hormone; it is that food that instigates hormone production in the body. The beauty of this food product is that you can ingest it into the upper jejunum of the small intestines, it will meet up with 5 sulfotransferous enzymes known as DHEA, Estrogen and Phenol sulfotransferous enzymes, and it will be precursed into diosgenin. From there it will be converted into pregnenolone via the adrenals, and thus onto it’s biological pathway which goes into Progesterone, DHEA, Testosterone, Estrogens, Cortisones, and Cortisol.

Research has found that because phytosterols produce the prohormones DHEA and progesterone, a broad spectrum of conditions can be addressed or prevented through its use. These natural hormone precursors (DHEA and progesterone) made from dioscorea are easily absorbed into the system and have the ability to support the body’s production of hormones. After 20 years of practicing anatomical and clinical pathology, Dr. H. Reginald McDaniel discovered that he had become disappointed and disenchanted by drug toxicities and failures. His work in private practice in various hospitals located in Dallas, Texas, included positions of leadership: chairman, board of directors and chief of staff at Great Southwest General Hospital and director of pathology and laboratories, and director of medical education for 5 years at Dallas- Ft. Worth Medical Center. In November of 1995, Dr. McDaniel’s made this statement about diosgenin:

"Scientific journal articles are in my file showing that mannalian research models (1) orally administered natural glycosylated dioscorea extract crosses the intestinal lining mucosal cells and enters the portal blood stream as diosgenin. #1(2) diosgenin was added to culture medium containing living brain cells, the media was sampled periodically and it was shown there was production of sterols in the pathway to DHEA and pregnenolone synthesis. (3) Animals with the ovaries removed to eliminate that source of estrogen production were administered diosgenin and it was converted by the adrenals to pregnenolone and then to estrogen. #2 (4) oral diosgenin reversed experimental diabetes. #3 (5) oral diosgenin lowered blood cholesterol levels. #2 (6) 200 human volunteers received oral dioscorea and their percent body fat was reduced, percent muscles mass increased and bone density increased. #5 these changes are very healthy, represent a dietary reversal of degenerative changes in the body associated with aging and are well documented as being mediated by the endocrine system through the means of hormone synthesis and release."

Disocorea Villosa has been found to be a safe anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic substance. Because of it's regenerative factors, I strongly recommend it for athletes and those with injuries, bearing in mind it's harder for anyone to gain muscle mass, burn fat, and repair tissues the older you get.

However, there are so many other benefits one can use this Disocorea Villosa for. It has been noted to be useful in helping:

*Lower Cholesterol
*Lower Blood Sugar
*Lower Insulin requirements in Diabetics
*Increase Hormones as needed - Estrogen, Progesterone, DHEA
*Adrenal Hormones for Strength
*Energy
*Allergies
*Inflammation
*Pain
*Mental Alertness
*Depression

Many of my readers know about my son, Luke, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes after experiencing a bout with the Coaxackie Virus at 18 months of age. Now, it’s really hard for a toddler to stop what he’s doing and say, “Oh, mom, I feel I need my sugar tested, I think my glucose is low.” So, my husband and I have had to test his blood glucose levels every hour and a half and inject him every three hours with each meal. Luke is much older now and doing great! However, we began grinding up this product and putting it into his juice when he was about 3 years old. It worked fairly well, but now that he’s a little older and he's learned how to swallow the tablet so that it will be digested in his small intestines and not his stomach, his insulin requirements have been dramatically reduced. There’s only one kind of dioscorea villosa product that seems to work on this kid and it’s call the PLUS. A company called Mannatech makes it and their based out of Texas. To find where to purchase this product, PLUS, click here

DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone, is used by our bodies to produce at least 50 other hormones that are important to over-all health. Because our DHEA resources become more limited as we age, the available DHEA is prioritized by the greatest need. DHEA is made only while we sleep at night, so we receive our daily allotment once every 24 hours. Organ systems needing hormones that are deprived in favor of the needier organ systems will eventually become diseased if the body cannot manufacture additional DHEA.

So, I suggest you go to your doctor and get checked and find out your DHEA levels, find a way to purchase some good Dioscroea Villosa, and for God’s sake go to bed and get a good night’s sleep. And seeing how it’s 2:00 am, I think I’m going to take my own advice and see if I can drum up enough DHEA for tomorrow! Goodnight all....

References:

*1. Implication of Steroid Saponins and Sapogenins in the
Hypocholesterolemic Effect of Fenugreek, Yves Sauvalre, Gerard
Ribes et al, Lipids, Vol. 26, No. 3, 191-197

*2. Diosgenin-A growth stimulator of mammary gland of ovariectomized mouse, A.Rao, A.R. Rao, R.K. Kale, Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 30, May 1992, #67-370.

*3. Hypoglycoemic Activity of Dioscoretine from Tubers of Dioscorea Dumetorum in Normal and Alioxan Diabetic Rabbits, M.M. Iwu, C.O. Okunji, et al, Planta Med. 56(1990), 264-267.

*4. Reduction of Serum Cholesterol in Monkeys by Administration of Digitonon, M.R. Malinow, P. McLaughlin, C. Stafford, Amer J. Clin. Nutr, 31, 814-818.

*5. Emprise Optimal Health Plan, G. Kaats, D. Pullin, L.K. Parker, Emprise Adventurer, Vol 1. No. 1 14-15, (Preliminary abstract - to be published in future.)

*6 Published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine by C. Her. I.A. Aksoy et al, from the Department of Pharmacology, Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN in 1996, Vol 44, No. 3 page

*7 The Nugent Report - Volume 4, Issues 5 & 6 by Dr. Stephen Nugent

*8 Phyto-Sterols - The Key to Emotional Balance, Stress Handling, and Optimal Health by Carol Masterson Merlo, M.ED.

Disclaimer: When I write about a particular product, it's solely for the purpose of introducing information to my readers. Absolutely no financial gain comes to me through my endorsement of company's and/or what they manufacture