DHEA? (Larry?)

I've just read an article about osteoporosis and anorexia, saying something in passing about DHEA for treatment, but not going into details. Does anyone know about DHEA and bone density?

Thanks!

DHEA has been shown to increase bone density in aged women (post-menopausal), but in a menstruating female, it should only be used if serum levels of DHEA and DHEA-S are low.

The primary intervention for osteopenia is vitamin D and calcium fortification. Recent studies have shown that the vitamin D intake recommendations (RDA) are seriously inadequate for optimal calcium/magnesium balance and parathyroid function.

This is going to look extreme (given the existing RDA), but a just-published article suggests daily intake of 4000 IU of vitamin D.

Lar

Yep, that does look extreme! LoL! I think the RDAs I've seen are 400... Now, is D fat soluble, or water soluble? I seem to remember it as water soluble, and that we make some of it from sunlight? (Damn, maybe I oughta read up, huh?) But I also remember, I think, that a lot of the RDAs are based on the lowest amount you can take in to avoid a deficiency syndrome?

Thanks for the answer. I shorely do 'preciate that, Pahdna.

Vitamin D is fat soluble. Yes, some is made from sunlight, but oral supplements appear to have a more measurable intake on blood parameters than does exposure to UV-B wavelengths of light.

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone, derived from cholesterol.

Yes, the RDA is defined as that level of intake that prevents *overt* deficiency symptoms in 97.5% of normal healthy people. That means that 1 in 40 normal healthy people are still obviously deficient at that level of intake. Moreover, no allowances are made for people of poor health.

Here are two references for that 4000 IU level. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=15260882
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=11157326

And, just for context, here's one using 100,000 IU dosing. (There are others, but here's a recent example.) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=12609940

I want to say that I am not advocating taking 4000 IU/day. Under controlled medical observation, no adverse effects were noted, at that dose. In fact, there was a linear dose-response effect. I see no reason to limit oneself to the RDA, however. In fact, rural Norwegians who eat cod livers as part of their diet exceed the RDA 50-fold as a matter of routine. Your mama trying to feed you cod liver oil as a child is probably based in good and healthy cultural wisdom.

Lar