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Dr. Kim Mulvihill Reporting It looks like you can't yet count on a pill to keep you feeling young. Widely used DHEA supplements and testosterone patches failed to deliver their touted anti-aging benefits. The facts that came out of one of the first rigorous studies to test such claims in older men and women.
The study found that the pills and patches didn't improve the strength or physical performance of the patients, or some other measures of their health. A Mayo Clinic doctor who's the lead author of the study, in the New England Journal of Medicine says he doesn't think there's "any case for administering these" to elderly people.
DHEA is a steroid that is made by the body. Levels of the steroid decline rapidly after age 25. DHEA supplements are marketed as rejuvenating agents. Some athletes use it to try to boost performance.
Scientists have wondered if the substances might help older people. Over two years, the researchers studied 57 women and 87 men, all of them at least 60 years old.
Although DHEA and testosterone levels increased in the men and women who took the real treatments, there was no effect on physical performance, quality of life or the body's ability to lower levels of blood sugar.
This study will be out in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine.
