Chicago: Anti-ageing doctors are calling on the public to join a campaign to prevent a prosposed banning of the key longevity hormone DHEA, being sold over the counter in the US. The hormone is produced naturally by the adrenal glands but declines with age. It is considered critical in anti-aging and preventative medicine programmes.

On May 26, 2005, Senators John McCain (R-Arizona), George Allen (R-Virginia), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced a new Senate bill, S. 1137, which seeks to add DHEA to the list of federally controlled anabolic steroids.

The Chicago-based American Acamdemy of Anti-Aging Medicine calls on the public to oppose any proposed ban of DHEA sales to the public by reclassifying it as a federally controlled anabolic steroid. A petition has been posted on www.saveoursupplements.org. The AAAM also advises the public to email their own Senators to protest.

In an open letter the AAAM says:

“DHEA – or dehydroepiandrosterone – is secreted by the adrenal glands and is the most abundant natural steroid-like compound in the human body. It is involved in the manufacture of testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and corticosterone. DHEA declines with age, so by age 65, our bodies make only 10 to 20% of what they did at age 20. DHEA has been an enormously popular anti-aging supplement for middle-aged and elderly Americans. Many anti-aging specialists believe that replacing DHEA in later life will have multiple beneficial effects. Anti-aging physicians recommend DHEA to patients because it can enhance immune resistance against infection, reduce the risk of age-related diseases, including cancer, coronary artery disease, and osteoporosis, improve blood sugar control and help prevent type II diabetes, facilitate weight loss and help convert fat to lean muscle, control Alzheimer’s disease, lupus, AIDS, Epstein-Barr virus infection, and chronic fatigue syndrome, treat! herpes, menopause, depression, memory, and erectile dysfunction, and increase life expectancy.

The suggestion that DHEA can cause adverse side effects such as liver damage, stroke, heart disease, cancer, etc. in humans has, to-date, failed to be proven by scientific study. Indeed, its daily use by millions of people for general health benefits argue strongly to the contrary. The careful use of DHEA in a controlled setting, monitored by a physician, is both and safe and efficacious. To strip Americans of their access to DHEA without demonstrated public health risks is unwarranted.

Senate Bill 1137 seeks to ban the over-the-counter availability of DHEA, effectively criminalizing those who rely on this supplement for its life enhancement benefits. DHEA will move from a current safe supplement to the list of controlled substances classifying it as an anabolic steroid if opposition is not mounted against this new bill.

Please take action today to oppose S.1137 or DHEA will no longer be obtainable. To write your elected officials and tell them that you support the continued freedom of availability of DHEA supplements, go to www.saveoursupplements.org. Just put your ZIP code into the designated box in the top left corner and click to send an e-mail to your Senators and Representative letting them know you oppose any legislation that would make DHEA illegal.