DHEA Supplementation May Improve Midlife Depression

Recent research from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has found DHEA supplementation may be an effective treatment of midlife onset depression. The double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled treatment study was published in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, an American Medical Association (AMA) journal. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is defined as an adrenal androgen and neurosteroid, classified as an over-the-counter (OTC) hormone therapy supplement.

A research team from the Behavioral Endocrinology branch of NIMH studied 23 men and 23 women aged 45 to 65 with midlife onset of depression of moderate severity. The subjects were given either six weeks or DHEA therapy ­ 90 mg. for the first three weeks and 450 mg. for the second thhree weeks ­ or six weeks of a placebo treatment. Researchers evaaluated subjects every three and six weeks using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HDS), Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and the Derogatis Interview for Sexual Functioning Scale. They recorded a 50-percent or more reduction of depression, relative to baseline HDS score in 23 patients after DHEA supplementation. The scientists also noted six weeks of DHEA treatment was positively associated with significant improvements in Derogatis scores relative to baseline and placebo conditions.

The study authors wrote..."In the 50 percent of depressed outpatients who do not respond to first-line antidepressant treatment, or in those unwilling to take traditional antidepressants, DHEA may have a useful role in the treatment of mild to moderately severe midlife-onset major and minor depression."

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