Hormone supplements won’t stop ageing
Two hopes for anti- ageing – testosterone and DHEA supplements – have been ruled out as the ‘magic bullet’.
DHEA is used by the body as raw material for testosterone and both hormones decline with age. That has led some people to claim that this is a cause of some of the effects of ageing such as weakened muscles and a lack of wellbeing.
But a trial has come up with negative results.
A group of healthy older men with low testosterone levels were given either testosterone as patch, DHEA or placebo. A group of older women were just given DHEA or placebo.
On a wide range of measures from sugar metabolism to exercise capacity to body fat and muscle, the results showed no effects from the supplements.
