LifeCare Chiropractic

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dihydrotestosterone

Transdermal Dihydrotestosterone in Older Men with Androgen Deficiency – (09-10-01)

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Transdermal Dihydrotestosterone in Older Men with Androgen Deficiency

We get into a topic that always gets me a little concerned. I am usually against adding hormones to a patient’s body, especially when alternatives are available. This study uses DHT to affect these patient’s “youthful” status. A few things to consider here… DHT has been implicated in prostate cancer risk and this study only checks values at 3 months–hardly an adequate time frame in my opinion. Balancing the body is the key here; especially making sure that the adrenal glands are functioning optimally so they can provide adequate levels of testosterone. Next, how do we know, in our laughingly poor overall understanding of biochemistry, that lowered hormone levels in old age is bad?? There is much evidence that suggests that this is indeed a protective mechanism done deliberately by the body to protect from diseases such as cancer. Personally, in a bet of nature vs science being right, I’d put my money on nature…

JCEM — Abstracts: Ly et al. 86 (9): 4078

Read entire article here

Eat Soy: Prevent Baldness and Prostate Cancer? – (08-30-02)

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Eat Soy: Prevent Baldness and Prostate Cancer?

A naturally occurring substance, DHT, or dihydrotestosterone, is a byproduct of the male hormone testosterone that helps control the development and functioning of the prostate gland; in most men, DHT is relatively harmless. However, some studies have shown that high levels of DHT can damage hair follicles, leading to male pattern baldness, or lead to an enlarged prostate or, in extreme cases, cancer of the prostate gland.

Researchers in the U.S. and China recently discovered that the answer to stopping DHT may be as easy as eating soy. The scientists conducted a pair of experiments in which two sets of rats were injected with “equol,” a molecule abundant in soybeans and other soy-based products. While the equol did not prevent DHT from being made, it “handcuffed” the hormone by binding to and deactivating it.

“Directly binding and inactivating DHT without influencing testosterone gives equol the ability to reduce many of the harmful effects of androgens [male hormones] without affecting the beneficial ones,” said the study’s lead researcher. Another one of the study authors added that the findings “are of immense clinical importance.”

Additional information about the benefits of sound nutrition can be found at http://www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/nutrition.

Reference: Lund TD, Munson DJ, Haldy ME, et al. Equol is a novel anti-androgen that inhibits prostate growth and hormone feedback. Biology of Reproduction 2004;70:1188-1195.