Touted as the fountain of youth in pill form, DHEA, or dehydroepiandrosterone, is a hormone naturally produced by the body. The young body, that is; by age 85, you produce 95 percent less DHEA than at age 25. Stephen Cherniske, a biochemist who has tracked the research on DHEA for years, has compiled a handy reference to help sort out the hype from this hormone's reported helpfulness for boosting libido and immune function, improving bone density, aiding weight loss, relieving depression and atherosclerosis, and even reducing the size of tumors. DHEA is inexpensive and readily available in health food stores or through the Web; that's about where the simplicity wears off. It's not regulated by the FDA, so recommended doses vary widely, from 10 to 50 milligrams or more a day. It's also available in both natural and chemical forms, and, unfortunately, sometimes in combination with potentially dangerous stimulants such as ephedra, an herb that has been shown to cause insomnia and an irregular heartbeat. Cherniske gives suggestions for which type of DHEA to buy and in what doses, depending on such things as your age and activity level, as well as recommended sources. He also provides a "longevity program" with suggested co-supplements, such as ginseng and vitamin B6, along with exercises suited to even the completely out-of-shape, to optimize the effectiveness of the DHEA. There's also information about the ins and outs of DHEA testing and how to analyze your results (Cherniske reminds us that "normal" often tells us nothing), and potential side effects for both women and men. Overall, Cherniske does an excellent job of separating fact from fiction about this controversial but quite extraordinary supplement.Product Description: The superhormone revolution has begun and DHEA is the newest substance making headlines as a powerful ally in the fight against aging. But even as huge supplies of DHEA flood health food stores and Americans embrace this superhormone as casually as vitamin supplements, what is the truth about DHEA? Who are the best candidates for DHEA therapy? And how can you harness the incredible anti-aging powers of DHEA to live a longer, healthier life? Biochemist Stephen Cherniske has been at the center of the worldwide explosion in research on this wonder substance for more than a decade, and he, like many other doctors and researchers, has been taking it himself. In The DHEA Breakthrough, he gives you all the information you need to take advantage of and maximize the extraordinary properties of this superhormone--safely and effectively. DHEA is the body's own watchdog hormone, produced by the adrenal glands and then metabolized to a number of other hormones, most notably testosterone and estrogen, the sex hormones. Cherniske explains the startling fact that led to the discoveries about DHEA: its production peaks at age twenty-five, then starts to decrease dramatically. In fact, by the age of eighty, blood levels of DHEA have dropped 95