[Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)--structure, clinical importance and the role in human body]

DHEA and DHEA-S are hormones synthetized primarily by the adrenal cortex. The levels oh this hormones are systematically decreased, beginning from the fourth life decade. The levels of this hormones are also abberrated as a consequence of divorce systematical diseases like cardiovascular diseases, skeletal diseases, diabetes mellitus or obesity. This hormones, probably, have antiaheromatic facilities. There are also data suggesting their influence on stimulation of immunological system. It is already confirmed that the levels of this hormones are modified in congenital function disorders that are present in different diseases, like Alzheimer diseases, and oral administration of DHEA can improves the memory. Presumably DHEA-S have also anticarcinogenic facilities. The levels of this hormones can be also a marker monitoring the course of pregnancy. There are still a lot of discrepancies between results of different studies and it is very difficult to describe their role in human body. Because their levels are decreased with ageing process, this observation makes the researchers call them as the "youth hormones".