Soak Your Way to Health

DHEA, Magnesium and the Fountain of Youth

Your age typically determines your DHEA level, your magnesium level, and your likely present state of health.

DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone, is the most prevalent and one of the most essential hormones in human health. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans lose 80-90% of their optimal DHEA between ages 30 and 80.

According to Dr. Norman Shealy, every known illness is associated with a magnesium deficiency and low levels of the hormone DHEA. DHEA is the health and youth hormone. If DHEA is low, magnesium is low. They go together. Even a 10% increase in magnesium and DHEA levels is associated with a 48% decrease in death from cardiovascular disease and a 36% decrease in mortality: from all causes. The human being has the only body with a significant level of DHEA.

It is striking that low levels of both DHEA and magnesium characterize most illnesses. A connection between these essential chemicals appears to be basic the understanding of health, wellness and the restoring and maintaining of youth. Low levels of DHEA are found in women up to nine years BEFORE development of breast cancer. And men may have low DHEA levels for four or more years prior to development of prostate cancer. There is a long list of DHEA/magnesium deficiency symptoms. They are anxiety, hyperactivity, confusion, depression, diarrhea or constipation, faintness, fatigue, hyperventilation, lack of coordination, insomnia, intestinal problems, muscle cramps, muscle tightness, pain, poor memory, seizures, tinnitus and vertigo; and these are just the symptoms!

Major diseases associated with DHEA/ magnesium deficiency are: angina pectoris, arrhythmia, asthma, atherosclerosis, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD), auricular fibrillation, bulimia, cancer, cardiomyopathy, chronic fatigue, chronic bronchitis, congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, depression, diabetes, emphysema, gall bladder infections and stones, hearing loss, heart attack, high cholesterol, hypertension, hypoglycemia, chronic infection (viral and bacterial) intermittent claudication (leg calf pain), kidney stones, migraine, mitral valve prolapse, osteoporosis, panic attacks, PMS (premenstrual syndrome), benign prostate hypertrophy, PVC's and strokes.

In no illness is DHEA/magnesium deficiency prevalent than myocardial infarction (acute heart attack). On average, patients given magnesium intravenously have a 50% greater survival rate. It has also been shown that mothers who are given magnesium IVs just before giving birth are much less likely to have children who develop cerebral palsy.

When DHEA is raised, testosterone levels are raised. This raises libido in both men and women.

DHEA is a major reflector of overall health and stress reserves. Raising DHEA results in a remarkable increase in perceived physical and psychological well being for both men and women. There is increased energy, deeper sleep, improved mood, more relaxed feelings and an improved ability to deal with stressful situations.

The Fountain of Youth

"With few exceptions, low or deficient DHEA is found in every illness. Most critically, DHEA blocks carcinogenesis, retards aging and cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even obesity. Interestingly, US Today, on 9/5/96, carried a cover story `DHEA: Is This Hormone the Fountain of Youth?' And The Sciences, in its September/October 1995 issue, carried an article, `Forever Young."' From the book Holy Water, Sacred Oil, The Fountain of Youth by Dr. C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., pp. 90-97.

DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands in both men and women. Men produce about one third more than women do as they also produce DHEA in the testes. DHEA lowers cholesterol and enhances immune function. It is also an antioxidant. DHEA is a major marker for age and health. Its major effect is anti-stress; meaning that the increased cortisone produced by stress is brought back down to baseline by a rise in DHEA.

DHEA similarly has anti-diabetic action by sparing or enhancing the effects of insulin. DHEA protects against both immune and autoimmune disease; it enhances immune function, protecting against infections, especially viral infections, as well as protecting against cancer. It has very significant anti-obesity effects and a corresponding down-regulation of the stress response. High animal fat diets and obesity lead to low levels of DHEA. DHEA is ultimately related to thyroid function. Especially low thyroid production leads to low DHEA levels.

Levels of DHEA decline with age. The research suggests that supplements with the DHEA hormone in our middle age and older years will bring the levels back to those of youth. This could help us live longer and improve the quality of our lives. Remember that when we bring DHEA up, we also bring up the critically important mineral magnesium. There is virtually no illness that is not helped significantly by magnesium! Please review the long list of illnesses above associated with magnesium deficiency.

DHEA level is the major reflector of stress reserves and overall health. Low levels of DHEA have been reported in AIDS, Alzheimer's, many types of cancer, coronary artery disease, depression, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, lupus, erythematosus, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and viral infections; i.e., almost all disease!

Soil throughout the world is deficient in magnesium with the exception of the soil in Egypt. Most foods in America have almost no magnesium, and most seniors may not be absorbing the little that they do get in their food. As a single essential nutrient, lack of magnesium may be responsible for more disease than any other deficiency. Assimilation and utilization of magnesium through supplementation is slow and low. Farmers are well aware of the major impact of magnesium depletion. Horses and cattle may die from "blind-staggers" or "grass-staggers," an uncoordinated gait, severe muscle spasms and even seizures. All this is curable with magnesium supplementation if caught early.

White flour and white sugar are junk foods that deplete magnesium. So-called soft drinks are the ultimate junk food and a serious detriment to health. Prescription drugs deplete magnesium from the body.

Diabetes: Another major disease in which magnesium deficiency is rampant is diabetes. In fact, in diabetes, extreme magnesium loss is common. Magnesium is an important cofactor in the production of insulin by the pancreas. Normal total body magnesium is essential for glucose metabolism. Thus, the rampant magnesium deficiency in our society may be a contributing cause of diabetes.

Cerebral palsy may be the result of magnesium deficiency. Mothers given intravenous magnesium just before giving birth are much less likely to have children who develop the disease.

Hypertension: Both calcium deficiency (70% of patients) and magnesium deficiency (80%) are important factors in hypertension. Replacement of both calcium and magnesium may make anti-hypertension drugs unnecessary. Doing away with "drug therapy" for hypertension of itself would save lives, to say nothing of the improved quality of life. Have you ever read the inserts that drug companies put out with so-called anti-hypertension drugs? If you haven't, ask your pharmacist for the original company insert. Do this with any drug. You will be shocked!

Migraine: Migraine is a disabling condition for 12 to 13% of Americans. A shot of magnesium is as effective as most drugs. Long-term magnesium supplementation reduces the frequency of migraines.

Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia: Neither of these is likely to be cured without magnesium replacement.

Depression: In depression, magnesium deficiency is universal. Magnesium replacement is one of the key elements for long-term success in this perhaps most common illness in the world.

Osteoporosis: As in the supplement Calcium Lactate, calcium is balanced with magnesium to give the unique chemical combination that makes bones and teeth sound.

Magnesium and DHEA go together. When we raise intercellular magnesium, we raise DHEA. This is the natural way to raise the body's DHEA levels. A catch in this equation is that whole blood, serum, plasma and even white blood cell levels of magnesium do not give an accurate picture of optimal magnesium Looking back at the graph again we can see that DHEA is present in a baby in the first months then collapses until the beginning of puberty. Why couldn't we raise the DHEA in our infants and rear a generation of highly intelligent and healthy people?

DHEA and Magnesium Replacement: Oral magnesium is potentially laxative and even if it's not, it requires about a year to rise to sufficient levels. Intravenous magnesium is the most rapid. For most people, ten IVs given over a two-week period is adequate. Then there is follow-up, but most people don't like needles, and it may be difficult to find a physician to give them.

The simple, painless, no risk method is absorption of magnesium through the skin. The right amount of "Magic Oil" or "Dollop of Love" (DOL) can normalize intercellular magnesium and DHEA. Diluted Magic Oil can be reused for foot soaking several times before discarding. Use a plastic pan that is large enough to soak both feet at once.

Note: Your condition comes about over years. Be persistent over a few months to expect health reversal. Restoration to health is not instant. Do a 20 minute foot soak with diluted Magic Oil every day for four to six weeks. To get added benefit, rub oil or spray a 50% solution on the bottom of the feet, as needed.

You may have found your Fountain of Youth!

Modified as needed by Thomas Narvaez, Ph.D. according to information from Jim Carter and the book: Holy Water, Sacred Oil, The Fountain of Youth, by Dr. C. Norman Shealy, MD, Ph.D.

THE BOB STEVENSON LETTER, used with permission, is available by subscription (12 issues for $65, from P.O. Box 110013, Birmingham, Alabama 35211

DHEA, The Youth and Health Hormone

Dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA as it is more often called, is a steroid hormone naturally produced in the adrenal gland. It is the most abundant steroid in the bloodstream and is present at even higher levels in brain tissue. DHEA levels are known to fall precipitously with age, falling 90% from age 20 to age 90.

DHEA is known to be a precursor to the numerous steroid sex hormones (including estrogen and testosterone) which serve well-known functions.

DHEA and Cancer
Early reports from England [Bulbrook, 1962, 1971] suggested that DHEA was abnormally low in women who developed breast cancer, even as much as nine years prior to the onset or diagnosis of the disease. Of the 5000 women followed in the study, 27 developed cancer. Most of the 27 had abnormally low levels of DHEA. Many years later, Dr. Arthur Schwartz of Temple University found that supplemental DHEA significantly protected cell cultures from the toxicity of carcinogens. Cell cultures usually respond to powerful carcinogens with mutations (changes in DNA), transformations (changes in cell appearance), and a high rate of cell death. But when Schwartz added DHEA along with the carcinogen, all three of these effects were significantly diminished.

DHEA and Glucose Metabolism
Investigators have shown that DHEA inhibits glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), an enzyme that breaks down glucose. There are two glucose-metabolizing pathways in the body, the catabolic, energy-yielding pathway and the anabolic, biosynthetic pathway. G6PDH happens to be the first enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway, the one which results in the synthesis of fatty acids and ribose (the sugar used in making deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA). In simple language, G6PDH turns glucose into fat.

DHEA and Aging
The body's production of DHEA drops from about 30 mg at age 20 to less than 6 mg per day at age 80. According to Dr. William Regelson of the Medical College of Virginia, DHEA is "one of the best biochemical bio-markers for chronological age." In some people, DHEA levels decline 95% during their lifetime -- the largest decline of an important biochemical yet documented.

DHEA levels are directly related to mortality (the probability of dying) in humans. In a 12-year study of over 240 men aged 50 to 79 years, researchers found that DHEA levels were inversely correlated with mortality, both from heart disease and from all causes. This finding suggests that DHEA level measurements can become a standard diagnostic predictor of disease, mortality and lifespan. Furthermore, if animal results hold true, supplemental DHEA may prevent disease, reduce mortality, and extend lifespan in humans.

DHEA: The Buffering Steroid?
DHEA may be unique among hormones for it's lack of specificity for hormone receptor sites. Just as vitamin E has never been shown to have a specific metabolic role (it is only proven essential as a general antioxidant), DHEA may serve an equally general purpose. "DHEA is the first example of a buffer action for hormones that I know of," states William Regelson. "It is a broad-acting hormone that only demonstrates itself under a specific set of circumstances. In that way, it is like a buffer against sudden changes in acidity or alkalinity. That is why when you get older, you're much more vulnerable to the effects of stress. As DHEA declines with age, you are losing the buffer against the stress-related hormones. It is the buffer action that [helps prevent] us from aging." The decrease of DHEA with age may result in gradual decline of a system for suppressing enzyme systems responsible for creating the building blocks of new cells, like lipids, nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) and sex steroids. The resulting rise in enzymatic activity in advanced age may be responsible for the proliferative events (cancer) and degenerative disease that become more frequent in advanced age. In this respect, DHEA might be best considered to be an anti-hormone, which might "de-excite" steroid-sensitive receptors that would otherwise lead to enhanced metabolic activity.