Kris:  You wrote:
>"Pardon my ignorance, but exactly what is DHEA? Is this something that I
>should ask my clients to have their doctors test them for when a milk
>supply is not responding to improved management techniques?"

DHEA is DeHydroEpiAndrosterone.  (I added the capital letters for clarity).
It is known as a precursor to both Androstenedione (which is then further
converted to Estrone, which in turn can be converted to Estradiol) and to
Testosterone (which is converted to Estradiol, and in turn can be converted
to Estrone) in females.  DHEA originates from Cholesterol.  Cholesterol is
necessary for the production of not only DHEA, but also progesterone.

As far as testing moms, I am not aware of any protocol that suggests this
as a routine test.  There are no clinical randomized controlled trials
(RCTs) studying DHEA in lactating women.  In fact, clinical evidence on
women in general with DHEA is rather limited.  The only researcher who is
doing primary, clincal research on this with women is Dr. Elizabeth
Barrett-Conner at UCSD.  All of my post comes from my personal analysis of
how DHEA interacts with other hormones and with my own clinical experience,
plus the anectdotal cases reported to me by moms.  Dr. Barrett-Conner does
not recommend that women supplement with DHEA and in fact cautions that it
may increase the risk of certain estrogen-sensitive cancers.

Regardless of the evidence, there are lots of women taking this for a
variety of symptoms: perimenopausal dryness/hormone swings, lactational
dryness, PMS, etc. In women, we do know that doses over 100 mgs can cause
obvious physical androgenic effects (deepening of the voice, facial hair,
etc.)  Most women I have encountered take between 25-75 mg.  Oral DHEA is
available OTC.  Some sources combine it with herbs (I have more info on
these).

I hope this helps.
Chris

: )Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC  email: [log in to unmask]  : )
: )HSR & Health Educational Consultant        voice/fax: 541 753 7340   : )
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