Centre for Policy on Ageing



DHEAS levels and mortality in disabled older women — the Women's Health and Aging Study I
Author(s)	Anne R Cappola, Qian-Li Xue, Jeremy D Walston
Journal title	Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 61A, no 9, September 2006
Pages	pp 957-962
Source	http://www.geron.org
Keywords	Older women ; Physical disabilities ; Death rate [statistics] ; Drugs ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America.
Annotation	Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) is an endogenously produced sex steroid that has been hypothesised to have anti-ageing effects. Low DHEAS levels are associated with mortality in older men, but the relationship between DHEAS levels and mortality in women is not clearly defined. The relationship between serum DHAES level and 5-year mortality was analysed by a cohort of 539 disabled women aged 65-100 enrolled in the Women's Health and Aging Study I (WHAS-I). Using Cox proportional hazard models, the authors calculated multivariate-adjusted mortality risks by DHEAS quartiles and by DHEAS continuously. allowing for a non-linear relationship. Case-specific mortality was also examined. A U-shaped relationships between DHEAS level and mortality was found. After adjusting for multiple covariates, women in the top and bottom DHEAS quartiles had more than 2-fold higher mortality than did those in the middle quartiles. Women with higher DHEAS levels tended to have greater cancer mortality, whereas those with lower DHEAS tended to have greater cardiovascular mortality. Disabled older women with either high or low levels of DHEAS are at greater risk than are those at intermediate levels. More research is needed to determine whether targeted DHEA supplementation would provide any clinical benefit. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-070504244 A
Classmark	BD: BN: S5: LLD: 3J: 7T
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