What can you do to stay healthy and not be as vulnerable to getting sick? How can we maintain our health and avoid catching colds or the flu? And, if you do get sick, how can you avoid getting terribly sick and ending up in the critical care unit at the hospital? Short answer: Keep your immunity up by keeping DHEA levels up with a daily skin cream called Twist 25 DHEA cream, which has important hormonal benefits. We explore the benefits of DHEA for immune system.
What is DHEA?
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is the human body’s most abundant naturally occurring hormone precursor or prohormone. Human studies have shown that DHEA is produced by the adrenal glands, sex organs and the dermis (skin) and is metabolized in the body into sex hormones such as androgens, testosterone and estrogens.
DHEA is a base building block for all the estrogenic and androgenic hormones. That is why it is sometimes called the “mother hormone”. DHEA plays an important role in maintaining a healthy hormone balance for physical and mental well-being. The graph below shows that DHEA levels over the course of a human lifespan. DHEA is naturally produced from birth. It is clear why DHEA is associated with deminishing health and vitality as we get older than age 35, and makes sense that DHEA provides many anti-aging benefits.
Through childhood into maturirity, we produce DHEA at an increasing rate until about age 25, when we are at our physical hormone prime of life. After age 25, men and women produce about 2% less DHEA every year. As a result, many natural body processes driven by our hormones begin to slow down. By age 35, levels of DHEA have decreased by about 20%. It is common for people to gain some weight, have lower energy levels, not sleep well. Many people say they started to lose mental sharpness and drive. Some people also get sick more often because of immune system declines.
By age 50, DHEA levels are half the level they were in our 20s. Research shows a positive association between DHEA levels and important measures of physical health and mental function.
DHEA supports cardiovascular health, promotes cognitive function and a stronger immune system, and counterbalances the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is produced in response to stressful situations. The adrenal glands release the “fight or flight” hormone to protect the body with an inflammatory response. The problem with this defensive inflammatory response to fight stressors is that too much cortisol on a chronic basis has many detrimental effects. DHEA counterbalances cortisol.
Medical Research Studies Show DHEA Supports Immune Response
Many medical research studies show that DHEA helps improve immune function because DHEA increases the number of immune helper cells and significantly decreases the number of immune suppressor cells.
Natural Killer Cells (NK cells) are white blood cells that are your front line of defense against cancer cells, viruses, and bacteria that cause colds, flu, pneumonia, and coronaviruses. Like so many things in the body, NK cells lose their functionality as we age. The good news is that science shows DHEA improves the number of and activity of natural killer (NK) cells. DHEA boosts monocytes, which are immune system cells that attack and destroy viruses and other foreign pathogens.
DHEA maximizes the protective effects of T lymphocytes. “Activation of Immune Function by Dehydroepiandrosterone. (2)
Dr. William Regelson described the results in his “The Super-Hormone Promise” book. In Dr. Khorram’s research study at the University of Wisconsin, study participants took DHEA supplementation daily for five months. Dr. Khorram and his research team found that DHEA did indeed have a palpable, measurable, rejuvenating effect on their aging immune systems. (3)
DHEA helps the immune system in another way by providing a counterbalance to stress. The body responds to stress by producing more of the adrenal hormone cortisol.
DHEA counterbalances cortisol. When stress is not managed, large amounts of cortisol reduce the number and function of NK cells. 4
The Healing and Protecting Qualities of DHEA For Immune System
Researchers have also noticed that DHEA supplementation appears to restore cytokines to youthful levels in laboratory animal studies. These immune chemicals aid in healing and protecting cells throughout the body. It makes sense that hormones help the body fight aging by supporting healthy immune function. This is further evidence that DHEA helps the body stay healthier because it helps it remain less susceptible to illness. Mother nature at it’s best.
How to use DHEA For Immunity?
Dr. John R. Woodward, M.D. Board Certified Gynecology and hormone replacement specialist, Medical City Dallas once said, “As a physician, I believe DHEA must be used as a bioidentical DHEA cream called “Twist 25”.
Twist 25 DHEA cream is the top bioidentical DHEA supplement cream available. Medical research studies clearly show why DHEA should be used as an absorbable skin cream. Use Twist 25 cream. Make your own hormones.”
There are three reasons for this:
- When taken orally as a pill, most DHEA is eliminated by the “First-pass effect” of the liver. So, the liver filters out most DHEA before it can yield benefits. Oral DHEA supplements only provide DHEA-S (DHEA sulfate), not free DHEA. Free DHEA is a base precursor for sex hormones.
- DHEA-S is not the same as free DHEA. The body cannot convert DHEA-S into free DHEA. It is a one-way process, as shown in a study by Dr. Fabian Hammer et al. 5
- Medical research shows the human body metabolizes most DHEA into various smaller, more specific hormones in not just the testicles and ovaries, adrenal and pituitary glands, and liver. The skin (the dermis) 88% of the hormone metabolism occurs in the skin, the dermis.
The dermis is the largest organ of the human body. The dermis is where we metabolize most of the DHEA we make. So Twist 25 DHEA cream actually provides exactly what the body produces naturally: bioidentical DHEA, where it is utilized, the skin.
A study shows, “In postmenopausal women, all estrogens and nearly all androgens are made locally in peripheral target tissues from the inactive adrenal steroid precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). In adult men, approximately 50% of androgens are made locally.”
DHEA must be used as a bioidentical DHEA cream and there are no dangerous side effects from DHEA.
Factors Known to Reduce NK Cell Activity
It is important to know how important it is to support the immune system using Twist 25 DHEA cream. It is also important to know of factors that science has shown negatively affect NK cell function:
Dietary nutrient deficiencies in zinc or vitamins A, C, and D can negatively impact NK cell function, as can smoking, obesity, or lack of adequate sleep. 6 7 8
General Recommendations for Supporting the Immune System
In this article, we have mainly focused on factors that directly affect the NK cells of the immune system.
Other recommended things that support the immune system are to eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of water, and add supplements like vitamin C, vitamin D3, and K2. 30 minutes to an hour of exercise every day is very important to keep your immune system strong.
No one likes being sick. We all want to reduce our risks of cancer or COVID.
Twist 25 DHEA Cream
We all know it’s important to exercise, get adequate sleep at night, drink plenty of water, and eat right to stay healthy. Many people take supplements like vitamin C, zinc, and other vitamins to avoid getting sick and support a strong immune system. Now, if you’re 35 or older, you can and should add another important component to maintain health – DHEA.
Twist 25 DHEA cream is generally recommended for men and women 35 and up. Twist 25 DHEA cream is available without a prescription and has no dangerous side effects. If you have any questions or want more information, please call Health2Go toll-free at 888-489-4782 and ask to speak with Hugh Woodward.
Keep your immune system strong. Use Twist 25 DHEA cream. Make your own hormones.
For More Information On How DHEA Helps Boost Immunity, Listen To Our Podcast:
__________________________________________________________________________________
References:
- Bovenberg SA, van Uum SH, Hermus AR. Dehydroepiandrosterone administration in humans: evidence-based? Neth J Med. 2005 Sep;63(8):300-4. Review. PubMed PMID: 16186639 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16186639/
- Khorram O, Vu L, Yen SS. Activation of immune function by dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in age-advanced men. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1997 Jan;52(1):M1-7. PubMed PMID: 9008662. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9008662/
- Regelson W. The Super-Hormone Promise. New York, NY: Pocket Books; 1997. 400p
- Andersen BL, Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Glaser R. A biobehavioral model of cancer stress and disease course. Am Psychol. 1994 May;49(5):389-404. Review. PubMed PMID: 8024167; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2719972 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8024167/
- Hammer, F, Subtil, S, Lux, P, Maser-Gluth, C, Stewart, P, Allolio, B, Arlt, W. No evidence for hepatic conversion of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) sulfate to DHEA: in vivo and in vitro studies. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2005 Jun;90(6):3600-5. doi 10.1210/jc.2004-2386. Epub 2005 Mar 8 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15755854/
- Irwin M, McClintick J, Costlow C, Fortner M, White J, Gillin JC. Partial night sleep deprivation reduces natural killer and cellular immune responses in humans. FASEB J. 1996 Apr;10(5):643-53. PubMed PMID: 8621064 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8621064/
- Bush B, Mo S. Natural killer cells – Canaries in the immunological coal mine. [Internet]. https://neuroendoimmune.wordpress.com2011 May. Available from: https://neuroendoimmune.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/natural-killer-cells-canaries-in-the-immunological-coal-mine/