The role of DHEA in bone density
Taking a DHEA supplement combined with vitamin D and calcium can significantly improve spinal bone density in older women, according to a new study.
“The results of our study are very promising. Similar studies have demonstrated much smaller benefits for bone than we found. However, calcium and vitamin D deficiencies, which are present in half of older adults, may have prevented DHEA from improving bone density in the earlier studies,” said Edward Weiss, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University’s Doisy College of Health Sciences and lead author of the study.
Low DHEA concentration has been associated with low bone density, which led researchers to question whether restoring DHEA levels could improve or preserve bone health.
Source: Dehydroepiandrosterone replacement therapy in older adults: 1- and 2-y effects on bone1,2,3
Vitamin B-1 and blindness
Researchers have discovered that a form of vitamin B1 could become a new and effective treatment for one of the world’s leading causes of blindness.
Scientists believe that uveitis, an inflammation of the tissue located just below the outer surface of the eyeball, produces 10 to 15 percent of all cases of blindness in the United States, and causes even higher rates of blindness globally. The inflammation is normally treated with antibiotics or steroid eye drops.
“Benfothiamine strongly suppresses this eye-damaging condition and the biochemical markers we associate with it,” said UTMB associate professor Kota V. Ramana, senior author of the study. “We’re optimistic that this simple supplementation with vitamin B1 has great potential as a new therapy for this widespread eye disease.”
IPM’s BenfoCarnosine contains 100mg of benfothiamine (a fat soluble form of vitamin B-1) per capsule.
Source: Prevention of Endotoxin-Induced Uveitis in Rats by Benfotiamine, a Lipophilic Analogue of Vitamin B1