The war against widening waistlines may have a new weapon: Researchers say an over-the-counter hormone supplement might help elderly people shed stubborn belly fat.Preliminary evidence suggests that increased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a natural hormone secreted by the adrenal gland, might also help older people keep diabetes at bay."The replacement of DHEA, at doses of 50 milligrams per day, brought back DHEA levels in older persons to the range seen in youth. This resulted in a reduction in abdominal fat that was accompanied by an improvement in insulin action,” explained study co-researcher Dr. Dennis T. Villareal, an assistant professor of geriatrics and nutritional science at Washington University in St. Louis.The findings appear in the Nov. 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
