Hello David and gang,

This is just some general info, not diagnosis or treatment.

DHEA is NOT SAFE for someone with a history of prostate cancer, ovarian
cancer, or breast cancer--in my opinion, any cancer.  It is a very helpful
HORMONE (not an herb) when used in appropriate circumstances.

There are safe alternatives to DHEA which you might explore with a
naturopathic doctor or someone otherwise trained in natural medicine.

much peace & good health,  Brother Bernard Seif, SMC, EdD, NMD

I have been taking DHEA for 9 years. Only stopped it when I found out I
had PCA, until the RRP. Then resumed regimen. Uro's knew I was doing
this and they didn't indicate there was any problem with it. A few
months ago I switched to one 25 mg every other day. It is a wonderful
supplement to help replace testosterone lost with age, but of course if
your PCA wasn't caught in time, and (completely) removed, you would
obviously (and especially) need to consult your doctor.

When you have prostate cancer, no single hormone is safe to use.  The
best that can possibly happen if you take a single hormone is that you
will kill almost all of your prostate cancer cells, but stimulate those
not killed to double their population at a much faster rate than before.

In theory, it is possible to safely increase your testosterone (T)
level, but only by using a combination of drugs and hormones to totally
alter your body chemistry.  Ideally, you maximally stimulate the
membrane androgen receptor (which prefers T), while maximally blocking
the intracellular androgen receptor (which prefers DHT); you maximally
stimulate estrogen receptor-beta while maximally blocking estrogen
receptor-alpha (the FDA hasn't approved that drug yet); and you probably
want to maximally stimulate progesterone receptor-B while maximally
blocking progesterone receptor-A (I say probably, because there was a
design flaw in the key experiment).

In practice, the best you can do right now is to maximize your T level
while minimizing your DHT level.  Dr. Leibowitz has reported ~98%
success rate with this combination:
http://www.prostateweb.com/docs/HDTRT9.doc

Ed Friedman