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ASTHMA: D. Robin Taylor, Jan O. Cowan, Justina M. Greene, Andrew R. Willan, and Malcolm R. Sears Asthma in Remission: Can Relapse in Early Adulthood Be Predicted at 18 Years of Age? Chest 2005; 127: 845-850 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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loss of DHEA around age twenty may be cause...

James M. Howard   (15 March 2005)

loss of DHEA around age twenty may be cause... 15 March 2005
James M. Howard, biologist independent Send letter to journal: Re: loss of DHEA around age twenty may be cause... jmhoward{at}anthropogeny.com James M. Howard	It is my hypothesis that the underlying cause of asthma is low dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). DHEA is very low in early childhood, then begins to increase, reaching a peak around age 20-25. Around age twenty, DHEA begins to decline, reaching very low levels in old age. I suggest the decline in DHEA around age twenty may occur slightly earlier in the individuals of this study. This decline may trigger asthma in these individuals. For sake of comparison, it is my hypothesis that low DHEA is involved in the onset of schizophrenia which often occurs in the late teens. The reduction in DHEA in the late teens may be the triggering factor in individuals with different predispositions to low DHEA. Testosterone interferes with the availability of DHEA. It is my hypothesis that the "secular trend," the increase in size and earlier puberty in children, is due to an increase in the percentage of individuals of higher testosterone over time within a population. Therefore, this increase in testostrone would also increase the incidence of asthma and account for the increase in asthma.