Pregnenolone is a steroid hormone that is the parent, or precursor, to other steroid hormones the body produces, including progesterone, estrogens, androgens and corticosteroids. Pregnenolone supplements are promoted as useful for improving memory and alertness and for decreasing stress and fatigue, and as helpful for a variety of health conditions, including arthritis. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before taking pregnenolone supplements.
History
The bulk of research on pregnenolone was performed during the 1940s, according to the American Cancer Society. Some studies indicated that the steroid could be helpful for arthritis, but further research did not support this theory. In addition, once the research showed that the body uses pregnenolone to produce all other steroid hormones, doctors decided that treating arthritis patients with cortisol was more logical, as cortisol decreases inflammation directly.
Considerations
Ray Sahelian, a medical doctor who sells natural supplements on his website, comments that once pharmaceutical companies became interested in synthetic steroids that they could patent, research on pregnenolone was dropped for the most part. As a natural hormone, pregnenolone cannot be patented. Early research with cortisol found remarkable short-term improvements for rheumatoid arthritis patients. Scientists developed more potent synthetic steroids from cortisol, such as prednisone, that pharmaceutical companies could patent and sell. Dr. Sahelian does sell pregnenolone supplements on his website. He notes that some people have found pregnenolone helpful for arthritis, but he does not directly promote his pregnenolone supplements for this use.
Recent Research
During a more recent study that appeared in the "Journal of Rheumatology" in February 2003, researchers worked to identify the point at which a steroidal hormonal deficiency develops in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. A repeated finding with these individuals, according to the study, is that they have low levels of adrenal steroids. The scientists found that the arthritis and the lupus patients had serum levels of pregnenolone that were similar to those of healthy subjects. The arthritis and lupus patients, however, had significantly lower levels of other hormones, such as progesterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone, known as DHEA.
Caution
If you'd like to try pregneneolone supplements for relieving arthritis symptoms, the American Cancer Society gives some cautionary guidelines. Because the body makes steroid hormones such as testosterone from pregnenolone, high doses of pregnenolone could lead to side effects, such as aggressiveness, insomnia, acne, oily skin, menstrual irregularities, loss of scalp hair and growth of facial or body hair on women. High doses of pregnenolone also may cause liver problems and abnormal heart rhythms. In addition, laboratory and animal studies suggest that pregnenolone may stimulate hormone-related cancers, such as prostate and breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Dr. Sahelian recommends a maximum dosage of 2 mg per day for no more than five days in a row, and he particularly discourages taking more than 5 mg per day.
