Hormone Help for Sex Life

Feeling a little less than lustful? There's help. And it comes from German researchers who say it appears the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone -- DHEA -- can improve a woman's sex life.

A report in the New England Journal of Medicine says DHEA given to women with low adrenal gland activity indicated more sexual thoughts and erotic fantasies and heightened sexual interest following four months of treatment.

The double-blind study included 24 women who filled out psychological questionnaires as treatment progressed. While they can't pinpoint the physiologic role DHEA plays in the body's system, researchers did say that it raises low serum levels of some sexual hormones -- including testosterone.

Two added benefits? Women who used the DHEA reported a better feeling of overall well-being and lowered choloesterol. DHEA levels lessen as a body ages, but for some women the level is always low because of underactive glands.

DHEA downers? Greasy skin, acne and increased body hair.