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A SUBSTANCE secreted by the adrenal glands might be helping some smokers live
longer than others. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, a source of androgens and
oestrogens, is thought to keep the heart and circulation healthy. Levels of
DHEAS decline in old age. Lise Mazat and her colleagues at the University of
Bordeaux tested the DHEAS levels of 290 people in their 60s, then repeated the
tests eight years later. The levels had no bearing on death rates in the women.
But male smokers deficient in the hormone were twice as likely as to die within
the eight years as others with high levels. Non-smoking males came out best,
however. Even if they had low levels of DHEAS, they lived as long as smokers
with high levels. Male smokers deficient in DHEAS fared the worst, say Mazat and
her colleagues in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (vol 98, p
8145).