Hormones

Re “U.S. Agency Sounds Alarm About ‘Miracle’ Hormones,” April 28: The National Institute on Aging has sounded the alarm about possible health consequences from the widespread use of DHEA and melatonin, two hormonal supplements. As a health writer who has written about these hormones, many of the alternative medicine practitioners I have spoken to report numerous benefits from their use, including, in the case of DHEA, more energy and well-being among older people. Particularly in the case of DHEA, they caution that it is advisable to have simple laboratory tests before and after taking it to determine a genuine need and appropriate dosage for each individual.

I personally would rather see the National Institute on Aging, or any governmental agency, sound the alarm for a massively more serious problem: the deaths of up to 180,000 patients each year and the maiming of hundreds of thousands others as a result of medical drug side effects.

MARTIN ZUCKER

Los Angeles