Hi Kay,  :)

Here I go again with my trusty diagram again....  LOL!  Look at the last pathway.  You will ind Dehydroepiandrosterone which the full word for  DHEA.  That is the hormone that is made before the androgens are made, namely androsteendione and Testosterone.  If that is elevated in the labs then this indicates that there has not been enough cortisol replacement or some illness causing a problem that was not met by adequate dose of cortisol. 

If androstenedione and testosterone are elevated, dhea’s will be also.  We all need dhea’s in moderation so there should not be overtreatment as this will suppress dhea’s and can cause various problems like bone density loss etc.  Dhea’s can also cause a problem when over produced also.  Here is a home page that has lot’s of links to information about DHEA.

http://www.naples.net/~nfn03605/

 

Cheers,

CONGENITAL ADRENAL HYPERPLASIA

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Enzymatic pathways for Cortisol and Aldosterone:

	Desmolase		17-alpha-Hydroxylase		C-17-Lyase
Cholesterol	--------------------->	Pregnenolone	----------------------->	17-oh-Pregnenolone	------------------->	Dehydroepiandrosterone
		|		|		|
	3-beta-oh-steroid dehydrogenase	|	3-beta-oh-steroid dehydrogenase	|	3-beta-oh-steroid dehydrogenase	|
		Progesterone		17-oh-Progesterone		Androstenedione
	21-Hydoxylase	|	21-Hydroxylase	|	Peripheral tissues	|
		Deoxycorticosterone		11-Deoxycortisol		Testosterone
	11-beta-Hydroxylase	|	11-beta-Hydoxylase	|
		Corticosterone		Cortisol
	18-Hydroxylase	|
		18-oh-Corticosterone
	18-Oxidase	|
		Aldosterone