About 1% of people suffer from schizophrenia, a serious mental illness found in all societies and cultures. Many treatments options are available to reduce the dramatic symptoms of this illness such as the false beliefs (delusions) and false or distorted perceptions (hallucinations). Other symptoms, such as emotional withdrawal and apathy are also often seen with schizophrenia and seem less responsive to treatment with antipsychotic drugs. In addition, some people continue to experience delusions and hallucinations despite adequate use of antipsychotic drugs and often supplementary treatments are used. These supplementary treatments include sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.
We reviewed the effects of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)/testosterone as an adjunctive therapy to standard antipsychotic drugs for people with schizophrenia and found three relevant small, short studies. All trials compared antipsychotic drugs plus DHEA with antipsychotic drugs and placebo. Results are inconclusive, with most outcomes being either non-significant or contradictory and a much larger, conclusive study should be undertaken. Currently however, people with schizophrenia should only agree to take this experimental treatment within the context of a well designed experimental study. We found nothing in these studies to suggest that it should be used in routine care.