Mayo was the seventh player to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs since the league began testing in 1999. Olympic 400-meter champion Lashawn Merritt tested positive for prasterone in 2010 and was banned from the sport for 21 months. Tennis player Venus Williams had permission from the International Tennis Federation to use DHEA along with hydrocortisone as a treatment for "adrenal insufficiency," but it was revoked in 2016 by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which believed DHEA use would enhance Williams athletic performance. Research
Anabolic uses
A meta-analysis of intervention studies shows that prasterone supplementation in elderly men can induce a small but significant positive effect on body composition that is strictly dependent on prasterone conversion into its bioactive metabolites such as androgens or estrogens. Evidence is inconclusive in regards to the effect of prasterone on strength in the elderly. In middle-aged men, no significant effect of prasterone supplementation on lean body mass, strength, or testosterone levels was found in a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Cancer
There is no evidence prasterone is of benefit in treating or preventing cancer. Cardiovascular disease
A review in 2003 found the then-extant evidence sufficient to suggest that low serum levels of DHEA-S may be associated with coronary heart disease in men, but insufficient to determine whether prasterone supplementation would have any cardiovascular benefit.Prasterone may enhance G6PD mRNA expression, confounding its inhibitory effects. Lupus
There is some evidence of short-term benefit in those with systemic lupus erythematosus but little evidence of long-term benefit or safety.
It does not appear to work for L. major or L. braziliensis.The evidence around the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis is poor. A number of topical treatments may be used for cutaneous leishmaniasis. Which treatments are effective depends on the strain, with topical paromomycin effective for L. major, L. tropica, L. mexicana, L. panamensis, and L. braziliensis. Pentamidine is effective for L. guyanensis. Oral fluconazole or itraconazole appears effective in L. major and L. tropica. There is limited evidence to support the use of heat therapy in cutaneous leishmaniasis as of 2015.There are no studies determining the effect of oral nutritional supplements on visceral leishmaniasis being treated with anti-leishmanial drug therapy. Epidemiology
Out of 200 countries and territories reporting to WHO, 97 countries and territories are endemic for leishmaniasis. The settings in which leishmaniasis is found range from rainforests in Central and South America to deserts in western Asia and the Middle East. It affects as many as 12 million people worldwide, with 1.5–2.0 million new cases each year. The visceral form of leishmaniasis has an estimated incidence of 500,000 new
cases. In 2014, more than 90% of new cases reported to WHO occurred in six countries: Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. As of 2010, it caused about 52,000 deaths, down from 87,000 in 1990. Different types of the disease occur in different regions of the world.