Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 11/21/01:

Anti-Inflammatory Drugs May Cut Alzheimer's Risk - ABC News, 11/21/01 - "adults who used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for at least 2 years were 80% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, compared with individuals who used these drugs for shorter periods or who did not take them at all. What's more, the risk decreased as the number of years that patients continued to take the drugs grew"

Product Review: Omega-3 Fatty Acids (EPA and DHA) from Fish/Marine Oils - ConsumerLab.com, 11/20/01 - "It's been discovered that EPA and DHA may help prevent heart disease and atherosclerosis by lowering triglyceride levels, raising HDL ("good") cholesterol and, possibly "thinning" the blood ... By decreasing inflammation, EPA and DHA can also reduce the pain of rheumatoid arthritis ... Fish oils may also be useful in treating a host of conditions including bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder, Raynaud's phenomenon (abnormal sensitivity of hands and feet to cold), lupus, IgA nephropathy, kidney stones, chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, and ulcerative colitis ... EPA specifically may be helpful for schizophrenia, while DHA may be more helpful in reducing high blood pressure ... DHA may be helpful in the treatment of disorders such as attention deficit disorders, dyslexia, and cognitive impairment and dementia ... experts now believe that the American diet contains too little omega-3 fatty acids and too much omega-6 fatty acids"

Alternative Therapies For Diabetes - Intelihealth, 11/20/01 - "Several studies report that chromium supplementation may improve diabetes control. Chromium is needed to make glucose tolerance factor, which helps insulin improve its action ... Studies suggest that a deficiency in magnesium may worsen the blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes. Scientists believe that a deficiency of magnesium interrupts insulin secretion in the pancreas and increases insulin resistance in the body's tissues ... Early studies showed that vanadium normalized blood glucose levels in animals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. A recent study found that when people with diabetes were given vanadium, they developed a modest increase in insulin sensitivity and were able to decrease their insulin requirements"

Power Lifts Urged For Older Men - Intelihealth, 11/19/01 - "Older men with low levels of testosterone can literally haul themselves away from frailty by combining supplemental doses of the male sex hormone with fast-movement weight training ... At the end of the year, both exercise groups had improved, but lifters who got testosterone supplements improved more. The exercise-plus-supplement group had raised performance by close to sixfold, while the exercise-alone group had improved by almost fivefold"

Curry Spice May Slow Alzheimer's Disease - Medscape, 11/16/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "In studies with rats, curcumin "not only reduces the amyloid, but also reduces the [brain's] response to the amyloid," ... Rats fed curcumin performed much better in memory-dependent maze tests compared with rats on normal diets ... Curcumin may not be the only compound in the kitchen spice rack able to protect against Alzheimer's disease ... chemicals from rosemary (rosmarinic acid) and ginger (vanillin and zingerone, also high in Indian diets) have similar structure"

Antioxidant Boosts Cognitive Function In Alzheimer's Patients - Intelihealth, 11/15/01 - "the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) may improve certain cognitive skills in people with Alzheimer's disease ... Although participants in the NAC group did not outperform placebo patients in day-to-day activities, they did fare significantly better than the placebo group on certain cognitive tests"

Vegan Diet Improves Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis - Intelihealth, 11/15/01 - "a vegan diet free of gluten (a protein found in wheat and related grains) improves the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis"