Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 6/23/04:

Atorvastatin Reduces Blood CoQ10 Levels - Medscape, 6/22/04 - "Even brief exposure to atorvastatin causes a marked decrease in blood CoQ10 concentration ... Widespread inhibition of CoQ10 synthesis could explain the most commonly reported adverse effects of statins, especially exercise intolerance, myalgia, and myoglobinuria" - See iHerb or Vitacost coenzyme Q10 products.

Low carb diet dangerous for health, says consumer group - Nutra USA, 6/22/04 - "losing weight by an extremely low-carb diet can lead to serious health problems such as kidney stress, liver disorders and gout"

Hormone Loss at Menopause May Cause Weight Gain - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/04 - "Loss of estrogen and progesterone at menopause could predispose women to weight gain due, in part, to a decrease in resting caloric expenditure"

Female Testosterone Patch Significantly Improves Sexual Desire - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/04 - "Patients were an average of 49 years old ... The testosterone patch group experienced a 51% increase in frequency of total satisfying sexual activity, and a 49% increase in sexual desire versus placebo"

Metformin Can Prevent Girls with Insulin Resistance from Developing Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/04 - "Early use of metformin in girls with insulin resistance can decrease the progression to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common female endocrine disorder"

Estrogen and Estrogen-Related Drugs May Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/04 - "the researchers believe the results support the use of estrogen, or SERMs, for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease"

Vitamin D3 more potent than D2, further evidence - Nutra USA, 6/21/04 - "Calculating the difference in potency by measuring the area under the curve revealed an even greater difference with D3 more than nine times more effective than D2"

• Scientists concerned about vitamin D levels in the U.S. - USA Today, 10/28/03 - "Heaney cited one study that men needed 1,000 IUs a day during Nebraska winters to keep their vitamin D levels from dropping ... A study of 2,600 healthy Britons given 800 IUs a day saw their risk of bone fractures drop 33%, he said, suggesting today's doses are insufficient to protect bones"

Research: Refined Grains Expand Girths - Intelihealth, 6/21/04 - "three years they were tracked ... At the end, the white bread group had three times the fiber group's gain at the gut ... I think abdominal fat cells may be more sensitive to insulin's effects than other fat cells in the body"

Are Statins the New Wonder Drugs? - Dr. Weil, 6/21/04 - "For moderately elevated cholesterol, I recommend non-prescription red rice yeast, a natural source of statins with fewer side effects" - See iHerb or Vitacost red yeast rice products.

High-Fiber Cereal May Ward Off Diabetes - WebMD, 6/18/04 - "eating a high-fiber cereal lowered insulin production and reduced blood glucose levels in men with elevated insulin levels, a condition known as hyperinsulinemia" - Some claim keeping insulin low is the key to staying young.  See:

• Insulin Plays Central Role In Aging, Brown Scientists Discover - Science Daily, 6/4/04 - "insulin regulates its own production and that it directly regulates tissue aging. The principle: Keep insulin levels low and cells are stronger, staving off infection and age-related diseases such as cancer, dementia and stroke"
• See my syndrome X page for other ways to keep insulin low.

Significant Reduction in Left Ventricular Mass Index, Reactive Oxygen Species Formation and C-Reactive Protein With Valsartan Treatment - Doctor's Guide, 6/18/04 - "Despite very similar effects on BP, there was a significantly higher reduction in LVMI with valsartan compared with amlodipine ... In the valsartan group, CRP levels were significantly reduced"

Exercise, Fish Oil Keep Arteries Clear - HealthDay, 6/17/04 - "The study found a 38 percent decline in peak triglyceride levels in the men who took a fish oil supplement before they ate a high-fat meal" - See Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.

Cholesterol Drug May Help Rheumatoid Arthritis - WebMD, 6/17/04 - "After six months, the patients who took Lipitor did a bit better than the others. They had lower scores on a medical index of rheumatoid arthritis activity ... In addition, the Lipitor group had lower levels of two markers of inflammation -- sed rate and C-reactive protein"

Telmisartan Associated with Greater Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Regression Than Carvedilol - Doctor's Guide, 6/17/04 - "The angiotensin II receptor blocker telmisartan produces significantly greater left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) regression than does the beta blocker carvedilol in hypertensive patients"

Pravastatin Can Significantly Decrease Systolic Blood Pressure in Moderately Hypertensive Patients With Hyperlipidaemia - Doctor's Guide, 6/17/04 - "Pravastatin 10 mg/day and probucol 500 mg/day were used during each treatment period ... Systolic blood pressure (BP) decreased significantly by 4.7 mm Hg after pravastatin treatment" - Related statin/blood pressure articles:

• Statins May Be Effective For Controlling Blood Pressure - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/01 - "statin treatment caused a significant (p<0.05) lowering of ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP) on the 24-hour (-4 mm Hg), daytime (-5 mm Hg), and nighttime (-3 mm Hg) measurements compared to baseline"
• Lipid Lowering Drugs Seem to Have Benefits in Hypertension Control - Doctor's Guide, 5/19/00 - "A combination of lipid-lowering statins and an anti-hypertensive drug is more effective than an anti-hypertensive drug alone in reducing blood pressure among high-risk patients"

Newer Drug Helps Prevent Heart Attack - HealthDay, 6/17/04 - "people taking valsartan had much lower rates of admission to hospital for heart failure. And fewer people in the valsartan group (13 percent) developed type 2 diabetes than those in the amlodipine group (16 percent)"

Largest USDA Study Of Food Antioxidants Reveals Best Sources - Science Daily, 6/17/04 - "Cranberries, blueberries, and blackberries ranked highest among the fruits studied. Beans, artichokes and Russet potatoes were tops among the vegetables. Pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts ranked highest in the nut category"

Hormone Linked to Low Sex Drive in Women - HealthDay, 6/16/04 - "this study has shown low testosterone bears no relationship to low libido in women under 45 years of age. We found a strong relationship between the low scores for desire, arousal and responsiveness and low DHEA levels in women under 45" - See iHerb or Vitacost DHEA products.

Mouth Rinse May Work Just as Well as Flossing - Yahoo, 6/16/04 - "Listerine-users showed the same improvements in plaque and gum inflammation called gingivitis as flossers" - See Listerine at drugstore.com.

Metabolic Aging Theory Turned Upside Down - Betterhumans.com, 5/31/04 - "the most metabolically active 25% of mice lived 36% longer than the least metabolically active" - See my metabolism page for ways to increase it.

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics:

Atorvastatin Decreases the Coenzyme Q10 Level in the Blood of Patients at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke - Arch Neurol. 2004;61:889-892 - "Even brief exposure to atorvastatin causes a marked decrease in blood CoQ10 concentration. Widespread inhibition of CoQ10 synthesis could explain the most commonly reported adverse effects of statins, especially exercise intolerance, myalgia, and myoglobinuria" - See iHerb or Vitacost coenzyme Q10 products.

The Impact of Vitamins and/or Mineral Supplementation on Blood Pressure in Type 2 Diabetes - J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Jun;23(3):272-9 - "group M: 200 mg Mg and 30 mg Zn (n = 16), group V: 200 mg vitamin C and 150 mg vitamin E (n = 18), group MV: minerals plus vitamins ... after three months of supplementation levels of systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure decreased significantly in the MV group"

Flavonoid-rich dark chocolate improves endothelial function and increases plasma epicatechin concentrations in healthy adults - J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Jun;23(3):197-204 - "Flavonoid-rich dark chocolate improves endothelial function"

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