Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/11/04:

Underactive Thyroid Tied to Heart Disease - Yahoo, 8/10/04 - "Heart disease developed 2.6-times more frequently among participants with subclinical hypothyroidism than those with normal thyroid function"

Fatty Acids Show Opposite Effects on Prostate Cancer - Yahoo, 8/10/04 - "among nearly 48,000 U.S. men followed for 14 years, those with the highest intakes of two fatty acids found in oily fish were 26 percent less likely than men with the lowest intakes to develop advanced prostate cancer ... men with the highest intake of ALA were about twice as likely as those with the lowest intakes to develop advanced prostate cancer" - Note:  The two highest omega-3 fatty acids in most fish oils are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).  Alpha linolenic acid (ALA) is the omega-3 fatty acid found mostly in vegetable sources such as flaxseed oil.  See my fatty acid page.

Blood Pressure Drug Shows Side Effects - HealthDay, 8/9/04 - "Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors may cause lip and tongue swelling in some people, resulting in trouble swallowing, shortness of breath, coughing and even respiratory failure"

Can Tooth Whiteners Cause Oral Cancer? - WebMD, 8/7/04 - "the active ingredient in these popular whiteners -- available at a dentist's office or in over-the-counter kits -- may be the reason why two patients with no other identifiable risk factors developed advanced tongue cancer while in their 20s ... Free Radical Damage Suspected"

The Miracle of Magnesium - Dr. Mercola, 8/7/04 - "Up to 80 Percent of Americans are Magnesium-Deficient"

Study Links High Carbohydrate Diet To Increased Breast Cancer Risk - Science Daily, 8/6/04 - "those who derived 57 or more percent of their total energy intake from carbohydrates incurred a risk of breast cancer 2.2 times higher than women with more balanced diets"

Study Shows Increased Levels of Blood Markers Years Before Onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms - Doctor's Guide, 8/5/04 - "RA patients had consistently higher levels of CRP than the healthy controls throughout the 15 years preceding outward disease symptoms"

Viagra (Sildenafil)/Testosterone Gel Combination May Benefit Men Who Fail Treatment with Pill Alone - Doctor's Guide, 8/5/04 - "For men with erectile dysfunction and low testosterone who do not respond to Viagra®* (sildenafil) alone, the supplemental use of AndroGel®** (testosterone gel) improves erectile function and overall sexual satisfaction"

Full-Fat Salad Dressings Enhance Bioabsorption of Carotenoids - Medscape, 8/5/04 - "By choosing reduced-fat or fat-free salad dressings, consumers could potentially compromise their exposure to the putative bioactivity of those carotenoids in preventing heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases"

Missing Link Ties Cancer to Chronic Infection - WebMD, 8/5/04 [Science Daily] - "Infections provoke an immune response from the body. Part of this response is inflammation. Inflamed tissues swell, redden, and leak fluids full of chemical signals to the immune system"

FDA Approves Cymbalta (Duloxetine) for Treatment of Depression - Doctor's Guide, 8/4/04 - "Cymbalta, a balanced and potent reuptake inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine"

High-Carb Diets May Help Maintain Weight - WebMD, 8/4/04 - "High-fiber foods help control weight in several ways: They tend to fill you up faster, so you're less hungry and less likely to overeat. But they also tend to be lower in their glycemic index, producing less of a spike in blood sugar levels after meals and therefore less of an increase in insulin levels"

Chromium: An Element Essential to Health - Life Extension Magazine, 8/04 - "By interacting with proteins and nucleic acids, excess glucose molecules wreak havoc with tissue elasticity and normal function.33 Thus, controlling blood sugar may actually put the brakes on the aging process, and should be an essential component of any life-extension strategy"

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

Long- term effects of policosanol on older patients with Type 2 diabetes - Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(Suppl):S101 - "239 patients with Type 2 diabetes were randomized to policosanol 5 mg/day or placebo for 2 years ... at study completion, policosanol lowered (p < 0.0001 vs baseline and placebo) LDL-C (29.5 %), TC (21.9 %), TG (16.9 %) and raised (p < 0.0001 vs baseline and placebo) HDL-C (12.4 %) ... Five patients, all placebo, died during the study" - See iHerb or Vitacost policosanol products.

Impact of sesame oil on nifedipine in modulating oxidative stress and electrolytes in hypertensive patients - Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(Suppl):S107 - "The consumption of sesame oil remarkably reduced the (systolic and diastolic blood pressure from 166 +/- 4.2 and 101 +/- 3.1 to 134.2 +/- 3.4 and 84.6 +/- 3.0 respectively) blood pressure" - See Vitacost sesame seed oil.

Effect of chromium supplementation on blood glucose and lipid levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus elderly patients - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2004 May;74(3):178-82 - "study group received 200 microg of chromium twice a day for a three-week period ... Significant differences in the fasting blood level of glucose compared to the baseline (190 mg/dL vs 150 mg/dL, p < 0.001) were found at the end of the study. HbA1c also improved from 8.2% to 7.6% (p < 0.01). Total cholesterol was also reduced from 235 mg/dL to 213 mg/dL (p < 0.02). A trend towards lowered triglyceride levels was also observed (152 mg/dL vs 136 mg/dL)" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.

The Clinical Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Omega-3 Fish Oils and/or Copper in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - J Rheumatol. 2004 Aug;31(8):1551-6 - "There was a significant decline in SLAM-R score from 6.12 to 4.69 (p < 0.05) in those subjects taking fish oil compared to placebo" - See Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.

Effect of a dietary herbal supplement containing caffeine and ephedra on weight, metabolic rate, and body composition - Obes Res. 2004 Jul;12(7):1152-7 - "C&E increased RMR significantly by 8% compared with placebo, promoted more weight and fat loss than placebo, and was well tolerated"

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