Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 1/10/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Higher Folate Levels Linked To Reduced Risk For Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 1/9/07 - "Folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, are important in the body's processing of homocysteine--therefore, deficiencies in these nutrients increase homocysteine levels and may contribute to cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia ... When the individuals were divided into four groups based on the total level of folate they took in through food and supplements and the analysis was adjusted for patient characteristics, comorbid diseases and B12 and B6 intake, the risk of Alzheimer's disease was lower in the groups with higher intake" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.

• Folic Acid May Slow Hearing Loss - WebMD, 1/2/07 - "Half the study participants got strong folic acid supplements -- 800 micrograms per day, about twice what one would get in a multivitamin pill ... After three years, those who got folic acid pills had less low-frequency hearing loss than did placebo recipients"

Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Pioglitazone and/or Simvastatin in High Cardiovascular-Risk Patients With Elevated High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein: The PIOSTAT Study - Medscape, 1/9/07 - "After 12 weeks of treatment, hs-CRP levels were reduced from 3.64 +/-2.42 mg/l to 2.48 +/-1.77 mg/l with pioglitazone monotherapy and from 3.26 +/-2.02 mg/l to 2.81 +/-2.11 mg/l with simvastatin monotherapy (as illustrated in Fig. 1). Combination treatment with pioglitazone and simvastatin resulted in an additive decrease in hs-CRP levels from 3.49 +/-1.97 mg/l to 2.06 +/-1.42 mg/l after 12 weeks" - See pioglitazone and simvastatin at OffshoreRx1.com.  Related articles:

• Avandia (Rosiglitazone) Lowers Markers for Cardiovascular Inflammation in Diabetic Patients - Doctor's Guide, 6/17/02 - "Rosiglitazone treatment also reduced plasma MCP-1 (75 percent of the basal level; p<0.05) and CRP (70 percent of basal; p<0.05)"
• Low-dose Periostat (Doxycycline) Shows Benefits in Patients with Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 11/20/02 - "At six-month follow-up, sub-antimicrobial dose doxycyline significantly reduced CRP levels by 45.8 percent compared to baseline values (p<0.05). The drug was also associated with a 33.5 percent reduction in interleukin-6 and a 50 percent reduction in metalloproteinase ... The findings are exciting, since research is now showing that CRP is both a key marker of inflammation leading to future acute coronary events, but also that CRP itself may contribute to the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis"
• Fiber Good, and Not Just for Your Gut - WebMD, 4/13/06 - "Compared with those who ate the least fiber, those who ate the most were 63% less likely to have high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP)"
• Vitamin C could reduce inflammation - Nutra USA, 3/8/06 - "High blood levels of vitamin C were associated with a 45 per cent reduced risk of inflammation (with respect to CRP levels)"
• High C-Reactive Protein Levels May Signal Fast-Moving Heart Disease - WebMD, 9/20/04 - "Researchers found four markers of inflammation, including C-reactive protein, neopterin, MMP-9, and sICAM, predicted rapid artery blockage ... People who had C-reactive protein levels in the middle range had three times the risk of progression than those with the lowest levels"
• Diabetes, Are You at Risk? - Time Magazine Cover Story, 12/8/03 - "Now there are half a dozen studies confirming that if you measure markers of inflammation, and CRP in particular, you can do a good job of predicting who's going to get diabetes"
• Insulin Resistance Correlates With Rises in C-Reactive Protein - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/05 - "As C-reactive protein rises, so does insulin resistance ... Increased C-reactive protein levels may also predispose to accelerated or premature atherosclerotic disease ... Maybe someday we'll have therapy to lower C-reactive protein levels"
• Two Markers Strongly Linked To Prostate Cancer Incidence And Mortality Almost A Decade Prior To Diagnosis - Science Daily, 11/14/06 - "Increased levels of two markers of inflammation, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), are significantly associated with prostate cancer incidence and mortality almost a decade prior to diagnosis"
• 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"

Testosterone Replacement Therapy for Male Hypogonadism: Part III. Pharmacologic and Clinical Profiles, Monitoring, Safety Issues, and Potential Future Agents - Medscape, 1/8/07 - "male hypogonadism is associated with a wide range of potentially distressing symptoms and signs, many of which are reversible through TRT. Such treatment confers at least short-term clinical benefits on sexual function, particularly libido, as well as erectile function, body composition, and possibly mood and/or a sense of vitality"

Research Affirms the Benefits of Combination of Chromium Picolinate and Biotin for Improving Blood Sugar in People with Type 2 Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 1/8/07 - "A significant decrease in fasting glucose levels of 4.67 mmol/L and postprandial glucose levels of 5.77 mmol/L was seen in patients taking chromium picolinate. The study showed that blood glucose levels continued to improve each year throughout the six years of the study" - See Chromium products at iHerb.

Coenzyme Q10 benefits people with heart failure - Reuters, 1/7/07 - "Supplementation with CoQ10 led to a significant 3 percent increase in HDL ("good") cholesterol and improvement in peak exercise capacity ... Belardinelli's team also saw an increase in cardiac function" - See Coenzyme Q10 products at iHerb.

Tasty curry might have a fringe benefit - USA Today, 1/7/07 - "turmeric, one component of curry spice, almost completely prevented joint swelling in rats with arthritis. Other studies have suggested that the spice could protect against diseases such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's ... many people with arthritis take over-the-counter supplements that contain curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric ... The curcumin in curry seems to shut down genes that trigger the development and the spread of breast cancer" - See Curcumin/turmeric products at iHerb.

Folate levels in young American women fall, could lead to rise in birth defects - USA Today, 1/4/07 - "But a CDC study released Thursday found an 8% to 16% decline in folate levels in U.S. women of childbearing age, according to large blood-drawing surveys done between 1999 and 2004"

Do statins have a beneficial effect on the kidney? - Medscape, 1/4/07 - "Statins appear to have a small beneficial effect on the rate of kidney function decline (particularly in patients with cardiovascular disease), and proteinuria"

Can Fish Intake Predict Chances Of Developing Dementia? - Science Daily, 1/3/07 - "the participants who reported consuming an average of about three servings of oily fish a week--equivalent to blood levels of DHA at 180 milligrams daily--were associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing dementia of all types, including Alzheimer's disease. No other fatty acid blood level was independently linked to the risk of dementia" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

High-normal Uric Acid Linked With Mild Cognitive Impairment In The Elderly - Science Daily, 1/3/07 - "older people with serum (blood) uric-acid levels in the high end of the normal range are more likely to process information slowly and experience failures of verbal and working memory ... Higher levels of uric acid are linked with known risk factors for dementia, including high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, Type 2 diabetes and the "metabolic syndrome" of abdominal obesity and insulin resistance"

Body Composition May Be Key Player In Controlling Cancer Risks - Science Daily, 1/3/07 - "This study suggests that body composition, being lean as opposed to being obese, has a greater protective effect against cancer"

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

Moderate Consumption of Olive Oil by Healthy European Men Reduces Systolic Blood Pressure in Non-Mediterranean Participants J Nutr. 2007 Jan;137(1):84-87 - "General linear models showed that the administration of the sequence of the 3 olive oils was responsible for a 3% decrease in systolic BP (SBP) (P < 0.05), but not in diastolic BP, in the non-Mediterranean subjects"

Calcitriol and genistein actions to inhibit the prostaglandin pathway: potential combination therapy to treat prostate cancer - J Nutr. 2007 Jan;137(1):205S-10S - "the combination of calcitriol and genistein is an attractive therapeutic option for the treatment of PCa"

Association between hormones and metabolic syndrome in older italian men - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006 Dec;54(12):1832-8 - "Total testosterone and SHBG are negatively and leptin is positively associated with MS in older men"

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