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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 6/4/08.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Those on my email list are probably wondering what the "[.]" is in the subject of my email.  Well let me tell you.  Last Wednesday I switched from AT&T Uverse back to RoadRunner because I was going to get the ZeeVee ZvBox which won't work with Uverse.  On Saturday morning my Internet didn't work.  I called RoadRunner and they said it was quarantined.  They said that could have been from sending over 100 emails per week and several other things.  I said I sent out more email than that.  They said the only people that could reset it was there security department which wouldn't be in until Monday.  I called their security on Monday and they said I was not quarantined.  I told them that two tech reps said I was.  He says "let me check".  When he got back, he said it was they quarantined the wrong account by mistake and reset it.  But now to avoid passing 100 email per week I had to set up a mailing list with my webhoster.  The email list forces you to put something between the two brackets so I put a "period" because it wouldn't except nothing.  The rest of the subject comes from whatever I put in the subject that I email to the mailing list.  RoadRunner is getting ridiculous though.  I heard on the news today that if you went over a certain amount on your bandwidth that they were going to charge you $1 per gigabyte.  See my "Neat tech stuff" below.  That might save me the ZeeVee box.

Probiotics may offer hay fever hope - Nutra USA, 6/3/08 - "Hayfever is an allergic reaction to pollen or fungal spores, most commonly grass pollen. The immune system mistakes the spores for harmful invaders and white blood cells - T-helper type 2 (Th2) lymphocytes - produce protein-like cytokines, such as interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5 and IL-6, which in turn promote the synthesis of the immune chemicals immunoglobulins (Ig) to bind to the pollen and fight them off ... However, supplementation with the probiotic led to reduced production of IL-5 and IL-6, as well as decreased in the production of IgE ... The probiotic-supplemented volunteers had significantly reduced levels of IL-5 and IL-6" - [Abstract] - See probiotics at Amazon.com.

Maternal Vitamin D Deficiency May Increase Risk for Preeclampsia - Medscape, 6/3/08 - "Compared with controls, women who subsequently developed preeclampsia had lower adjusted serum 25(OH)D concentrations in early pregnancy (geometric mean, 45.4 vs 53.1 nmol/L; 95% confidence interval [CI], 38.6 - 53.4 vs 47.1 - 59.9 nmol/L; P < .01) ... After adjusting for potential confounders, a 50-nmol/L decrease in 25(OH)D concentration was associated with twice the risk for preeclampsia (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1 - 5.4). Compared with control newborns, those of women with preeclampsia were twice as likely to have 25(OH)D concentrations less than 37.5 nmol/L" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Bone Drug Prevents Breast Cancer Return - WebMD, 6/2/08 - "Zometa creates a tumor-hostile environment that helps to keep cancer away, and it is very safe"

Babies, Tots Low on Vitamin D - WebMD, 6/2/08 - "Forty percent of those kids had suboptimal blood levels of vitamin D, including 12% who had vitamin D deficiency. And X-rays showed that a third of kids with vitamin D deficiency had bone demineralization, a sign of thinner bones ... Breastfed babies were particularly likely to be low in vitamin D"

Marijuana Use May Shrink the Brain - WebMD, 6/2/08 - "the hippocampus, which is thought to regulate memory, was an average of 12% smaller among marijuana users, compared with people who didn't smoke pot. The amygdala, involved in emotion and memory, was an average of 7% smaller ... The study also suggests that long-term marijuana users were more likely to report symptoms associated with mental disorders"

Metformin Increases Pathologic Complete Response Rates In Breast Cancer Patients With Diabetes - Science Daily, 6/2/08 - "the pathologic complete response rates in the diabetic breast cancer patients taking Metformin was 24 percent, three times higher than the rates in diabetic patients not taking the drug, 8 percent. In the non-diabetic women, the pathologic complete response rate was 16 percent"

Link Between Inflammation, Cancer Confirmed - Science Daily, 6/2/08 - "Chronic inflammation of the intestine or stomach can damage DNA, increasing the risk of cancer ... Researchers have long known that inflammation produces cytokines (immune response chemicals that encourage cell proliferation and suppress cell death), which can lead to cancer"

Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins And Minerals - Science Daily, 6/2/08 - "He also is investigating how enzyme cofactors like vitamins and minerals fix defective enzymes. He suspects that supplements work by acting as chaperones to stabilize the proper folding of the enzyme, which is critical to its catalytic activity"

Omega-3 DHA shows promise against eczema - Nutra USA, 6/2/08 - "8-week supplementation with 5.4 g daily of the n-3 PUFA DHA ... After eight weeks, Worm and co-workers report that the severity scoring of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) reduced from 37.0 to 28.5 in the DHA group, and by 35.4 to 33.4 in the control group" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

The Traditional Mediterranean Diet Protects Against Diabetes, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 5/30/08 - "A high adherence to the diet was associated with an 83% relative reduction in the risk of developing diabetes"

Exercise Cuts Cancer Death In Men - Science Daily, 5/29/08 - "Men who walked or cycled for at least 30 minutes a day had an increased survival from cancer with 33 per cent, than the men who exercised less or did nothing at all ... a more extensive programme of walking and cycling for between 60 and 90 minutes and a day, led to a l6 per cent lower incidence of cancer. But these activities only led to a five per cent reduction in cancer rates among the men who walked or cycled for 30 minutes day, a finding which could be due to chance"

Active Social Life May Delay Memory Loss Among US Elderly Population - Science Daily, 5/29/08 - "individuals with the highest social integration had the slowest rate of memory decline from 1998 to 2004. In fact, memory decline among the most integrated was less than half the rate among the least integrated. These findings were independent of sociodemographic factors (such as age, gender, and race) and health status in 1998. The researchers found that the protective effect of social integration was largest among individuals with fewer than 12 years of education"

Fatty Liver Linked To Increased Risk Of Diabetic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 5/29/08 - "For patients with type 2 diabetes, a condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may be an important risk factor for diabetes-related chronic kidney disease (CKD)" - See my liver disease page for way to reduce the risk of NAFLD.

Even Low Levels Of Air Pollution May Pose Stroke Risk - Science Daily, 5/29/08 - "Although the magnitude of elevated risk of stroke/TIA due to PM2.5 exposure was relatively small, the vast majority of the public is exposed to ambient air pollution at the levels observed in this community or greater every day, suggesting a potentially large public health impact" - SUVs!!!  Yeah, I know that I'm a hypocrite also for not living in a cave.

Economists Predict $10/Gallon Gasoline - KGTV San Diego, 5/28/08 - "Two economists recently analyzed a whole bunch of numbers and said by 2010 it will cost us more than double to fill up our cars and trucks ... The economists who predicted $10 gas also accurately predicted our current gas prices two-years ago"

On 5/30/08, NBC news came up with slightly different numbers on the price of gas.  It said 73% was the price of the oil, 11% were taxes, 10% was for refining and 6% was for distribution.  It didn't break it down to how much was oil company profit as did the Fox News report I mentioned a couple weeks ago.  There is general agreement.  Fox News said 72% for oil, 12% goes to taxes, 8% goes to refining and 8% is oil company profit.  The bottom line is that 84% of the price of gas is the cost of oil and taxes.  The remaining 16% is oil company costs, oil company profits, gas station costs and gas station profits.  That's very little wiggle room for the politicians selling the idea that it's those evil oil companies responsible for the price of gas and they will fix it.

Things keep getting better and better for natural gas cars. $4000 rebate from the fed plus $1000 rebate for the garage refueler and now another $3000 rebate from the state.  My last mileage check was 102.8/2.7 = 38.1.  That was after getting stuck in a huge 15 mile traffic jam on my way to my swing dance lessons.

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Oral delivery of Lactobacillus casei Shirota modifies allergen-induced immune responses in allergic rhinitis - Clin Exp Allergy. 2008 May 28 - "Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) ... Volunteers treated with LcS showed a significant reduction in levels of antigen-induced IL-5, IL-6 and IFN-gamma production compared with volunteers supplemented with placebo. Meanwhile, levels of specific IgG increased and IgE decreased in the probiotic group" - See probiotics at Amazon.com.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation in atopic eczema: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial - Br J Dermatol. 2008 Apr;158(4):786-92 - "DHA, but not the control treatment, resulted in a significant clinical improvement of atopic eczema in terms of a decreased SCORAD [DHA: baseline 37.0 (17.9-48.0), week 8 28.5 (17.6-51.0); control: baseline 35.4 (17.2-63.0), week 8 33.4 (10.7-56.2)]. A significant reduction of anti-CD40/interleukin 4-mediated IgE synthesis of PBMC was detected in the DHA group only ... DHA could be bioactive and might have a beneficial impact on the outcome of atopic eczema" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Women's awareness of the importance of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption during pregnancy: knowledge of risks, benefits and information accessibility - Public Health Nutr. 2008 May 29:1-8 - "Pregnant women lack knowledge of LC n-3 PUFA and health-care services do not provide pregnant women with adequate information on the importance of eating foods high in LC n-3 PUFA during pregnancy"

Total plasma carotenoids and mortality in the elderly: results of the Epidemiology of Vascular Ageing (EVA) study - Br J Nutr. 2008 May 29:1-7 - "After controlling for potential confounding factors, mortality risk increased significantly in men (P = 0.03) with plasma carotenoids in the lowest quintile compared with men with plasma carotenoids in the highest (relative risk 2.94 (95 % CI 1.21, 7.17)). A significant association between mortality by cancer and low plasma carotenoid level variable was also found in men (unit = 1 mumol/l; relative risk 1.72 (95 % CI 1.02, 2.86); P = 0.01)" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.  I think the problem with beta-carotene in smokers was due to the fact that taking large doses of a single carotenoid has been shown to reduce levels of the others.  There are over 600 carotenoids.

Advanced glycation end products in senile diabetic and nondiabetic patients with cataract - J Diabetes Complications. 2008 May 26 - "The AGE distribution in the senile groups corroborates the hypothesis that the advanced glycation process might have a role in cataract formation, which in diabetic patients occurs vigorously as compared with nondiabetic cataract patients"

Pioglitazone and cardiovascular risk. A comprehensive meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2008 May 26 - "The use of pioglitazone does not appear to be harmful in terms of cardiovascular events and all-cause deaths" - See pioglitazone at OffshoreRx1.com.

Neat Tech Stuff :

  • Next Generation Remote Control Extender - The best way to describe what it does is to you an example of what I did.  My cable DVR is in my office connected to the computer which has a TV card and the TV on screen two.  I wanted to record things but then play them in my master bedroom when I went to bed.  I was able to do this with the remote extender.  I works by replacing one of the batteries in your current remote with a transmitter.  Then there is a receiver in the room with the DVR.  I bought 75 feet of HDMI cable and ran it from the plug in back of the DVR, up through the first and second floor closet to the attic and then down in back of the door in the master toilet room then through the wall to the master bedroom TV.  I covered the wires that were visible with those stick on wire covers at Home Depot.  The cable output on the DVR goes to the TV card on my computer and the HDMI plug on the DVR goes to the master bedroom TV HDMI.  It required 75 feet of HDMI cable which I bought at http://www.monoprice.com for $77.  http://www.monoprice.com was recommended by PC Magazine (click here for the video).

Health Focus (Smog - SUVs!!):

Hydrogen fuel - These two web pages contain the information needed to do the math on what the hydrogen equivalent of one gallon of gas would cost ($18)

110 mile range even when using the back seats to store fuel:

  • Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars - "both versions are only able to have two seats ... But there are technical obstacles to be overcome before hydrogen cars will be seen on the roads. In addition to the problem of slow warm-up, hydrogen fuel cell cars have a short range. Honda's V-3 only has a range of 110 miles, a defect which can only be partially offset by designing a larger hydrogen tank into the car, since a bigger tank adds weight and takes up more space"