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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 11/26/08.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

I started sending 50 of these per week via my RoadRunner account because of numerous complaints that people haven't been receiving my QualityCounts.com Newsletter.  Last May RoadRunner started limiting customers to 100 emails per week so I had to start sending my newsletter via a mailing list from my web hoster. Some spam filters recognize those as spam.  If you believe that is happening, you might try to add ben@qualitycounts.com to your spam white list or add http://www.qualitycounts.com/rss.xml to your RSS feed.  If you want your RSS feed via email, I recommend http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/NewsGatorInbox/.

'Let The Sunshine In' To Protect Your Heart This Winter - Science Daily, 11/26/08 - "The temperature might not be the only thing plummeting this winter. Many people also will experience a decrease in their vitamin D levels ... Chronic vitamin D deficiency may be a culprit in heart disease, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Oily fish may boost prostate cancer survival rate: Study - Nutra USA, 11/24/08 - "The prospective cohort study with 20,167 men also found that men who ate five portions of fish per week had a 48 per cent improved survival rate from the disease than men who consumed only one portion per week" - [Abstract] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Older patients face higher mortality, CHF hospitalizations with rosiglitazone over pioglitazone - theheart.org, 11/24/08 - "In the study's primary analysis, which assumed that patients were exposed to the drug for just 60 days after the date of their most recently filled prescription (and adjusted for patient characteristics), diabetic patients initially treated with rosiglitazone had a 15% higher mortality rate than patients on pioglitazone. Rates of first hospitalization for congestive heart failure—a known side effect of TZDs—were 13% higher in the rosiglitazone group than in the pioglitazone group. In contrast to recent studies pointing to a risk of ischemic events with rosiglitazone, rates of MI and stroke were no different between the groups"

New Gout Drug Gets FDA Panel Nod - WebMD, 11/24/08 - "Uloric should be the first new gout drug to be approved in over 40 years ... Unlike allopurinol, very little Uloric is excreted through the urine, making Uloric safe for patients with kidney problems"

Potassium Loss From Blood Pressure Drugs May Explain Higher Risk Of Adult Diabetes - Science Daily, 11/24/08 - "a drop in blood potassium levels caused by diuretics commonly prescribed for high blood pressure could be the reason why people on those drugs are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes" - See potassium citrate at Amazon.com.

How Red Wine Compounds Fight Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 11/23/08 - "Teplow's lab has been studying how amyloid beta (Aß) is involved in causing Alzheimer's. In this work, researchers monitored how Aß40 and Aß42 proteins folded up and stuck to each other to produce aggregates that killed nerve cells in mice. They then treated the proteins with a polyphenol compound extracted from grape seeds. They discovered that polyphenols carried a one-two punch: They blocked the formation of the toxic aggregates of Aß and also decreased toxicity when they were combined with Aß before it was added to brain cells" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.

Bad Cholesterol Inhibits The Breakdown Of Peripheral Fat - Science Daily, 11/20/08 - "LDL cholesterol slows the rate of fat breakdown (i.e. lipolysis) in adipocytes, the peripheral cells responsible for fat storage"

Ginkgo biloba has no benefits against dementia: Study - Nutra USA, 11/19/08 - "The GEM Study involved 3,069 community volunteers with an average age of 79.1 ... Commenting on the study, Dr Fabricant said the study had two major limitations: “One, it looks exclusively at people almost 80 years old who are far more likely to have Alzheimer’s, while ignoring those in middle ages, where the risk for developing the disease rises quickly and prevention could best be analyzed,” ... Two, it excludes completely any consideration of the strong and established role that family history plays with Alzheimer’s. You can’t do a study on the weather without looking at wind and rain.”"

Physical Exercise Keeps Brain Young - WebMD, 11/19/08 - "The brain-boosting effects of exercise diminish rapidly after early middle age ... mice that worked out every day grew 2.5 times more new brain cells than couch potato mice. And in the exercising mice, far more of these new neurons survived, grew, and integrated into existing brain networks"

Most ginkgo products fail quality testing - Nutra USA, 11/18/08 - "Some companies put less of it in their products than they claim or use ingredient that has been adulterated with inexpensive material that can fool non-specific tests ... companies continued to make products with little to no ginkgo in them, leading Consumerlab to suggest “ginkgo is among the most adulterated herbs.”" - That's why I stay with the top brand names.  They have more to loose with bad  press.  I also think that's why some studies show benefits with certain supplement while other studies don't.  I've been taking Nature's Way, Ginkgold.  I get the paid version of Consumerlab and I thought it was strange that they didn't test that brand. - Ben

Ginkgo Biloba Does Not Reduce Dementia Risk, Study Shows - Science Daily, 11/18/08 - "The researchers found no statistical difference in dementia or Alzheimer's disease rates between the groups. Among those taking G. biloba, 277 developed dementia. Among those in the placebo group, 246 developed dementia. Mortality rates also were similar" - I read this after the above article and comments but like I said.

Broccoli May Help Smokers' Lungs - WebMD, 11/18/08 - "asked 948 lung cancer patients and 1,743 people without lung cancer about their smoking history and consumption of fruits, cruciferous vegetables, and other vegetables ... Among smokers -- and especially among former smokers -- higher intake of cruciferous vegetables was linked to lower risk of lung cancer"

Canola Oil May Affect Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 11/18/08 - "Could the type of oil a woman consumes during pregnancy influence her daughter's breast cancer risk years later? ... pregnant women may be better off choosing canola oil over most other vegetable oils ... Corn oil has 50% omega-6 and almost no omega-3, while canola oil has 20% omega-6 and 10% omega-3,""

St. John's Wort Holds Its Own in Meta-Analysis - Clinical Psychology News, 11/08 - "St. John's wort was more effective than placebo and just as effective as standard antidepressants in treating depression, a Cochrane analysis of 29 studies of almost 5,500 adults with major depression shows" - See St. John's wort at Amazon.com.

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):

Why Iron Deficiency Is Important in Infant Development - J Nutr. 2008 Dec;138(12):2534-2536 - "Rodent studies also show effects of iron deficiency during gestation and lactation that persist into adulthood despite restoration of iron status at weaning. These studies indicate that gestation and early lactation are likely critical periods when iron deficiency will result in long-lasting damage"

A 22-y prospective study of fish intake in relation to prostate cancer incidence and mortality - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Nov;88(5):1297-303 - "Survival analysis among the men diagnosed with prostate cancer revealed that those consuming fish >or=5 times/wk had a 48% lower risk of prostate cancer death than did men consuming fish less than once weekly [relative risk (RR) = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.91; P for trend = 0.05]. A similar association was found between seafood n-3 fatty acid intake and prostate cancer mortality (RR(Q5 versus Q1) = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.99; P for trend = 0.02). These associations became stronger when the analyses were restricted to clinically detected cases" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Docosahexaenoic Acid and the Aging Brain - J Nutr. 2008 Dec;138(12):2510-2514 - "Deficits in DHA or its peroxidation appear to contribute to inflammatory signaling, apoptosis, and neuronal dysfunction in Alzheimer disease (AD), a common and progressive age-related neurological disorder unique to structures and processes of the human brain" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

The effect of lowering blood pressure by magnesium supplementation in diabetic hypertensive adults with low serum magnesium levels: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial - J Hum Hypertens. 2008 Nov 20 - "Over 4 months, subjects in the intervention group received 2.5 g of MgCl(2) (50 ml of a solution containing 50 g of MgCl(2) per 1000 ml of solution) equivalent to 450 mg of elemental magnesium, and control subjects inert placebo ... SBP (-20.4+/-15.9 versus -4.7 +/- 12.7 mm Hg, P=0.03) and DBP (-8.7+/-16.3 versus -1.2+/-12.6 mm Hg, P=0.02) showed significant decreases, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (0.1+/-0.6 versus -0.1+/-0.7 mmol l(-1), P=0.04) a significant increase in the magnesium group compared to the placebo group. The adjusted odds ratio between serum magnesium and BP was 2.8 (95%CI: 1.4-6.9). Oral magnesium supplementation with MgCl(2) significantly reduces SBP and DBP in diabetic hypertensive adults with hypomagnesaemia" - See magnesium supplements at Amazon.com.

Coenzyme Q(10) An Independent Predictor of Mortality in Chronic Heart Failure - J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Oct 28;52(18):1435-1441 - "Plasma CoQ(10) concentration was an independent predictor of mortality in this cohort. The CoQ(10) deficiency might be detrimental to the long-term prognosis of CHF, and there is a rationale for controlled intervention studies with CoQ(10)" - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.

Effects of Garlic on Blood Pressure in Patients With and Without Systolic Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis (December) - Ann Pharmacother. 2008 Nov 18 - "Garlic reduced SBP by 16.3 mm Hg (95% CI 6.2 to 26.5) and DBP by 9.3 mmHg (95% CI 5.3 to 13.3) compared with placebo in patients with elevated SBP" - See garlic supplements at Amazon.com.

Cushing's Syndrome Induced by Misuse of Moderate- to High-Potency Topical Corticosteroids (December) - Ann Pharmacother. 2008 Nov 18 - "Continuous use of moderate- to high-potency topical corticosteroids over several months can contribute to Cushing's syndrome"

Neat Tech Stuff :

Supplement Focus (Magnesium):

Magnesium News & Research:

Magnesium Abstracts: