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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 4/20/11.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Canola oil protects against colon cancer, study suggests - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "canola oil inhibited the average number of tumors per rat by 58 percent compared to one of the other two control diets in the experiment, and inhibited the size of the tumors that occurred by 90 percent ... canola oil inhibited the average number of tumors per rat by 58 percent compared to one of the other two control diets in the experiment, and inhibited the size of the tumors that occurred by 90 percent ... studies have indicated that if consumers use canola as household cooking oil, it could push their ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids to about 3 to 1. That's very desirable. Humans need Omega-6 fatty acids, too, but they typically consume way too much of them in countries such as the United States ... It should be less than 4 to 1. But in a typical American diet, when we use other oil and butter, our ratio is 10 to 1 or higher. We consume a lot more Omega-6 than Omega-3 fatty acids" - Here's the breakdown on various oils.  Note that canola oil is mostly omega-9 as is olive oil so maybe they are incorrect is attributing the benefits to omega-3:

Approximate percent fatty acid composition - Refs: A, B

  Saturated Fat Omega-6 Omega-3 ** Omega-9
Canola oil 8% 20% 10% 62%
Sunola oil 10% 6% 0% 84%
Safflower oil 9% 77% 0% 14%
Sunflower oil 11% 63% trace 26%
Olive oil 14% 10% trace 76%
Corn oil 14% 52% 2% 32%
Soyabean oil 15% 54% 8% 23%
Peanut oil 19% 34% 2% 45%
Cottonseed oil 27% 55% 0% 18%
Palm oil 51% 10% trace 39%
Coconut oil 91% 2% 0% 7%
Tallow oil 50% 2% 1% 47%
Butterfat 64% 2% 1% 33%

** The omega-3 in vegetable oils is in the form of alpha linolenic acid (no EPA, DHA or DPA).  See "General Information" below for why alpha linolenic acid might not be as effective.

How peppermint helps to relieve irritable bowel syndrome - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "peppermint acts through a specific anti-pain channel called TRPM8 to reduce pain sensing fibres, particularly those activated by mustard and chilli. This is potentially the first step in determining a new type of mainstream clinical treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)" - See peppermint products at iHerb.

Study suggests another look at testosterone-prostate cancer link - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "This study, involving 13 symptomatic testosterone deficient men who also had untreated prostate cancer, suggests this traditional view is incorrect, and that testosterone treatment in men does not cause rapid growth of prostate cancer. It is the first to directly and rigorously assess changes in the prostate among men with prostate cancer who received testosterone therapy"

Biophysicist targeting IL-6 to halt breast, prostate cancer - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "There is an inherent connection between inflammation and cancer ... In the case of breast cancers, a medical review systematically tabulated IL-6 levels in various categories of cancer patients, all showing that IL-6 levels elevated up to 40-fold, especially in later stages, metastatic cases and recurrent cases ... The current research offers us an exciting new therapeutic paradigm: targeting tumor microenvironment and inhibiting tumor stem cell renewal, leading to a really effective way to overcome breast tumor drug resistance, inhibiting tumor metastasis and stopping tumor recurrence" - Note:  See the "Alternative News" section of my IL-6 page and my inflammation page for ways to reduce IL-6.

Limiting carbs, not calories, reduces liver fat faster, researchers find - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "Curbing carbohydrates is more effective than cutting calories for individuals who want to quickly reduce the amount of fat in their liver ... could have implications for treating numerous diseases including diabetes, insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. The disease, characterized by high levels of triglycerides in the liver, affects as many as one-third of American adults. It can lead to liver inflammation, cirrhosis and liver cancer ... Weight loss, regardless of the mechanism, is currently the most effective way to reduce liver fat"

How inflammation can lead to cancer - Science Daily, 4/19/11 - "inflammation stimulates a rise in levels of a molecule called microRNA-155 (miR-155) ... This, in turn, causes a drop in levels of proteins involved in DNA repair, resulting in a higher rate of spontaneous gene mutations, which can lead to cancer ... It is believed that cancer is caused by an accumulation of mutations in cells of the body ... Our study suggests that miR-155, which is associated with inflammation, increases the mutation rate and might be a key player in inflammation-induced cancers generally"

Dietary, lifestyle changes can significantly reduce triglycerides - 4/18/11 - "Changes such as substituting healthy, unsaturated dietary fats for saturated ones, engaging in physical activity and losing excess weight can decrease triglycerides by 20 percent to 50 percent ... analyzed more than 500 international studies from the past 30 years to formulate the scientific statement ... Recommended dietary changes for those outside the normal range of triglycerides include limiting: ... added sugar to less than 5 percent to 10 percent of calories consumed -- about 100 calories per day for women and 150 calories per day for men ... fructose from both processed foods and naturally occurring foods -less than 50 to 100 grams per day ... saturated fat to less than 7 percent of total calories ... trans fat to- less than 1 percent of total calories ... alcohol, especially if triglyceride levels are higher greater than 500 mg/dL ... nearly one-third (31 percent) of adults have elevated triglyceride levels (more than 150 mg/dL)"

L-lysine may help schizophrenia sufferers cope - Science Daily, 4/17/11 - "patients who received L-lysine alongside their normal medication found some reduction in the severity of their symptoms" - See l-lysine at Amazon.com.

Probiotic may reduce rate of recurrent urinary tract infections in women, study suggests - Science Daily, 4/15/11 - "Of the 100 women who participated in the study, 50 received LACTIN-V, and 50 received the placebo. Seven of the women who received LACTIN-V had at least one urinary tract infection, compared to 13 in the placebo group" - See probiotics at Amazon.com.

Embarrassed by Your Singing? It���s a Clue to Brain Health - WebMD, 4/15/11 - "In healthy people, watching themselves sing elicits a considerable embarrassment reaction ... But people who had neurological damage in a region of the brain known as the medial frontal cortex seemed less concerned ... The smaller the region, the less embarrassed the people were"

Espresso makers: Coffee in capsules contains more furan than the rest - Science Daily, 4/13/11 - "Coffee made in espresso makers, above all that made from capsules, contains more furan -- a toxic, carcinogenic compound -- than that made in traditional drip coffee makers, although the levels are still within safe health limits ... The reason for these higher levels is due to the fact that hermetically-sealed capsules prevent furan, which is highly volatile, from being released, while the coffee makers used to brew this coffee use hot water at higher pressures"

Acai juice shows joint health potential: Monavie study - Nutra USA, 4/13/11 - "At the end of the study, results showed a decline in pain measures, as well as improvements in the range of motion in the spine and other extremities" - [Abstract] - See acai berry products at iHerb, also my acai berry page.

Higher Daily Coffee Intake Not Linked to Hypertension Risk - Medscape, 4/13/11 - "Habitual drinking of 3 cups/day or more of coffee is not associated with an increased risk for hypertension compared with less than 1 cup/day, but this risk was slightly elevated with light to moderate consumption of 1 to 3 cups/day"

Treating high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes may lower risk of Alzheimer's disease - Science Daily, 4/13/11 - "After five years, 298 people developed Alzheimer's disease. The others still had mild cognitive impairment. People with risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease and high cholesterol were two times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without vascular risk factors. A total of 52 percent of those with risk factors developed Alzheimer's disease, compared to 36 percent of those with no risk factors ... Of those with vascular risk factors, people who were receiving full treatment were 39 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those receiving no treatment. Those receiving some treatments were 26 percent less likely to develop the disease compared to people who did not receive any treatment ... Although this was not a controlled trial, patients who were treated for their high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes had less progression of their memory or thinking impairment and were less likely to develop dementia"

Aerobic exercise may improve non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - Science Daily, 4/13/11 - "A study of 15 obese people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease revealed that the daily walks not only increase insulin sensitivity, but improve the liver's polyunsaturated lipid index (PUI), which is thought to be a marker of liver health ... The improvements are linked to an increase in the hormone adiponectin ... Adiponectin influences the body's response to insulin and is associated with a reduced risk of heart attack because of its anti-inflammatory properties"

Vegetarians may be at lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke - Science Daily, 4/13/11 - "Vegetarians experience a 36 percent lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome than non-vegetarians ... It indicates that lifestyle factors such as diet can be important in the prevention of metabolic syndrome ... On average, the vegetarians and semi-vegetarians were three years older than non-vegetarians. Despite their slightly older age, vegetarians had lower triglycerides, glucose levels, blood pressure, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI). Semi-vegetarians also had a significantly lower BMI and waist circumference compared to those who ate meat more regularly"

Study links inflammation in brain to some memory decline - Science Daily, 4/13/11 - "adults with measureable levels of C reactive protein recalled fewer words and had smaller medial temporal lobes ... Scientists don't know if the inflammation indicated by the C reactive protein is the cause of the memory loss, if it reflects a response to some other disease process or if the two factors are unrelated. But if inflammation causes the cognitive decline, relatively simple treatments could help"

Increase in deaths in men with type 2 diabetes and testosterone deficiency may be prevented by testosterone replacement, study suggests - Science Daily, 4/12/11 - "conducted a six year study of 587 men with type 2 diabetes, splitting them into three groups: those with normal total testosterone levels (above 10.4nmol/L, n=338), those with low testosterone levels (below 10.4nmol/L) that weren't treated with testosterone replacement therapy (n=182), and those with low testosterone levels treated with testosterone replacement therapy for two years or more during the follow up period (n=58) ... The findings show for the first time that low testosterone puts diabetic men at a significantly increased risk of death (p=0.001 log rank): 36 of the 182 diabetic men with untreated low testosterone died during the six year study, compared to 31 of the 338 men with normal testosterone levels (20% vs 9%). Furthermore, only 5 of the 58 diabetic men that were given testosterone replacement therapy died during the study (8.6%), meaning they showed significantly better survival compared to the non-treated group (p=0.049 log rank) ... In the 356 men with type 2 diabetes tested, health related quality of life decreased as testosterone levels decreased (r=0.353 p=0.044)"

I mentioned home made mayonnaise a couple weeks ago as a way to get omega-9 into your diet (http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/making-mayonnaise/Detail.aspx).  I've been making it in the Cuisinart.  The secret is adding the oil slowly and not over beating. I add a tablespoon at a time and hit the pulse button momentarily four times after each tablespoon.

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):

Statins and Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Grade in a Veterans Population - J Natl Cancer Inst. 2011 Apr 15 - "Compared with men taking an antihypertensive medication, statin users were 31% less likely (HR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.52 to 0.90) to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Furthermore, statin users were 14% less likely (HR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.62 to 1.20) to be diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer and 60% less likely (HR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.24 to 0.65) to be diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer compared with antihypertensive medication users. Increased levels of total cholesterol were also associated with both total (HR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.05) and high-grade (HR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.10) prostate cancer incidence but not with low-grade prostate cancer incidence (HR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.98 to 1.04)"

Resveratrol Triggers Apoptosis Through Regulating Ceramide Metabolizing Genes in Human K562 Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells - Nutr Cancer. 2011 Apr 14:1 - "There were synergistic cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of resveratrol with coadministration of C8:ceramide, PDMP, and SK-1 inhibitor. Interestingly, there were also significant increases in expression levels of LASS genes and decreases in expression levels of GCS and SK-1 in K562 cells in response to resveratrol. Our data, in total, showed for the first time that resveratrol might kill CML cells through increasing intracellular generation and accumulation of apoptotic ceramides" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Rosuvastatin combined with regular exercise preserves coenzyme Q10 levels associated with a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with coronary artery disease - Atherosclerosis. 2011 Mar 31 - "Atorvastatin significantly decreased serum ubiquinol (731+/-238 to 547+/-219nmol/L, p=0.001), but rosuvastatin (680+/-233 to 668+/-299nmol/L, p=0.834) did not" - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.

Protective effect of whey proteins against nonalcoholic fatty liver in rats Lipids Health Dis. 2011 Apr 13;10(1):57 - "Oral administration of the studied whey proteins products reduced the final body weight of rats. There was a significant reduction effect (P<0.05) of the tested proteins on hepatic triglycerides, liver enzymes (ALT and AST), lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde level) and serum glucose. Feeding on whey proteins caused an increase in the reduced glutathione. Hepatic content of reduced glutathione was not affected by any of the used whey proteins, but it showed an increasing tendency (P>0.05). Liver histology showed an improvement of fatty infiltration in hepatocytes from whey protein groups and gives the histology of liver a normal appearance" - See whey protein at Amazon.com.

Dehydroepiandrosterone protects against oxidative stress-induced endothelial dysfunction in ovariectomized rats - J Physiol. 2011 Mar 14 - "The present results suggest an important action of DHEA, improving endothelial function in OVX rats by acting as antioxidant and enhancing the NO bioavailability" - See DHEA at Amazon.com.

A longitudinal analysis on associations of adiponectin levels with metabolic syndrome and carotid artery intima-media thickness. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study - Atherosclerosis. 2011 Apr 8 - "In a multivariable model adjusted for age, sex, MetS components, LDL-cholesterol, CRP, insulin, leptin, smoking and family history of coronary disease, 1-unit increase in baseline adiponectin levels was associated with reduced odds (odds ratio [OR]=0.94, 95% CI 0.89-0.99, P=0.04) of incident MetS. Of the MetS components, adiponectin levels were inversely associated with the incidence of hyperglycemia in multivariable analyses (OR=0.94 (0.90-0.99), P=0.04). When studying the adiponectin×MetS interaction on IMT, we observed a significant interaction when examining IMT in 2001 (r=-0.11 (MetS(-)) vs. r=-0.17 (MetS(+)), P for interaction 0.047) and IMT in 2007 (r=-0.12 (MetS(-)) vs. r=-0.21 (MetS(+)), P for interaction 0.005), suggesting the inverse association between adiponectin and IMT is stronger among those with MetS"

Use of Angiotensin Receptor Blockers and the Risk of Cancer - Circulation. 2011 Apr 11 - "Among 107 466 ARB users, 3954 cases of cancer were detected during 312 753 person-years of follow-up compared with 6214 cases during 435 207 person-years of follow-up in 209 692 angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor users (adjusted rate ratio, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.95 to 1.03). Cancer risk did not increase with increasing duration of ARB exposure (increase in rate ratio per year, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.99 to 1.00,) and was similar across individual ARBs. In subgroup analyses, there was a significant association between ARB use and cancer of male genital organs (rate ratio, 1.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.02 to 1.28), but no significantly increased risk of any of the other 15 cancer subgroups, including lung cancer (rate ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.02). For cancer mortality, the rate ratio was 0.77 (95% confidence interval, 0.72 to 0.82). Conclusion- In this large nationwide cohort, use of ARBs was not significantly associated with increased risk of incident cancer overall or of lung cancer" - Note:  I'm not clear on the cutoff for what they consider significant.  It seems like 15% can be insignificant in one study and significant in another study.  Compared to the nearly 5 times increased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma from processed meat, 15% increase cancer of male genital organs from ARB's seems negligible plus I'm not aware that that form of cancer is common.  Bottom line, ARB users had a 23% overall less chance of dying.  I'd be much more worried about processed meat.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

Health Focus (Alcohol):

Related Topics:

Other News:

Abstracts:

  • Shortened telomeres in individuals with abuse in alcohol consumption - Int J Cancer. 2011 Feb 23 - "Alcohol abuse leads to earlier onset of aging-related diseases, including cancer at multiple sites. Shorter telomere length (TL) in peripheral blood leucocytes (PBLs), a marker of biological aging, has been associated with alcohol-related cancer risks ... To investigated the effect of alcohol abuse on PBL TL and its interaction with alcohol metabolic genotypes, we examined 200 drunk-driving traffic offenders diagnosed as alcohol abusers as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-IV-TR] and enrolled in a probation program, and 257 social drinkers (controls) ... TL was nearly halved in alcohol abusers compared to controls (GMs 0.42 vs. 0.87 relative T/S ratio; P<0.0001) and decreased in relation with increasing drink-units/day (P-trend=0.003). Individuals drinking >4 drink-units/day had substantially shorter TL than those drinking ≤4 drink-units/day (GMs 0.48 vs. 0.61 T/S, P=0.002). Carriers of the common ADH1B*1/*1 (rs1229984) genotype were more likely to be abusers (P=0.008), reported higher drink-units/day (P=0.0003), and exhibited shorter TL (P<0.0001). The rs698 ADH1C and rs671 ALDH2 polymorphisms were not associated with TL. The decrease in PBL-TL modulated by the alcohol metabolic genotype ADH1B*1/*1 may represent a novel mechanism potentially related to alcohol carcinogenesis in alcohol abusers"
  • Association between alcohol consumption and carotid intima-media thickness in a healthy population: data of the STRATEGY study (Stress, Atherosclerosis and ECG Study) - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010 Jul 28 - "The mean IMT was significantly higher in men with an alcohol intake above the upper limit of 20 g/day than in men with an alcohol intake <20 g/day (P<0.001). According to a stepwise linear regression model adjusted for age, conventional risk factors, nutrition and physical activity, the IMT increases by 0.0253 mm per 21.4 g/day intake of alcohol in men (P<0.05).Conclusions: The STRATEGY study revealed a positive association between alcohol consumption and carotid IMT in healthy men aged 30-70 years. This relationship remained significant after adjustment for nutrition, physical activity, anthropometry and conventional cardiovascular risk factors"
  • The impact of alcohol consumption on the risk of cancer among men: A 20-year follow-up study from Finland - Eur J Cancer. 2010 May 3 - "About 6.7% of the cancer cases in this cohort were due to alcohol consumption"
  • Alcohol consumption as a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline: meta-analysis of prospective studies - Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2009 Jul;17(7):542-55 - "Alzheimer disease (AD) ... vascular dementia (VaD) ... The pooled relative risks (RRs) of AD, VaD, and Any dementia for light to moderate drinkers compared with nondrinkers were 0.72 (95% CI = 0.61-0.86), 0.75 (95% CI = 0.57-0.98), and 0.74 (95% CI = 0.61-0.91), respectively. When the more generally classified "drinkers," were compared with "nondrinkers," they had a reduced risk of AD (RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.47-0.94) and Any dementia (RR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.53-0.82) but not cognitive decline. There were not enough data to examine VaD risk among "drinkers." Those classified as heavy drinkers did not have an increased risk of Any dementia compared with nondrinkers, but this may reflect sampling bias. Our results suggest that alcohol drinkers in late life have reduced risk of dementia. It is unclear whether this reflects selection effects in cohort studies commencing in late life, a protective effect of alcohol consumption throughout adulthood, or a specific benefit of alcohol in late life"
  • Long-term Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Endometrial Cancer Incidence: A Prospective Cohort Study - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009 Jan;18(1):355-8 - "During a mean follow-up of 17.6 years, 687 endometrial cancer cases were identified in the Swedish cancer registries. We found no association between alcohol consumption and endometrial cancer risk after adjustment for age, body mass index, and smoking"
  • Brain Atrophy in Alcoholics: Relationship with Alcohol Intake; Liver Disease; Nutritional Status, and Inflammation - Alcohol Alcohol. 2007 Sep 11 - "Brain atrophy is frequently observed in alcoholics, but relationships with liver function, cytokines, nutritional status, and hormone levels are poor"
  • Moderate alcohol consumption in older adults is associated with better cognition and well-being than abstinence - Age Ageing. 2007 Mar 12 - "in middle-aged and older men and women, moderate levels of alcohol consumption are associated with better cognitive health than abstinence"
  • Shaken, not stirred: bioanalytical study of the antioxidant activities of martinis - BMJ, 12/18/99

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