Recent Longevity News for the week ending 8/27/14:

Is MSG really all that bad for you? - CNET, 8/25/14 - It's a 3 minute video.

• Monosodium glutamate intake is inversely related to the risk of hyperglycemia - Clin Nutr. 2013 Nov 1 - "We followed 1056 healthy adults aged 20 years and older from 2002 to 2007. Dietary data were collected during home visits using a 3-day food record and a food frequency questionnaire ... The highest quartile of MSG intake was associated with a lower risk of incident hyperglycemia, even after adjustment for a number of covariates, including dietary patterns. Comparing the highest with the lowest quartiles of MSG intake, the odds ratio (OR) for hyperglycemia was 0.30 (95% CI 0.13-0.66). There was a linear inverse association between MSG intake and change in blood glucose"

Creating pomegranate drug to stem Alzheimer's, Parkinson's - Science Daily, 8/22/14 - "The onset of Alzheimer's disease can be slowed and some of its symptoms curbed by a natural compound that is found in pomegranate. Also, the painful inflammation that accompanies illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson's disease could be reduced ... punicalagin, which is a polyphenol -- a form of chemical compound -- found in pomegranate fruit, can inhibit inflammation in specialised brain cells known as micrologia. This inflammation leads to the destruction of more and more brain cells, making the condition of Alzheimer's sufferers progressively worse ... we do know that regular intake and regular consumption of pomegranate has a lot of health benefits -- including prevention of neuro-inflammation related to dementia" - See pomegranate extract at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

A specific multi-nutrient enriched diet enhances hippocampal cholinergic transmission in aged rats - Neurobiol Aging. 2014 Jul 24 - "Fortasyn Connect (FC) is a specific nutrient combination designed to target synaptic dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease by providing neuronal membrane precursors and other supportive nutrients ... the FC diet enhances hippocampal cholinergic neurotransmission in aged rats and suggest that this effect is mediated by enhanced synaptic membrane formation. These data provide further insight into cellular and molecular mechanisms by which FC may support memory processes in Alzheimer's disease"

• Souvenaid - Wikipedia - "Souvenaid was developed by Advanced Medical Nutrition division of Nutricia and contains a patented combination of nutrients, referred to under the trademark Fortasyn Connect™.[4] Souvenaid was designed to support synapse formation and function[1] in early Alzheimer’s disease ... Composition ... Eicospentaenoic acid, 300 mg ... Docosahexaenoic acid, 1200 mg ... Phospholipids 106 mg ... Choline, 400 mg ... Uridine monophosphate, 625 mg ... Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol equivalents), 40 mg ... Selenium, 60 µg ... Vitamin B12, 3 µg ... Vitamin B6, 1 mg ... Folic acid, 400 µg" - See uridine at Amazon.com.  Most health conscious people are probably already taking the other incredients.

Hemoglobin A1c, comorbid conditions and all-cause mortality in older patients with diabetes: A retrospective 9-year cohort study - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014 Jul 29 - "In our patient population, HbA1c scores<6.4% have significantly higher all-cause mortality"

N-Acetylcysteine administration prevents nonthyroidal illness syndrome in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a randomized clinical trial - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Aug 22 - "The acute phase of the non-thyroidal syndrome (NTIS) is characterized by low triiodothyronine (T3) and high reverse T3 (rT3) levels, affecting up to 75% of critically ill patients. Oxidative stress has been implicated as a causative factor of the disturbed peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism ... NAC administration prevents the derangement in thyroid hormone concentrations commonly occurring in the acute phase of acute myocardial infarction, indicating that oxidative stress is involved in the NTIS pathophysiology" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.

Ascorbic Acid Prevents High Glucose-induced Apoptosis in Human Brain Pericytes - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2014 Aug 21 - "High glucose concentrations due to diabetes increase apoptosis of vascular pericytes, impairing vascular regulation and weakening vessels, especially in brain and retina. We sought to determine whether vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, could prevent such high glucose-induced increases in pericyte apoptosis ... the prevention of apoptosis by ascorbate may involve effects beyond its function as an antioxidant" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com.

Cognitive and neuroprotective effects of chlorogenic acid - Nutr Neurosci. 2014 Aug 17 - "chlorogenic acid (CGA) ... A literature search was conducted using PubMed ... Recent research suggests that dietary consumption of CGA could produce a wide range of health benefits and physiological effects. There is also mounting evidence that the consumption of polyphenols, including CGA, in the diet could reduce the risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions" - See green coffee bean extract at Amazon.com.

• Chlorogenic acid - Wikipedia - "Chlorogenic acid can be found in bamboo Phyllostachys edulis.[8] as well as in many other plants.[9] It is one of the major phenolic compounds identified in peach[10] and in prunes.[11] It also is one of the phenols found in green coffee bean extract"

Lipid-Lowering Effects of Curcumin in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - Phytother Res. 2014 Aug 6 - "Sixty-five patients were randomized into two groups; 33 patients taking curcumin extract capsule (630 mg thrice daily) and 32 patients taking a placebo capsule thrice daily for 12 weeks. At 12 weeks after the curcumin extract consumption, the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) significantly increased from 40.96 ± 8.59 to 43.76 ± 2.79 mg/dL (p < 0.05), and the level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) was significantly reduced (120.55 ± 36.81 to 106.51 ± 25.02 mg/dL, p < 0.05). The triglyceride-lowering effect, a reduction of 65 mg/dL, was also found in this study" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Tinnitus):

Popular Supplements:

• ginkgo / vitamin B12 / melatonin

Alternative News:

• Coffee May Keep Your Ears From Ringing - WebMD, 8/8/14 - "Women who consumed less than 150 milligrams (mg) a day of caffeine (found in about one-and-a-half 8-ounce cups of coffee) were 15 percent more likely to develop tinnitus than those who consumed 450 mg to 599 mg a day of caffeine, the investigators found ... We know that caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, and previous research has demonstrated that caffeine has a direct effect on the inner ear in both bench science and animal studies"
• Improvement in symptoms and cochlear flow with pycnogenol in patients with Meniere's disease and tinnitus - Minerva Med. 2014 Jun;105(3):245-54 - "All subjects were managed with the best available management (BM); one group used the supplement Pycnogenol (150 mg/day) ... There was a more significant improvement in all registry items at 3 and 6 months in the Pycnogenol group (P<0.05). The number of lost working days was lower in the Pycnogenol group. At 3 months, 45.4% of subjects using Pycnogenol were completely asymptomatic in comparison with 23.07% of controls. At 6 months 87.3% of the Pycnogenol subjects were asymptomatic compared with 34.6% of controls. Cochlear flow velocity was significantly better (higher flow, higher diastolic component) in the Pycnogenol group (P<0.05). The subjective tinnitus scale decreased in both groups (P<0.05); the decrease was more significant in Pycnogenol subjects (P<0.05) at 3 and 6 months" - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com.
• Preventing noise-induced hearing loss, tinnitus in soldiers - Science Daily, 9/6/12 - "Antioxidants, dietary supplements and high-tech brain imaging are among some of the novel strategies that may help detect, treat and even prevent noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus among American troops ... Noise-induced hearing loss doesn't just impact a person's ability to hear; it can cause balance issues, make it difficult to sleep and communicate, and even raise the risk for heart disease by increasing a person's blood pressure, lipids and blood sugar ... Dr. Seidman will discuss the use of nutraceuticals, such as acetyl-l-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid and resveratrol ... a nutraceutical with a resveratrol-based component may possibly hold the potential to not only prevent, but reverse hearing loss in certain circumstances for soldiers. This research is based on animal models, but will soon be tested with humans" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Pine bark extract may relieve tinnitus symptoms: Study - Nutra USA, 10/14/10 - "Impaired blood flow to the ear is a common cause for tinnitus, a disturbing and very debilitating condition that can considerably impact overall health and quality of life ... both doses of Pycnogenol improved blood systolic and diastolic blood flow velocities from 14.3 and 4.22 cm/sec in the 100 mg per day group to 21.2 and 8.23 cm/sec, and from 13.2 and 3.2 cm/sec in the 150 mg per day group to 24.3 and 12.5 cm/sec, respectively ... In addition, the researchers used a Subjective Tinnitus Scale (STS) to evaluate the symptoms of tinnitus. Results showed a decrease from an average of 8.8 in the pine bark groups to 5.2 and 3.3 in the low and high dose groups, respectively" - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com.
• Zinc Reduces the Severity of Tinnitus - New Hope Natural Media, 4/17/03 - "The current study examined the prevalence of zinc deficiency and the effect of zinc therapy in people with tinnitus. Forty-one people with tinnitus participated in the study, and more than 31% of them were found to have zinc deficiency. All of the participants were randomly assigned to receive either 50 mg of zinc or placebo daily. At the end of two months, 46% of the people in the zinc group had clinical improvement, defined as a ten-decibel or greater decrease in loudness of tinnitus" - See iHerb zinc products.  Also, see my zinc page for reasons you should not take it without copper.

Other News:

• Scientists find mechanism that causes noise-induced tinnitus and drug that can prevent it - Science Daily, 5/27/13 - "An epilepsy drug shows promise in an animal model at preventing tinnitus from developing after exposure to loud noise ... mice that were treated with retigabine immediately after noise exposure did not develop tinnitus"
• New effective treatment for tinnitus? - Science Daily, 5/28/12
• Tinnitus is Associated With Increase in the Intima-Media Thickness of Carotid Arteries in Japanese Undergoing a Brain Screening Program - Am J Med Sci. 2011 Jun 2 - "Increased intima-media thickness was observed in 53.1% overall (in 57.6% of men and in 46.2% of women), with significant associations with tinnitus (odds ratio, 1.62; 95% confidence interval, 1.19-2.22), age, male gender and hypertension. The tinnitus link persisted after adjustment for the confounding factors"
• Prolonged mobile phone use may be linked to tinnitus - Science Daily, 7/20/10 - "Regularly using a mobile phone for at least four years seems to be associated with a doubling in the risk of developing chronic tinnitus"