Recent Longevity News for the week ending 12/10/14:

Vitamin C may help people who suffer from airway obstruction or respiratory symptoms after exercise - Science Daily, 12/8/14 - "A meta-analysis of three studies found that vitamin C halved post-exercise FEV1 decline in participants who suffered from exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. Five other studies examined subjects who were under short-term, heavy physical stress and a meta-analysis revealed that vitamin C halved the incidence of respiratory symptoms. Another trial reported that vitamin C halved the duration of the respiratory symptoms in male adolescent competitive swimmers" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com.

BPA in Cans and Plastic Bottles Linked to Quick Rise in Blood Pressure - NYTimes.com, 12/8/14 - "when people drank soy milk from a can, the levels of BPA in their urine rose dramatically within two hours – and so did their blood pressure. But on days when they drank the same beverage from glass bottles, which don’t use BPA linings, there was no significant change in their BPA levels or blood pressure ... for people who drink from multiple cans or plastic bottles every day, the repeated exposure over time could contribute to hypertension ... The chemical is an endocrine disrupter that can mimic estrogen ... “BPA free” do nothing to assuage her concerns ... It doesn’t have bisphenol A, but on the other hand I worry that the new chemical they put in there may also be a problem"

Friendly bacteria are protective against malaria - Science Daily, 12/4/14 - "specific bacterial components in the human gut microbiota can trigger a natural defense mechanism that is highly protective against malaria transmission" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

New Study Refutes Pioglitazone and Bladder-Cancer Link - Medscape, 12/3/14 - "I have not seen the 10-year follow-up published yet, but clearly reports that do not find any association with bladder cancer should be reassuring ... Our study combines data across countries — this is useful, as false associations due to bias can sometimes arise because of specific prescribing patterns within a given country. Looking across different [countries] means that one is less likely to jump to erroneous conclusions" - See my Actos (pioglitazone HCl) page.

Marijuana Smoke as Damaging to Arteries as Tobacco Smoke - Medscape, 12/3/14 - "When the rats were exposed to marijuana smoke in a laboratory for half an hour, arterial flow-mediated dilation dropped by 50% to 70%"

Marijuana Decriminalization Spreads; Public Health Prepares - Medscape, 12/3/14 - "'We've worked for decades to fight against the scourge of cigarette smoking. Why are we embracing this substance?' Yet we don't have the same type of evidence we have with smoking. We never studied it this closely because it's an illegal product ... emerging research already shows the potential short- and long-term effects of marijuana use on public health, with young adults a high-risk group. Young adults who use marijuana heavily as teens are more likely to become addicted, have altered brain development and perform poorly in school ... Then there's the maternal and child health issues. We've heard anecdotally that pregnant women are using marijuana products, so what is the effect on the fetus? ... A total of 4.5 percent of fatal crashes in the first six months of 1994 involved a driver using marijuana, compared with 10 percent of crashes in the last six months of 2011" - Note:  The bad studies on tobacco started in 1963.  Smoking in the workplace was still common until the late '80's.  It took 25 years (a quarter century) for people to start to wake up.  Plus it's not just the medical aspects.  On Thursday, December 3rd Nancy Grace had a segment about parents high on marijuana doing things like a mom high on marijuana leaving their kid in a burning home while she was outside texting, a dad leaving his kid in a hot car while he was high and playing video games, a mom leaving her kid on top of a car, etc.  As far as pain relief, the studies on cherry juice are more promising and it will make you more healthy, not less healthy which could help alleviate the condition in the first place.  Possible lowering of IQ, alterations to the brain, heart disease, family issues, job performance, psychological disorders, gynecomastia and other hormonal disorder, etc. I just needed to blow some hot air on such a no-brainer.

Vitamin D reduces lung disease flare-ups by over 40 percent - Science Daily, 12/2/14 - "Patients with a vitamin D deficiency benefited dramatically from taking the supplements but the striking reduction in flare-ups was not seen among patients who had a higher vitamin D status at the start of the trial. However, researchers did find vitamin D supplementation modestly reduced the severity and duration of flare-up symptoms in all patients in the vitamin D group, regardless of their baseline vitamin D levels, compared to the placebo group" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Vitamin D deficiency, depression linked in international study - Science Daily, 12/2/14 - "Vitamin D deficiency is not just harmful to physical health -- it also might impact mental health ... based on the team's investigations, vitamin D was likely to be a contributing factor in seasonal depression ... Vitamin D is also involved in the synthesis of serotonin and dopamine within the brain, both chemicals linked to depression ... Vitamin D levels of more than 50 nanomoles per liter are recommended by the U.S. Institute of Medicine" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Vitamin supplement successfully prevents noise-induced hearing loss - Science Daily, 12/2/14 - "the researchers used the chemical nicotinamide riboside (NR) to protect the nerves that innervate the cochlea ... NR was successful at preventing damage to the synaptic connections, avoiding both short-term and long-term hearing loss. What's more, NR was equally effective regardless of whether it was given before or after the noise exposure ... The researchers chose NR because it is a precursor to the chemical compound nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which had previously been shown by Dr. Brown and co-senior author Samie Jaffrey, MD, PhD, to protect cochlea nerve cells from injury. However, NAD+ is an unstable compound, calling into question whether it could be used out of the petri dish and in a live animal ... Beyond just preventing hearing loss, the researchers think the results may have broader applications because of the underlying way NR protects nerve cells ... The success of this study suggests that targeting SIRT3 using NR could be a viable target for treating all sorts of aging-related disorders--not only hearing loss but also metabolic syndromes like obesity, pulmonary hypertension, and even diabetes" - See nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide at Amazon.com and nicotinamide riboside at Amazon.com.  It was in the news last month also:

• Derivative of vitamin B3 prevents liver cancer in mice - Science Daily, 11/20/14 - "nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) ... When the scientists supplemented the diet in genetically modified mice with nicotinamide riboside, a derivative of vitamin B3 that increases intracellular levels of NAD+, they did not observe tumour development. Surprisingly, when they gave this diet to mice that had already developed the disease, the size of the tumours was reduced and they eventually disappeared"

Abstracts from this week (Note:  I think everyone came back from Thanksgiving vacation at the same time.  I've never seen this many abstracts in one week):

Baseline consumption and changes in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and the incidence of hypertension: The SUN project - Clin Nutr. 2014 Nov 22 - "the hazard ratio for developing hypertension among participants in the highest category (≥7 servings/week) of SSB consumption was 1.33 (95% CI:1.08-1.68) compared to those in the lowest category (non-drinkers) (p for trend: 0.007). This association seems to be stronger among women [1.55 (95% CI:1.11-2.15) p for trend: 0.007]. As a secondary analysis, after 6-y of follow-up an increase in SSB consumption was associated with 26% higher odds of developing hypertension [OR = 1.26 (95% CI:1.02-1.55)]"

Renoprotective, anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic effects of oral low-dose quercetin in the C57BL/6J model of diabetic nephropathy - Lipids Health Dis. 2014 Dec 6 - "Taken together, these data show that quercetin effectively attenuated STZ-induced cytotoxicity in renal tissue. This study provides convincing experimental evidence and perspectives on the renoprotective effects of quercetin in diabetic mice and outlines a novel therapeutic strategy for this flavonoid in the treatment of DN" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Policosanol Attenuates Statin-Induced Increases in Serum Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 When Combined with Atorvastatin - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:926087 - "Protocol I: 26 patients with atherosclerosis were randomly assigned to receive either atorvastatin 20 mg/d or policosanol 20 mg/d + atorvastatin 20 mg/d for 8 weeks. Protocol II: 15 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to either policosanol 20 mg/d or a control group for 12 weeks ... Protocol I: atorvastatin 20 mg/d significantly increased serum PCSK9 level by 39.4% (256 ± 84 ng/mL versus 357 ± 101 ng/mL, P = 0.002). However, policosanol 20 mg/d + atorvastatin 20 mg/d increased serum PCSK9 level by only 17.4% without statistical significance (264 ± 60 ng/mL versus 310 ± 86 ng/mL, P = 0.184). Protocol II: there was a trend toward decreasing serum PCSK9 levels in the policosanol group (289 ± 71 ng/mL versus 235 ± 46 ng/mL, P = 0.069) ... Policosanol combined with statin attenuated the statin-induced increase in serum PCSK9 levels. This finding indicates that policosanol might have a modest effect of lowering serum PCSK9 levels" - See policosanol at Amazon.com.

• PCSK9 - Wikipedia - "PCSK9 has medical significance because it acts in cholesterol homeostasis. Drugs that block PCSK9 can lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and are beginning Phase III clinical trials to assess their safety and efficacy in humans, and to determine if they can improve outcomes in heart disease"

Effect of green tea supplementation on blood pressure among overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis - J Hypertens. 2014 Dec 4 - "Fourteen RCTs with 971 participants (47% women) were pooled for analysis. Green tea or GTE produced a significant effect on both SBP (mean difference -1.42 mmHg, 95% confidence interval -2.47 to -0.36, P = 0.008; I = 52%, P = 0.01 for heterogeneity) and DBP (mean difference -1.25 mmHg, 95% confidence interval -2.32 to -0.19, P = 0.02; I = 74%, P < 0.001 for heterogeneity), compared with placebo" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Pioglitazone has a dubious bladder cancer risk but an undoubted cardiovascular benefit - Diabet Med. 2014 Dec 3 - "1) the pre-clinical findings of bladder cancer in male rats is not indicative of human risk; 2) there is no association between bladder cancer and pioglitazone in randomized controlled trials, once cases that could not plausibly be related to treatment are removed; and 3) the observational studies that have suggested a link have over-extrapolated from the data: pioglitazone-treated patients had more risk factors for bladder cancer than those not treated with pioglitazone. Meanwhile careful study of randomized controlled trials shows evidence of cardiovascular benefit from pioglitazone in Type 2 diabetes, a condition which results, more than anything, in premature cardiovascular death and morbidity"

Serum concentration of eicosapentaenoic acid is associated with cognitive function in patients with coronary artery disease - Nutr J. 2014 Dec 4;13(1):112 - "Serum EPA concentration is associated with cognitive function in patients with CAD, suggesting that a low serum EPA level is a risk factor for cognitive impairment independent of cardiac function, including left ventricular ejection fraction. This correlation potentially lends further support to a role of dietary n-3 PUFAs in preventing the cognitive decline in CAD patients" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Effects in Response to Red Bull Consumption Combined With Mental Stress - Am J Cardiol. 2014 Oct 29 - "Red Bull and mental stress increased systolic BP by about 10 mm Hg, diastolic BP by 7 mm Hg, and heart rate by 20 beats/min and decreased cerebral blood flow velocity by -7 cm/s"

Coffee and depression in Korea: the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014 Dec 3 - "After adjustment for potential confounders, the adjusted ORs for self-reported depression across coffee consumption categories were 1.00 (reference) for less than one cup/week, 0.84 (95% CI: 0.66, 1.07) for one to six cups/week, 0.63 (95% CI: 0.51, 0.79) for one cup/day, 0.69 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.88) for two cups/day and 0.58 (95% CI: 0.44, 0.76) for three or more cups/day (P for trend, <0.01). A similar association was observed for self-reported clinical depression, for which the multiple-adjusted ORs were 1.00 (reference) for less than one cup/week, 0.61 (95% CI: 0.40, 0.92) for one to six cups/week, 0.51 (95% CI: 0.34, 0.74) for one cup/day, 0.57 (95% CI: 0.39, 0.84) for two cups/day and 0.41 (95% CI: 0.24, 0.70) for three or more cups/day, respectively"

Vitamin D status and metabolic syndrome in the elderly: the Rotterdam Study - Eur J Endocrinol. 2014 Dec 2 - "We found higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations associated with lower prevalence of MetS (Odds Ratio (OR); 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.61; 0.49, 0.77 for adequate levels (≥75nmol/l) versus deficiency (<50nmol/l) . Additionally, in analysis of the individual components, the ORs for adequate versus deficient vitamin D levels were: 0.66 (95%CI 0.53,0.83) for elevated WC, 0.67 (95%CI 0.52,0.86) for reduced HDL-C, 0.69 (95%CI 0.54,0.88) for elevated triglycerides, 0.80 (95%CI 0.65,0.99) for elevated fasting glucose ... Higher 25(OH)D concentrations in the elderly are associated with lower prevalence of MetS and, in particular, with more beneficial HDL-C, TG, WC and serum glucose" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Efficacy of pioglitazone on erectile function recovery in a rat model of cavernous nerve injury - Urology. 2014 Nov;84(5):1122-7 - "Twenty adult rats were divided into 4 groups: (a) sham, (b) control-bilateral cavernosal nerve crush injury (BCNI), (c) BCNI + low-dose pioglitazone (PioL), and (d) BCNI + high-dose pioglitazone (PioH) ... Pioglitazone improves erectile function in rats undergoing BCNI via a nitric oxide-mediated pathway"

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the prebiotics and synbiotics effects on glycaemia, insulin concentrations and lipid parameters in adult patients with overweight or obesity - Clin Nutr. 2014 Oct 20 - "Thirteen trials, representing 513 adult participants with Body Mass Index ≥25 kg/m² were included. Prebiotic supplementation reduced plasma total cholesterol (SMD -0.25; 95% CI -0.48, -0.02) and LDL-c (SMD -0.22; 95% CI -0.44, -0.00) concentrations in overall analysis, and reduced triglycerides (SMD -0.72; 95% CI -1.20, -0.23) and increased HDL-c (SMD 0.49; 95% CI 0.01, 0.97) concentrations in diabetic trials. Synbiotic supplementation reduced plasma fasting insulin (SMD -0.39; 95% CI -0.75, -0.02) and triglycerides (SMD -0.43; 95% CI -0.70, -0.15) concentrations" - See prebiotic supplements at Amazon.com.

Impact of personalized diet and probiotic supplementation on inflammation, nutritional parameters and intestinal microbiota - The "RISTOMED project": Randomized controlled trial in healthy older people - Clin Nutr. 2014 Oct 8 - "Addition of VSL#3 increased bifidobacteria and supported adequate folate and vitamin B12 concentrations in subjects with low-grade inflammation. Decrease in homocysteine with VSL#3 was clinically relevant. suggesting protective potentials for aging-associated conditions, e.g. cardiovascular or neurological diseases" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

The effect of vitamin D supplementation on serum lipids in postmenopausal women with diabetes: A randomized controlled trial - Clin Nutr. 2014 Oct 13 - "total of 104 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned in a double-blind manner to 1 of 2 groups taking a daily tablet for 6 months: a group consuming 4000 IU tablets of a vitamin D supplement (vitamin D group n = 52) or a group consuming placebo tablets (placebo group n = 52) ... Our findings revealed no significant changes in low density lipoproteins, high density lipoproteins and total cholesterol concentrations, but did identify a greater decrease in serum triglycerides in the vitamin D group. The average effect of supplementation on the treated group was -34.24 mg/dL (P = 0.021), while the average treatment effect was -31.8 mg/dL" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Administration of high dose eicosapentaenoic acid enhances anti-inflammatory properties of high-density lipoprotein in Japanese patients with dyslipidemia - Atherosclerosis. 2014 Oct 18 - "Oral administration of EPA regenerated anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory functions of HDL, and promoted cholesterol efflux from macrophages. Therefore, EPA may transform "dysfunctional HDL" to "functional", in patients with coronary risk factors" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Serum coenzyme Q10 and risk of disabling dementia: The Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS) - Atherosclerosis. 2014 Sep 28 - "community-based cohort of approximately 6000 Japanese aged 40-69 years at baseline (1984-1994) ... Serum coenzyme Q10 was inversely associated with dementia: the multivariate odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.68 (0.26-1.78), 0.92 (0.33-2.56), and 0.23 (0.06-0.86) for individuals with the second, third, and highest quartiles of coenzyme Q10, respectively, as compared with the lowest quartile (P for trend = 0.05)" - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.

Combined lowering of low grade systemic inflammation and insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome patients treated with Ginkgo biloba - Atherosclerosis. 2014 Oct 18 - "In a clinical pilot study with eleven metabolic syndrome patients, a simultaneous decrease in hs-CRP from 8.85 ± 4.09 to 4.92 ± 2.51 mg/L (-44.4%) (p < 0.0436) and HOMA-IR from 3.07 ± 0.63 to 2.60 ± 0.51mU/L × mg/dL (-15.3%) (p < 0.0120) as well as a beneficial change of arteriosclerotic, inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers were detected after 2-month treatment with Ginkgo biloba. Furthermore, both IL-6 (-12.9%, p < 0.0407) and nanoplaque formation (-14.3%, p < 0.0077) were additionally reduced" - See Ginkgo biloba at Amazon.com.

Piperine inhibits the growth and motility of triple-negative breast cancer cells - Cancer Lett. 2014 Nov 13 - "Taken together, these findings suggest that piperine may be useful in the treatment of TNBC" - See piperine extract at Amazon.com.

Curcumin promotes apoptosis by activating the p53-miR-192-5p/215-XIAP pathway in non-small cell lung cancer - Cancer Lett. 2014 Nov 18 - "Taken together, this study highlights that the proapoptotic effects of curcumin depend on miR-192-5p/215 induction and the p53-miR-192-5p/215-XIAP pathway is an important therapeutic target for non-small cell lung cancer" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Higher homocysteine associated with thinner cortical gray matter in 803 participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - Neurobiol Aging. 2014 Aug 30 - "A significant portion of our risk for dementia in old age is associated with lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, and cardiovascular health) that are modifiable, at least in principle. One such risk factor, high-homocysteine levels in the blood, is known to increase risk for Alzheimer's disease and vascular disorders ... These regional differences in gray matter structure may be useful biomarkers to assess the effectiveness of interventions, such as vitamin B supplements, that aim to prevent homocysteine-related brain atrophy by normalizing homocysteine levels"

Relation of Resting Heart Rate to Risk for All-Cause Mortality by Gender After considering Exercise Capacity (the Henry Ford Exercise Testing Project) - Am J Cardiol. 2014 Dec 1 - "The mean age was 53 ± 12 years and mean RHR was 73 ± 12 beats/min ... There was an increased risk of all-cause mortality with increasing RHR (p trend <0.001). Compared with the lowest RHR group, participants with an RHR ≥90 beats/min had a significantly increased risk of mortality even after adjustment for fitness (hazard ratio 1.22, 95% confidence interval 1.10 to 1.35). This relationship remained significant for men, but not significant for women after adjustment for fitness"

Estrogen receptor-mediated resveratrol actions on blood-brain barrier of ovariectomized mice - Neurobiol Aging. 2014 Oct 13 - "estrogen receptors (ERs) ... these results showed that neuroprotective effects of resveratrol in ovariectomized mice were mediated by ERs and associated with tightening of blood-brain barrier, suggesting that resveratrol can be an alternative to estrogens to protect the brains of estrogen-deficient females against ischemic insult" - See ReserveAge Resveratrol Vegetarian Capsules, 500 Mg, 60-Count at Amazon.com.

The Omega-3 Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic Acid Attenuates Organic Dust-Induced Airway Inflammation - Nutrients. 2014 Nov 27;6(12):5434-5452 - "Collectively, these data demonstrate that DHA affects several lung cells to reduce the airway inflammatory response to organic dust exposures. Dietary supplementation with DHA may be an effective therapeutic strategy to reduce the airway inflammatory consequences in individuals exposed to agriculture dust environments" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How o's":

Top appliances to light up your holiday season - CNET, 12/7/14 - "you can start opening and closing your garage door wherever you have an Internet connection and even receive custom alerts when the door opens or closes ... Chamberlain's MyQ Garage should be the first on your list if you want to add some smarts to your garage door" -  See the video.  It also allows you to open your garage door with your cell phone.  See Chamberlain MYQ-G0201 MyQ-Garage Controls Your Garage Door Opener with Your Smartphone at Amazon.com (#1 best seller).  Full review: http://www.cnet.com/products/myq-garage/.

Health Focus (Rhodiola rosea):