Recent Longevity News for the week ending 4/13/16

Click here for the email version which includes information on grape seed extract.

Post-menopausal women taking metformin for diabetes may be at lower risk of cancer - Science Daily, 4/7/16 - "women with diabetes had a 45% greater risk of death from invasive cancer overall when compared to women without diabetes. In addition, among women with diabetes, the risk of cancer death differed significantly between metformin users and nonusers. The researchers noted a trend of decreasing risk of cancer death with increasing duration of metformin use ... Compared to women without diabetes, women with diabetes had a 13% higher risk of developing invasive cancer. These women also face increased risk that ranges from 20% to nearly double the chances of being diagnosed with the following cancers: colon, liver, pancreas, endometrial and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Results also show that metformin use was associated with better survival in diabetes patients diagnosed with ovarian, colorectal and breast cancer" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Lithium study helps scientists unlock ageing puzzle - BBC News, 4/7/16 - "fruit flies lived 16% longer than average when given low doses of lithium ... At high doses, lithium reduced their lifespan ... We found low doses not only prolong life but also shield the body from stress and block fat production for flies on a high sugar diet" - See lithium supplements at Amazon.com.

• Should We All Take a Bit of Lithium? - NYTimes.com, 9/13/14 - "Lithium is a naturally occurring element, not a molecule like most medications, and it is present in the United States, depending on the geographic area, at concentrations that can range widely, from undetectable to around .170 milligrams per liter. This amount is less than a thousandth of the minimum daily dose given for bipolar disorders and for depression that doesn’t respond to antidepressants ... Suicide rates were inversely correlated with the lithium content in the local water supply ... Lithium is, by far, the most proven drug to keep neurons alive, in animals and in humans, consistently and with many replicated studies ... If lithium prevents dementia, then we may have overlooked a very simple means of preventing a major public health problem"

Higher levels of vitamin D correspond to lower cancer risk - Science Daily, 4/6/16 - "The new PLOS ONE study sought to determine what blood level of vitamin D was required to effectively reduce cancer risk ... Cancer incidence declined with increased 25(OH)D. Women with 25(OH)D concentrations of 40 ng/ml or greater had a 67 percent lower risk of cancer than women with levels of 20 ng/ml or less ... Garland said a broad effort to increase 25(OH)D concentrations to a minimum of 40 ng/ml in the general population would likely and substantially reduce cancer incidence and associated mortality" -  Note:  40 ng/ml equals 100 nmol/l.  They usually used ng/ml in the U.S.  See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Cannabis use in pregnancy linked to low birthweight and intensive care - Science Daily, 4/5/16 - "recent research has pointed to links between the drug and an increased risk of road traffic accidents, psychosis, HIV, hepatitis, infective endocarditis and TB. Less is known, however, about its possible effects on fetal growth and development ... Analysis of the pooled data showed that mums- to-be who used cannabis were 36% more likely to have anemia than women who didn't use the drug ... Infants exposed to cannabis in the womb were 77% more likely to be under weight at birth and twice as likely to require intensive care as those whose mums had not used cannabis during their pregnancy"

FDA Warns of Heart Failure Risk With Two Diabetes Drugs - Medscape, 4/5/16 - "Health care professionals should consider discontinuing medications containing saxagliptin and alogliptin in patients who develop heart failure and monitor their diabetes control ... In the saxagliptin trial, which included 16,492 patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease or who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease, there was no overall risk for cardiovascular events, but there was a 27% increase (3.5% vs. 2.8%) in the rate of the first event of hospitalization for heart failure and a potential increased risk for all-cause mortality" - Note:  Hmm!  Remember my comment last week or the week before regarding the doctor who claimed Actos was obsolete because the newer diabetes medications had fewer side effects and I said the news ones didn't have some of the benefits?

Vitamin D improves heart function, study finds - Science Daily, 4/4/16 - "In the 80 patients who took Vitamin D3, the heart's pumping function improved from 26% to 34%. In the others, who took placebo, there was no change in cardiac function" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Reduced Fat Mass and Increased Lean Mass in Response to 1 Year of Melatonin Treatment in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape, 4/4/16 - "Our results suggest a possibly beneficial effect of melatonin on body composition and lipid metabolism as 1 year of treatment reduces fat mass, increases lean mass and is associated with a trend towards an increase in adiponectin" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.

The Case Against Low-fat Milk Is Stronger Than Ever - Time, 4/4/16 - "people who had higher levels of three different byproducts of full-fat dairy had, on average, a 46% lower risk of getting diabetes during the study period than those with lower levels ... in a separate study published in the American Journal of Nutrition, another group analyzed the effects of full fat and low fat dairy on obesity and found that among 18,438 women in the Women’s Health Study, those who consumed the most high-fat dairy products lowered their risk of being overweight of obese by 8% ... While it’s not entirely clear how whole fat is helping to lower risk of diabetes, it’s possible that it’s working on several different levels to regulate insulin and glucose"

Abstracts from this week:

Dietary Broccoli Lessens Development of Fatty Liver and Liver Cancer in Mice Given Diethylnitrosamine and Fed a Western or Control Diet - J Nutr. 2016 Mar;146(3):542-50 - "The high-fat and high-sugar Westernized diet that is popular worldwide is associated with increased body fat accumulation, which has been related to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Without treatment, NAFLD may progress to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a cancer with a high mortality rate ... Adult 5-wk-old male B6C3F1 mice received a control diet (AIN-93M) or a Western diet (high in lard and sucrose, 19% and 31%, wt:wt, respectively), with or without freeze-dried broccoli ... Mice receiving broccoli exhibited lower hepatic triglycerides (P < 0.001) and NAFLD scores (P < 0.0001), decreased plasma alanine aminotransferase (P < 0.0001), suppressed activation of hepatic CD68(+) macrophages (P < 0.0001), and slowed initiation and progression of hepatic neoplasm. Hepatic Cd36 was downregulated by broccoli feeding (P = 0.006), whereas microsomal triglyceride transfer protein was upregulated (P = 0.045), supporting the finding that dietary broccoli decreased hepatic triglycerides" - [Nutra USA] - See Jarrow Formulas BroccoMax, Supports Liver Health, 60 Delayed Veggie Caps at Amazon.com.

Selenium status and risk of prostate cancer in a Danish population - Br J Nutr. 2016 Mar 14:1-9 - "levels of plasma Se and selenoprotein P were not associated with the risk of total and advanced prostate cancer, but higher levels of these two biomarkers were associated with a lower risk of high-grade disease" - [Nutra USA]

Dietary Polyphenol Supplementation Prevents Alterations of Spatial Navigation in Middle-Aged Mice - Front Behav Neurosci. 2016 Feb 9 - "In this study, spatial learning deficits of middle-aged mice were first highlighted and characterized according to their navigation patterns in the Morris water maze task. An eight-week polyphenol-enriched diet, containing a polyphenol-rich extract from grape and blueberry (PEGB; from the Neurophenols Consortium) with high contents of flavonoids, stilbenes and phenolic acids, was then successful in reversing these age-induced effects. The use of spatial strategies was indeed delayed with aging whereas a polyphenol supplementation could promote the occurrence of spatial strategies. These behavioral results were associated with neurobiological changes: while the expression of hippocampal calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) mRNA levels was reduced in middle-aged animals, the polyphenol-enriched diet could rescue them. Besides, an increased expression of nerve growth neurotrophic factor (NGF) mRNA levels was also observed in supplemented adult and middle-aged mice. Thus these data suggest that supplementation with polyphenols could be an efficient nutritional way to prevent age-induced cognitive decline" - [Nutra USA] - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com and OPCs+95 at Amazon.com.

Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Telomerase Activity in Hispanics with Type 2 Diabetes - FASEB Journal Apr 2016 - "Low telomerase activity and short telomere length are linked to type 2 diabetes and mortality. Hispanics are shown to have shorter telomere lengths as compared to Whites ... Participants were given 4000 IU/day of vitamin D3 supplementation for 6 months ... telomerase activity levels increased from baseline to 6 months (49.3 ± 6.8 vs. 63.1 ± 7.2 RTA, respectively) which was statistically significant" - [Nutra USA] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Middle-Term Dietary Supplementation with Red Yeast Rice Plus Coenzyme Q10 Improves Lipid Pattern, Endothelial Reactivity and Arterial Stiffness in Moderately Hypercholesterolemic Subjects - Ann Nutr Metab. 2016 Apr 8 - "The long-term assumption of the tested dietary supplement is associated with an improvement in LDL-cholesterolemia, endothelial reactivity and PWV in moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects" - See Ubiquinol products at Amazon.com and red yeast rice at Amazon.com.

Telmisartan: A multifaceted antihypertension drug - Curr Med Res Opin. 2016 Apr 7:1-9 - "Among various antihypertensive drugs, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have an established efficacy and safety, making them a favourable choice. However, all ARBs do not share the same qualities. Telmisartan, beyond its inherent favourable effects of the ARB class, has shown some additional promising pleiotropic effects. Indeed, telmisartan has been associated with favourable outcomes regarding glucose metabolism, dyslipidaemia as well as adipose tissue redistribution. As a result, hypertensive patients with multiple CVD comorbidities may have additional benefits when treated with telmisartan" -  Note:  I've been pointing that out for a long time.  See my Telmisartan as a first line treatment page.

Long-term magnesium supplementation improves arterial stiffness in overweight and obese adults: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial - Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Apr 6 - "Our data indicate that a daily magnesium supplement of 350 mg for 24 wk in overweight and obese adults reduces arterial stiffness, as estimated by a decrease in PWVc-f, suggesting a potential mechanism by which an increased dietary magnesium intake beneficially affects cardiovascular health" - See Magtein at Amazon.com.

Effects of omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy and youth on neurodevelopment and cognition in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis - The FASEB Journal Apr 2016 - "Omega-3 supplementation during either pregnancy or infancy improves child neurodevelopment. These findings indicate the importance of sufficient polyunsaturated fatty acid intake by pregnant women and young children" - [Nutra USA] - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Capsaicinoids Supplementation Reduces Appetite and Body Circumferences in Healthy Men and Women A Placebo Controlled Randomized Double Blind Study - The FASEB Journal Mar 2016 - "randomly assigned by fat mass to ingest either CAP (2mg CAP, CX1 or 4mg CAP, CX2 [CX, Capsimax®, OmniActive Health Technologies Ltd.]) or placebo (corn starch, PLA) for 12 weeks ... baseline (T1), 6 weeks (T2) and 12 weeks (T3) ... Waist: hip ratio measurements showed a main effect for time (p = 0.034) with post-hoc tests revealing a significant (p = 0.024) decrease in CX1 from T1 to T2. Appetite questionnaire responses indicated a significant main effect for time from T1 to T2 (p = 0.004) and T1 to T3 (p = 0.001) suggesting supplementation of CAP reduced appetite" - [Nutra USA] - See Capsimax® at Amazon.com.

Effects of Supplementation with Curcumin on Serum Adipokine Concentrations: A Randomized Controlled Trial - Nutrition, Mar 2016 - "randomly assigned to curcumin (n=59; 1000 mg/day) or placebo (n=58) for 8 weeks ... Eight-week supplementation with curcumin was associated with a significant increase in serum adiponectin levels (p<0.001), and a reduction in serum leptin concentrations (p<0.001). Serum leptin:adiponectin ratio was also improved by curcumin (p<0.001). These beneficial effects of curcumin remained significant after adjustment for changes in serum lipids and glucose concentrations, and baseline differences in BMI and serum levels of glucose and HbA1c as potential confounders of treatment response. Meta-analysis suggested that curcumin supplementation can increase adiponectin levels by 76.78% (95% CI: 6.14, 147.42; p=0.0330), and reduce leptin by 26.49%" - [Nutra USA] - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Impact of phenolic-rich olive leaf extract on blood pressure, plasma lipids and inflammatory markers: a randomised controlled trial - Eur J Nutr. 2016 Mar 7 - "A total of 60 pre-hypertensive [systolic blood pressure (SBP): 121-140 mmHg; diastolic blood pressure (DBP): 81-90 mmHg] males [mean age 45 (±SD 12.7 years, BMI 26.7 (±3.21) kg/m2] consumed either OLE (136 mg oleuropein; 6 mg hydroxytyrosol) or a polyphenol-free control daily for 6 weeks before switching to the alternate arm after a 4-week washout ... aytime [-3.95 (±SD 11.48) mmHg, p = 0.027] and 24-h SBP [-3.33 (±SD 10.81) mmHg, p = 0.045] and daytime and 24-h DBP [-3.00 (±SD 8.54) mmHg, p = 0.025; -2.42 (±SD 7.61) mmHg, p = 0.039] were all significantly lower following OLE intake, relative to the control. Reductions in plasma total cholesterol [-0.32 (±SD 0.70) mmol/L, p = 0.002], LDL cholesterol [-0.19 (±SD 0.56) mmol/L, p = 0.017] and triglycerides [-0.18 (±SD 0.48), p = 0.008] were also induced by OLE compared to control, whilst a reduction in interleukin-8 [-0.63 (±SD 1.13) pg/ml; p = 0.026] was also detected" - [Nutra USA] - See Comvita Olive Leaf Extract at Amazon.com.

β-Alanine Supplementation Improved Workload Capacity and Cognitive Function of Middle Age Individuals - FASEB Journal, Mar 2016 - "Sarcopenia, the age induced wasting of skeletal muscle, has been seen to be tightly associated with significantly decreased systemic carnosine stores. β-alanine supplementation has previously been shown to increase systemic carnosine concentrations in young adults. Increasing systemic carnosine may result in enhanced antioxidant and pH buffering capabilities within its main storage sites of skeletal muscle and brain tissue. This enhancement may result in improved submaximal endurance exercise capacity and in the prevention of exercise associated cognitive decline ... Before supplementation, average time-to-exhaustion (TTE) for the β-alanine group and Placebo group was 17.3±10.2 and 22.9±10.2 minutes, respectively. After supplementation, all subjects increased their TTE; with β-alanine supplemented subjects cycling significantly longer than those on Placebo (7.9±1.4 vs 0.9±2.5 minutes, respectively, P<0.01). Placebo subjects were 8.9±2.0 seconds slower in completing the Stroop Test at T4 compared to T3 (P=0.04), while the β-alanine group (1.9±2.0 seconds, P=0.8) was not slower at this time point" - [Nutra USA] - See beta-alanine at Amazon.com.

Resveratrol Treatment Inhibits Proliferation of and Induces Apoptosis in Human Colon Cancer Cells - Med Sci Monit. 2016 Apr 4;22:1101-8 - "These findings suggest that resveratrol treatment can be a promising strategy for the treatment of colon cancer" - See Reserveage Nutrition - Resveratrol with Pterostilbene 500mg, Cellular Age-Defying Formula, 60 veg capsules at Amazon.com. 

Health Focus (BPH/Prostate Cancer):