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Recent Longevity News for the week ending 7/20/22

Overly Tight Sodium Restriction May Worsen HFpEF Outcomes - Medscape, 7/18/22 - "Compared with patients with a cooking salt score of zero, patients with a cooking salt score greater than zero had significantly lower risks of the primary outcome (hazard ratio [HR] 0.760; P = .002) and HF hospitalization (HR, 0.737; P = .003) but not all-cause (HR, 0.838) or CV (HR, 0.782) death ... Results of subgroup analyses suggested that patients aged 70 years or younger (HR, 0.644) and those of Black and other ethnicities (HR, 0.574) were at greater risk of the primary outcome from aggressive restriction of cooking salt ... What limits the importance of the authors' findings, which they acknowledge, is that the sodium intake for each patient was self-reported ... No confirmatory testing was done and recall bias could clearly have played a role"

Metformin Shows Potential to Prevent Macular Degeneration - Medscape, 7/18/22 - "patients who were prescribed the drug over a period of 2 years were about 5% less likely to have AMD ... But the drug has previously shown protective effects against other age-related diseases such as dementia, cancer, and stroke. And it works through pathways that play a role in the development of AMD ... Those patients prescribed low to moderate doses of metformin had the least risk. Those prescribed 1-270 grams over 2 years had an OR of 0.91 (95% CI, 0.88 - 0.94). And those prescribed 271-600 grams over 2 two years had an OR of 0.90 (95% CI, 0.87 - 0.93). But patients prescribed doses over 1080 grams over 2 years did not have reduced odds of developing AMD ... On the other hand, people prescribed the diabetes drugs exenatide, sitagliptin, or pramlintide instead of metformin were at higher risk of developing AMD (OR, 1.08" - See metformin at ReliableRX.

When to Treat Low Testosterone in Diabetes and Obesity - Medscape, 7/15/22 - "Typical symptoms are reduced libido, erectile dysfunction, lack of morning erections, feeling of tightness in the chest area, gynecomastia, reduced secondary hair growth and a decrease in shaving frequency, testicular involution, infertility, hot flashes, excessive sweating, and signs of osteoporosis ... Nonspecifically, testosterone deficiency can express itself as decreased energy, reduced endurance and muscular strength, depression, lack of ability to concentrate, decrease in memory capacity, fatigue, and increased fat mass ... To determine testosterone levels, Petersenn recommended that the sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) level be incorporated during interpretation or that BMI-dependent testosterone threshold values be considered. The basis for this is that free testosterone only accounts for about 0.5%-3% of the total testosterone; the predominant share is bound to albumin and SHBG ... Reduced SHBG levels are an observed symptom in obesity, diabetes, nephrotic syndrome, hypothyroidism, and acromegaly, as well as during glucocorticoid therapy. Increased SHBG levels are detected in later life, with hepatitis and HIV, with hyperthyroidism, and during therapy with certain anticonvulsants ... If the total level of testosterone is reduced, free testosterone should be calculated, considering the SHBG. After determining total testosterone, albumin, and SHBG, free testosterone can be estimated using approximation formulae such as the Vermeulen formula" -  See my SHBG page for ways to lower it.

Moderate drinking linked to brain changes and cognitive decline - Science Daily, 7/14/22 - "Consumption of seven or more units of alcohol per week is associated with higher iron levels in the brain, according to a study of almost 21,000 people publishing July 14 in the open access journal PLOS Medicine. Iron accumulation in the brain has been linked with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and is a potential mechanism for alcohol-related cognitive decline"

The Protective Role of Grape Seed in Obesity and Lipid Profile: An Updated Narrative Overview of Preclinical and Clinical Studies - NTK Papers, 6/29/22 - "Obesity and dyslipidemia are common disorders universally. According to the acquired outcomes of recent studies, dietary supplementations which have great content of phenolic compounds exert protective effects against obesity and dyslipidemia. Grape [Vitis vinifera] seeds are considered attractive sources of phenolic compounds with anti-oxidative stress and anti-inflammatory effects. There are also various experimental studies describing hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, anti-aging, cardioprotective, and anti-carcinogenic effects of polyphenols isolated from grape seed highlighting the therapeutic and biological aspects of proanthocyanidins. The present review article first discusses pharmacological, botanical, toxicological, and phytochemical characteristics of Vitis vinifera seeds and afterward designates the protective properties which are attributed to the intake of grape seeds in obesity and hyperlipidemia. Overall valuable and updated findings of this study display that polyphenol of grape seeds has meaningful impacts on the regulation of lipid profile levels and management of obesity" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Chili pepper extends lifespan in a concentration-dependent manner and confers cold resistance on Drosophila melanogaster cohorts by influencing specific metabolic pathways - Food Funct 2022 Jul 17 - "Recent prospective cohort studies showed that the regular use of chili pepper improves healthspan in humans. Indeed, chili pepper fruits contain phenolic substances which are structurally similar to those that show anti-aging properties ... Chili powder added to food in concentrations of 0.04%-0.12% significantly extended median lifespan in fruit fly cohorts of both genders by 9% to 13%. However, food supplemented with 3% chili powder shortened lifespan of male cohorts by 9%. Lifespan extension was accompanied by a decrease in age-independent mortality (i.e., death in early ages). The metabolic changes caused by consumption of chili-supplemented food had a pronounced dependence on gender. A characteristic of both fruit fly sexes that ate chili-supplemented food was an increased resistance to cold shock. Flies of both sexes had lower levels of hemolymph glucose when they ate food supplemented with low concentrations of chili powder, as compared with controls. However, males fed on food with 3% chili had lower levels of storage lipids and pyruvate reducing activity of lactate dehydrogenase compared with controls. Females fed on this food showed lower activities of hexokinase and pyruvate kinase, as well as lower ADP/O ratios, compared with control flies" - See capsicum at Amazon.com.

Wheat germ improves hepatic steatosis, hepatic enzymes, and metabolic and inflammatory parameters in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial - Phytother Res 2022 Jul 17 - "Globally, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a rising prevalence with no definitive pharmacological treatments. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical effects of wheat germ in patients with NAFLD. Fifty participants with NAFLD were randomly allocated to take 40 g wheat germ (n = 25) or placebo (n = 25) in a randomized double-blind clinical trial over 12 weeks ... After 12 weeks of intervention, reduction in serum alanine aminotransferase (p = 0.006) and γ-glutamyltransferase (p = 0.004), total cholesterol (p = 0.018), triglyceride (p = 0.046), and hepatic steatosis (p = 0.043) levels in the wheat germ group was significantly higher compared to the placebo group. Serum TAC levels in wheat germ group patients increased significantly higher than placebo group (p = 0.001). Reduction in serum hs-CRP level in the wheat germ group was significantly higher than in the placebo group (p = 0.031). In conclusion, our study shows that wheat germ consumption may improve total antioxidant capacity, hepatic steatosis, serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and Gamma-glutamyl Transferase (GGT) in NAFLD patients" - See wheat germ at Amazon.com.

Successful Treatment of Bullous Pemphigoid Lesions by Berberine Stamp Therapy: A Case Report and Literature Review - Front Med (Lausanne) 2022 Jul 1 - "Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a life-threatening autoimmune disease of the skin that is mainly characterized by a large range of tension blisters and intense itching of the skin. The 1-year mortality rate of BP was 23.5%. Superinfection caused by skin lesion ulceration is one of the important causes of disease death. Therefore, it is challenging to control infection and improve skin wound healing. Here, we report the case of an elderly woman who presented with BP and involved the oral mucosa. The patient was successfully treated with hormones combined with topical berberine, and 95% of the patients' lesions healed completely after 1 month. In addition, we inductively analyzed the current treatments for BP to provide a reference for BP clinical treatment" - See berberine at Amazon.com.

Vitamin C Lowers Blood Pressure in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats by Targeting Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme I Production in a Frequency-Dependent Manner - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2022 Jul 8 - "The lowering blood pressure effect of vitamin C (VC) has been evaluated in various models. As VC has a fast degradation rate in the body after consumption, a study of the frequency-dependent manner of VC is essential for the sustained antihypertension effect of VC ... spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKYs) ... total nitric oxide (NOx) ... The twice-a-day administration of VC decreased blood pressure from the second week, and the blood pressure in these groups was close to that of the WKY group in the eighth week. Treatment with once a day VC decreased ACE I production which was further significantly reduced in twice a day groups. Angiotensinogen and eNOS production were increased upon VC treatment but were not significant among groups. The NOx content was decreased by VC treatment. These results suggest that VC lowers blood pressure in SHRs by directly targeting ACE I production in a frequency-dependent manner and may improve endothelial function depending on the frequency of administration" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com.

Mulberry Leaf Flavonoids Inhibit Liver Inflammation in Type 2 Diabetes Rats by Regulating TLR4/MyD88/NF- κ B Signaling Pathway - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2022 Jul 6 - "The incidence of liver-related complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is rapidly increasing, which affects the physical and mental health of T2DM patients. Mulberry leaf flavonoids (MLF) were confirmed to have certain effects on lowering blood glucose and anti-inflammation ... Our results indicated that MLF could reduce blood glucose and inhibit the development of liver inflammation" - See mulberry leaf extract at Amazon.com.

 Rosmarinic acid relieves LPS-induced sickness and depressive-like behaviors in mice by activating the BDNF/Nrf2 signaling and autophagy pathway - Behav Brain Res 2022 Jul 14 - "Neuroinflammation is one of the main causes of sickness and depressive-like behavior. Rosmarinic acid (RA) has been shown to have a significant anti-neuroinflammatory effect ... Taken together, our research found that RA could effectively alleviate sickness behaviors and nerve injury caused by neuroinflammation, and its protective effects were mediated by the Nrf2 signaling pathway, which reduced cellular oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial respiratory function damage, and autophagy imbalance. Therefore, RA has the potential to prevent or treat sickness and depressive-like behaviors under conditions of neuroinflammation" - See rosemary extract at Amazon.com.

Over-the-counter alkali agents to raise urine pH and citrate excretion: a prospective crossover study in healthy adults - Urology 2022 Jul 14 - "In healthy participants without a history of kidney stones, LithoLyte® and KSPtabsTM are effective over-the-counter alkali supplements, with a similar side effect profile to prescription potassium citrate" - See LithoLyte® at Amazon.com and KSPtabsTM at Amazon.com. Related Study:

• Potassium Citrate is Better in Reducing Salt and Increasing Urine pH than Oral Intake of Lemonade: A Cross-Over Study - Med Sci Monit. 2018 - "Potassium citrate supplementation improves pH of urine, decreases urine sodium level, and increases the risk of gastric discomfort and oropharyngeal discomfort. Potassium citrate binds with sodium in urine and decreases sodium level in urine, increases pH of urine, and ultimately reduces stone formation" - See potassium citrate at Amazon.com.

A review on the Role of Oral Nutritional Supplements in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - J Nutr Health Aging 2022;26(7):723-731 - "Malnutrition is detrimental to lung functions and is associated with an increased risk of infection, exacerbation and mortality, and a longer duration of hospitalization. Therefore, nutritional support to treat malnutrition in COPD patients is very vital. Oral nutritional supplements (ONS) may hold the key to COPD treatment"

"Use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors, changes in body mass index and risk of fracture: a population-based cohort study" - Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2022 Jul 13 - "SGLT-2 inhibitor use was not associated with increased osteoporotic fracture risk, irrespective of change in BMI. However, a high cumulative dose could be an important risk factor" - See See empagliflozin inhousepharmacy.vu.

The role of functional oligosaccharides as prebiotics in ulcerative colitis - Food Funct 2022 Jul 4 - "The current studies on UC implicate a strong correlation between host gut microbiota immunity and the pathogenesis of UC. Meanwhile, more and more functional oligosaccharides have been reported as prebiotics to alleviate UC, since many of them can be metabolized by gut microbiota to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The present review is focused on the structure, sources and specific applications of various functional oligosaccharides related to the prevention and treatment of UC. The available evidence for the usage of functional oligosaccharides in UC treatment are summarized, including fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), chito-oligosaccharides (COS), alginate-oligosaccharides (AOS), xylooligosaccharides (XOS), stachyose and inulin" - See inulin at Amazon.com.

Combination of resveratrol and luteolin ameliorates α-naphthylisothiocyanate-induced cholestasis by regulating the bile acid homeostasis and suppressing oxidative stress - Food Funct 2022 Jul 4 - "Cholestasis is a common liver injury without any effective therapeutic drugs so far. Resveratrol (RES) and luteolin (LUT) are natural polyphenols that exert protective effects on multiple liver injuries. Coadministration of RES and LUT could significantly improve the bioavailability of LUT and increase the systemic exposure to RES, and the combined treatment could also benefit from their multi-component and multi-target characteristics ... Dysregulated bile acid (BA) homeostasis is a significant pathological feature of cholestasis, which was determined to explore the potential biomarkers and to clarify the protection mechanism of coadministration of RES and LUT ... This study suggested that the coadministration of RES and LUT could protect against ANIT-induced cholestasis and the mechanism was closely related to regulating BA homeostasis and suppressing oxidative stress" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com and luteolin products at Amazon.com.

Correlates of Self-Reported Medicinal Cannabis Use for Physical Health, Mental Health, and Sleep-Related Conditions in a Population-Based Survey of Canadian Youth - J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2022 Jul;83(4):528-536 - "Medicinal cannabis use (MCU) ... Relative to youth reporting NMCU only, youth reporting MCU for physical or mental health conditions had greater odds of reporting daily cannabis use, cannabis problems, vaporization and oral ingestion of cannabis, and tobacco use. Youth reporting MCU for physical health reasons also had greater odds of both illicit drug use and prescription pain medication use, whereas youth reporting MCU for mental health reasons had greater odds of prescription sedative use. Youth in both the physical health and mental health MCU groups reported poorer health and mental health compared with the NMCU-only group"

Empagliflozin has favourable effect on frontal plane QRS-T angle in diabetic patients with cardiovascular disease - J Clin Pharm Ther 2022 Jul 15 - "Empagliflozin leads a significant narrowing in the fQRST angle in type 2 DM patients with known CVD" - See empagliflozin inhousepharmacy.vu.

The effects of guar gum supplementation on lipid profile in adults: A GRADE-assessed systematic review, meta-regression, and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials - Br J Nutr 2022 Jul 15 - "Pooled analysis of 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) revealed that guar gum supplementation led to significant reductions in TC (WMD: -19.34 mg/dL, 95% CI: -26.18, -12.49, p<0.001) and LDL (WMD: -16.19 mg/dL, 95% CI: -25.54, -6.83, p=0.001). However, there was no effect on TG and HDL among adults in comparison with control group. Our outcomes suggest that guar gum supplementation lowers TC and LDL in adults"

• Why Guar Is A Key Stabilizer In Ice Cream Manufacturing - guarresources.com - "Since the 1950s, guar gum powder has been used to make processed foods, in which it acts as a thickener and prevents the formation of ice crystals, which is essential to the creamy aspects of ice cream" - See guar gum powder at Amazon.com.

Resveratrol supplementation efficiently improves endothelial health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - Phytother Res 2022 Jul 14 - "the results of this study suggest that resveratrol supplementation can improve endothelial function which could be important, especially in patients with cardiovascular diseases" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

A metabonomics-based renoprotective mechanism analysis of empagliflozin in obese mice - Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2022 Jul 6 - "Our study revealed the metabonomics-based renoprotective mechanism of empagliflozin in obese mice for the first time. Empagliflozin may be a promising tool to delay the progression of obesity-related kidney disease" - See empagliflozin inhousepharmacy.vu.

Complexity of Tumor Microenvironment: Therapeutic Role of Curcumin and Its Metabolites - Nutr Cancer 2022 Jul 11 - "The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex network of cellular and non-cellular components surrounding the tumor ... Curcumin and its metabolites regulate TME by inhibiting the growth of its cellular components such as cancer-associated adipocytes, cancer-associated fibroblast, tumor endothelial cells, tumor-stimulating immune cells, and inducing anticancer immune cells. They also inhibit the interplay of tumor cells to TME by suppressing non-cellular components such as extracellular matrix, and associated tumor promoting signaling-pathways. In addition, curcumin inhibits the inflammatory environment, suppresses angiogenic factors, and increases antioxidant status in TME. Overall, curcumin has the capability to regulate TME components and their interaction with tumor cells" - See curcumin at Amazon.com.

An examination into the mental and physical effects of a saffron extract (affron®) in recreationally-active adults: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2022 Jun 7 - "Saffron, derived from the stigmas of the Crocus Sativus flower, has been shown in several studies to improve mood and wellbeing in adults experiencing low mood and anxiety ... The results of this trial suggest saffron may have beneficial effects in recreationally active males, as evidenced by increased exercise enjoyment and heart rate variability. However, no such benefits were identified in females. Future research using larger sample sizes, varying treatment periods, and additional outcome measures will be required to validate the results from this study and help clarify the mechanisms of action associated with saffron intake" - See saffron supplements at Amazon.com.

Comparison of the polyphenol content and in vitro antioxidant capacity of fruit-based nutritional supplements commonly consumed by athletic and recreationally active populations - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2022 Jul 4 - "Polyphenol-rich fruit supplements are commonly consumed by recreationally active and athletic populations because of their proposed benefits to both exercise performance and recovery from prior exercise ... As expected, supplements based on different fruits contained different quantities of anthocyanins and polyphenols. However, there was also a substantial variation within different brands of tart cherry supplements. Because limited compositional information is available on the labels of most fruit-based supplements, the data in this article will enable consumers to select the required volume of the ten tested supplements to meet suggested recommendations for polyphenol intake to enhance performance (300 mg pre-exercise) and accelerate recovery (1000 mg per day) from prior exercise" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.

Impact of Omega-3 supplementation on homocysteine levels in humans: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis of randomized controlled trials - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2022 May 21 - "omega-3 supplementation significantly reduced plasma Hcy levels (WMD: 1.34 μmol/L; 95% CI: 1.97 to -0.72; P < 0.001) compared to the control group. The results of subgroup analysis showed that omega-3 supplementation during the intervention <12 weeks and with a dose ≥3 gr per day causes a more significant decrease in Hcy levels than the intervention ≥12 weeks and at a dose <3 gr. In addition, omega-3 supplements appear to have more beneficial effects in individuals with high levels of normal Hcy. This meta-analysis showed that omega-3 supplementation significantly improved Hcy" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.

Body Composition, Eicosapentaenoic Acid, and Vitamin D are Associated with Army Combat Fitness Test Performance - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2022 Jul 5 - "The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) ... EPA and VITD status is associated with various strength, power, and muscular and aerobic endurance components of the ACFT" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com and vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Royal jelly plus coenzyme Q10 supplementation improves high-intensity interval exercise performance via changes in plasmatic and salivary biomarkers of oxidative stress and muscle damage in swimmers: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2022 Jun 16 - "Excessive production of free radicals caused by many types of exercise results in oxidative stress, which leads to muscle damage, fatigue, and impaired performance. Supplementation with royal jelly (RJ) or coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) has been shown to attenuate exercise-induced oxidant stress in damaged muscle and improve various aspects of exercise performance in many but not all studies ... Twenty high-level swimmers were randomly allocated to receive either 400 mg of RJ and 60 mg of CoQ10 (RJQ) or matching placebo (PLA) once daily for 10 days ... The improvements in swimmers' HIIE performance were due in significant part to RJQ-induced reducing in lipid peroxidation and muscle damage in response to exercise. These findings suggest that RJQ supplementation for 10 days is potentially effective for enhancing HIIE performance and alleviating oxidant stress" - See royal jelly at Amazon.com and ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

Help save the planet with these non-insulated stainless steal water bottles. I bought two from my Tesla. The 34-ounce will only fit half-way down the cup holder. The 26-ounce will fully fit.

Health Focus (Abdominal Fat/Pot Bellies)