Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 6/18/03:

Rx for the Mind: Mind Games - HealthDay, 6/18/03 - "Subjects whose levels were in the top third of the cognitive activity level had almost a 65 percent reduced risk of dementia ... cognitive activities that showed the greatest risk reduction were reading, board games or cards, and playing a musical instrument. Writing and participating in group discussions didn't reduce the risk of dementia. Physical activities, with the exception of dancing, didn't appear to greatly reduce the risk of dementia"

Iron Stores May Predict Diabetes Risk - Doctor's Guide, 6/18/03 - "Women in the highest quintile of ferritin concentration were 2.66 times more likely to have diabetes, compared with those in the lowest quintile"

Pesticides Tied To Semen Trouble - HealthDay, 6/18/03 - "Drinking water in some areas of the Midwest contains significant levels of the substances ... The three chemicals are the bug spray diazinon -- used to fight ants and other insects -- and two weed killers, alachlor and atrazine"

Coffee May Cut Diabetes Risk - Medscape, 6/18/03 - "Men who drink six or more cups of coffee a day were less than half as likely to develop diabetes compared with nondrinkers. Drinking four to six cups helps too: Those men saw their risk cut by 29% ... Women who consume four cups or more a day also reduced their risk of developing the disease by about 30%. But in their case, six cups did not seem to be any more protective than four cups ... Decaf was associated with a "modest reduction" in risk for those who drank four cups or more a day"

Vegetarian Diet and B12 Deficiency - WebMD, 6/18/03 - "92% of the vegans they studied -- those who ate the strictest vegetarian diet, which shuns all animal products, including milk and eggs -- had vitamin B12 deficiency. But two in three people who followed a vegetarian diet that included milk and eggs as their only animal foods also were deficient" - See iHerb B12 products.

Foundation Supplements for Optimal Health - Dr. Murray's Newsletter, 6/18/03 - "What are three key supplements that you recommend? ... MultiStart ... Enriching Greens ... RxOmega-3 Factors"

Chemical in Miso and Other Soy Foods Believed to Block Certain Tumors - WebMD, 6/17/03 - "identified 21,852 women between the ages of 40 and 59 and surveyed them about various lifestyle issues ... They traced the women 10 years later ... Women with the most isoflavones in their diet had the lowest risk of breast cancer. This was especially true of postmenopausal women"

80% Inadequately Treated for Depression - WebMD, 6/17/03 - "Most people with depression have moderate to severe forms of major depression. Only 10% of depressed Americans have mild, fleeting episodes ... The typical American with major depression is unable to work or perform everyday activities for 35 days each year. Those with the most severe major depression typically lose some 90 days each year"

Getting rid of all those unwanted pounds is as simple as calories in, calories out. It's also as mysterious and complex as the workings of the human mind - US News & World Report, 6/16/03 - "a loss of just 7 percent of body weight--if it is maintained--reduces the incidence of diabetes by 58 percent ... "we have to use our brains to restrict those instincts." This requires a conscious commitment to controlling eating and increasing physical activity. And--here's the really hard part--it's not for a week, but for a lifetime. Americans are only beginning to accept this new paradigm ... Successful losers always mention behavioral strategies such as keeping a food journal, weighing often, eating breakfast to reduce late-day hunger, and exercising religiously--about 60 to 80 minutes a day. Three in four walk regularly, and nearly all eat a low-calorie, low-fat diet--about 24 percent fat. "Nobody," says Wing, "is maintaining their weight loss with a diet low in carbohydrates."" - I've found the easiest way to lose weight is five days per week, just eat breakfast and a meal before bed (I can't sleep empty). - Ben

Ginseng May Help Treat Diabetes - WebMD, 6/16/03 - "There are two reasons blood sugar can be out of control in [people with diabetes] ... Your body's tissues are not responsive enough to insulin so they don't process it properly and/or you don't make enough insulin to begin with ... Ginseng, he said, appears to help the patients both to secrete more insulin and to process better the insulin they have" - See iHerb or Vitacost American ginseng products.

One in Three Children Will Develop Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 6/16/03 - "The study showed that 33% of boys and 39% of girls born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime ... The projected lifetime risk is about three times higher than the American Diabetes Association's current estimate ... With simple lifestyle changes, patients can decrease their risk of developing diabetes by more than 50%"

Guarding Your Gums? - Dr. Weil, 6/16/03 - "Periodontal disease is a chronic gum infection caused by bacteria in plaque ... Coenzyme Q10: Take 120 mg per day of a soft-gel form with meals ... young women who get less than 800 mg of calcium a day have double the risk of periodontal disease" - See iHerb or Vitacost coenzyme Q10 products.

Aspirin May Cut Risk of Adult Leukemia - HealthDay, 6/16/03 - "analyzed information on 28,244 women who participated in the Iowa Women's Health Study ... Women who reported using aspirin at least two times a week had a more than 50 percent lower risk of developing leukemia compared to women who reported no aspirin use" - See Drugstore.com aspirin products.

Selenium Supplements May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk in Some - WebMD, 6/16/03 - "a certain version of the gene was associated with a higher breast cancer risk. That same gene was also less responsive to selenium stimulation ... that means people with this genetic variation may benefit from selenium supplements but they require a higher dose to achieve selenium's protective effect against cancer"

An Early Predictor of Heart Disease - HealthDay, 6/16/03 - "Women who have pregnancy-related high blood pressure or diabetes may develop heart disease risk factors as soon as two years after giving birth"

Epilepsy Drug Topamax Targets Diabetes - WebMD, 6/16/03 - "In a small study, the antiepileptic drug Topamax lowered levels of total cholesterol, blood glucose, and diastolic blood pressure, all components of the "prediabetic syndrome,""

Erectile Dysfunction: Learn More Because It Could Save Your Life - HealthDay, 6/14/03 - "It's an important barometer of a man's overall health -- particularly the health of the blood vessels ... most men are surprised to learn that some very common conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes, are often a major cause ... diagnosing and treating these common health problems, particularly in their early stages, can not only protect a man's overall health, it can often have a remarkable effect on erectile dysfunction ... most men are very surprised to discover that by simply lowering their cholesterol or their blood pressure -- often through simple measures such as diet and exercise -- they can also boost their virility" - See my checklist for more.

Long-Term ACE Inhibitor Treatment Promotes Renal Health and Improved Lipid Profiles - Doctor's Guide, 6/12/03 - "In the group switched from a diuretic, the mean urinary albumin excretion was reduced from 37.0 to 23.2 at 12 months. In that same time period, the urinary albumin excretion decreased from 38.9 to 25.3 in the group switched from calcium channel blockers ... After switching to temocapril, serum total cholesterol in the switched groups was significantly decreased from the baseline value (P<0.05) -- from 223.5 mg/dL to 210.7 mg/dL in the group switched from diuretics; from 215.6 mg/dL to 209.3 mg/dL in the group switched from calcium channel blockers ... Serum levels of low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein were also improved in the switched groups" - Possible non-prescription ACE inhibitors:

• Lower Blood Pressure Naturally - Dr. Murray - "The degree of blood pressure reduction in these studies was quite significant, typically reducing the systolic by at least 10 mm Hg and the diastolic by 7 mm Hg in people with borderline and mild hypertension.  Greater reductions will be seen in people with higher initial blood pressure readings" - See Anti-ACE Peptides™ at iHerb
• Lifestyle and supplemental support can keep a heart healthy and strong, even for those at risk - Health & Nutrition Breakthroughs,  5/99 - "Hawthorn is thought to lower blood pressure and strengthen heart-muscle function by acting as both a natural calcium channel blocker and an ACE inhibitor." - See iHerb or Vitacost hawthorn products.

Statins Slash Heart Disease Risk for Diabetics - HealthDay, 6/12/03 - "statins can slash the risk of strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems in diabetics -- even if they don't have high cholesterol ... giving these cholesterol-lowering drugs to people with diabetes cut their risk of heart and vessel trouble by about 25 percent" - Note:  Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin.  See iHerb and Vitacost red yeast products.

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics:

Glycemic index and glycemic load in endometrial cancer - Epidemiology, 3/13/03 - "Our study supports the hypothesis of a direct association between GI and endometrial cancer risk"

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