Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/6/03:

How Safe Is Salmon? - Time, 8/11/03 - "EWG found that store-bought salmon, most of which is farmed, contained 16 times the PCB levels of salmon caught in the wild. The Environmental Protection Agency considers these levels a health hazard, and if they were found in wild salmon would recommend eating the fish no more than once a month" - I started a web page on Toxins/Impurities or lack of in Fish & Fish Oil.

Vitamin C May Screen Secondhand Smoke - HealthDay, 8/6/03 - "Some of the nonsmokers took 500 milligrams of vitamin C each day ... Others took a placebo, while a third group took daily doses of a specially created supplement made of vitamin C, vitamin E and an antioxidant called alpha-lipoic acid ... After two months, researchers analyzed the level of a chemical that is linked to oxidation. The level of the chemical dropped by 11 percent and 13 percent, respectively, for the nonsmokers who took vitamin C or the vitamin mixture compared to those who took the placebo"

Green tea potent in fighting cancer - Medline Plus, 8/5/03 - "A new study indicates green tea's ability to fight cancer is even more potent and varied than scientists have suspected" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.

Soy May Cut Endometrial Cancer Risk - WebMD, 8/5/03 - "consumption of isoflavones and lignans, but not coumestans, were associated with a reduced risk of endometrial cancer, particularly among postmenopausal women" - See Revival Soy Products.

Exercise Can Combat Erectile Dysfunction - HealthDay, 8/4/03 - "Men who did the equivalent of three hours of running or more each week or playing five hours of singles tennis reported a 30 percent lower risk of ED, compared with those who did little or no exercise"

Aspirin Reduces Risk of Leukemia by Half - Physician's Weekly, 8/4/03 - "women who took aspirin two or more times per week were 55% less likely to develop leukemia than those who never used aspirin" - See Drugstore.com aspirin products.

Vitamin C May Protect Against Ulcer-Causing Bacteria - Doctor's Guide, 8/1/03 - "the lower the level of vitamin C in the blood the more likely a person will become infected by Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that can cause peptic ulcers and stomach cancer ... The bottom line is that higher levels of vitamin C may have the potential to prevent peptic ulcers and stomach cancer"

Could Painkillers Prevent Alzheimer's? - HealthDay, 8/1/03 - "Eight kinds of painkillers -- diclofenac, diflunisal, ibuprofen (such as Motrin), sulindac, fenoprofen, indomethacin, flurbiprofen, and meclofenamic acid -- reduced the mice brain levels of a protein called Abeta42 that has been linked to Alzheimer's ... may have something to do with their abilities to reduce inflammation" - See drugstore.com NSAID products.

Heart Protection Study Supports Use of Statins In Elderly, Women, and Those With Low LDL - Doctor's Guide, 8/1/03 - "statin treatment significantly decreased the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality (primary endpoint) and "any major vascular event," including non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, and need for revascularisation procedures ... In older adults compared to younger adults, the HPS trial found similar statin benefits, with about a 25% reduction in major vascular events regardless of age"

Cholesterol-Lowering Supplements (Guggulsterones, Policosanol, Sterols) review - ConsumerLab.com, 8/1/03 - "Policosanol ... Significantly lowers total cholesterol and LDL. Increases HDL" - I believe they are incorrect in saying that red yeast rice is no longer available in the U.S. legally.  The way I understand it, it was the extract used in the Cholestin brand that was outlawed.  Red yeast rice is and has been used by the Chinese as a spice.  Outlawing it would be like outlawing oregano because some company patented something that was in oregano.  You can't do something like that in a democracy.  Also, there are studies on my red yeast rice page claiming it did raise HDL.  See iHerb and Vitacost red yeast rice products.  Related Article from this month's Natural Foods Merchandiser:

• Controlling Cholesterol Naturally - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 8/03 - "When you take the recommended amount of red yeast rice, which is 1,200 mg a day [divided into two doses], it is equivalent to taking 5 mg of a statin drug"
• Chinese Cholesterol Control? - Dr. Weil, 10/1/02 - "And it contains seven different statins, not just lovastatin. In my experience, the natural mixture of compounds is less toxic (to the liver and muscles) than isolated lovastatin ... Other brands of red rice yeast extract are still available in the U.S., although they haven’t been clinically proven as was Cholestin, and may not be as effective"
• Court Rules FDA Can Regulate Supplement Marketed for Cholesterol - WebMD, 7/26/03 - "The court then ordered the FDA to lift its ban on the importation of red yeast rice, from which Cholestin's active ingredient is derived ... This is not a natural form of red yeast rice, it is a product modified to achieve the same benefits"

Nitric Oxide Key Player in Cell Function - HealthDay, 8/1/03 - "They found nitric oxide, a molecule that occurs naturally throughout the human body, plays a major role in assembling protein networks that direct fundamental cellular activities, such as whether cells live or die ... Cell death is linked to a number of human health problems, including heart failure, Alzheimer's disease and asthma" - Related article:

• Herbalife International Introduces Niteworks(TM) to Boost Production of Nitric Oxide to Promote Cardiovascular Health - NPI Center, 7/8/03 - "The amino acid complex includes: L-arginine, which is transported into endothelial cells to produce NO, and L-citrulline, which is transported by a different mechanism and then is recycled into L-arginine, creating more NO. This different mechanism is important because when the L-arginine transporter sees too much L-arginine, it stops absorbing, so less L-arginine in the systems means less NO production" - See iHerb l-citrulline products.

Health Focus: Alzheimer's Disease - Delicious! Online, 8/03 - "Although necessary at moderate levels at appropriate times, in large amounts over a prolonged period, cortisol can be "so toxic to the brain, it kills and injures brain cells."

Herbs: Suggestions For Preventing The Onset And Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease - Delicious! Online, 8/03 - "Ginkgo ... Gotu kola ... Rosemary ... St. John's wort ... Wild oats"

Several Herbs May Help Lower Breast-Cancer Risk - Delicious! Online, 8/03 - "Astragalus ... Dandelion ... Green tea ... Psyllium ... Turmeric extract"

Lifestyle Modification, Metformin Effective Prevention for Type 2 Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 7/31/03 - "1,073 patients were prescribed 850 mg metformin twice daily, 1,082 had placebo twice daily, and 1,079 were prescribed an intensive program of lifestyle modification ... Incidence of diabetes was 58% lower ... in the lifestyle intervention group and 31% lower ... in the metformin group than in the placebo group" - See metformin (Glucophage) at USAMedicine.com but check with your doctor first.

Vitamin E, Exercise Prevent Aging Damage - WebMD, 7/31/03 - "Whether they exercised or not, those taking vitamin E pills had the same reduction in harmful substances known as free radicals -- unstable molecules that damage cells and are believed to contribute to the development of some 200 different diseases, many of them age-related. The levels of a blood marker that signals free-radical damage were cut in half ... Basically, vitamin E prevents free radicals from bumping into cell walls and destroying them" - See my favorite, Gamma E Tocopherol / Tocotrienols at iHerb.  Related article in this months LE Magazine:

• Protecting Muscle Mass As You Age - Life Extension Magazine, 8/03 - "researchers gave both young (age 23 to 35) and elderly (age 66 to 78) men who were in an intensive exercise program either 1000 IU of vitamin E or a placebo daily for three months. The results showed that both the young and older men who were taking the daily vitamin E supplements had significantly less biochemical markers of free radical damage when compared to the men who were taking placebo"

Early study results find cardiovascular link to tooth loss - HealthDay, 7/31/03 - "A going hypothesis is that the same kind of inflammation that goes with the gum disease that causes tooth loss is happening in the arteries ... Of participants missing zero to nine teeth, 45 percent have carotid artery plaque. Of those with 10 to 19 missing teeth, 60 percent have a buildup of carotid artery plaque"

Men Get Zip With Hormone Shots - CBS News, 7/30/03 - ""About three days after I had the first [testosterone] shot I was kicked right out of my depression," he says. "I was back in the gym again and I had a lot of energy. I felt great." - See testosterone at Sexual Health Doctor.

Hormone Therapy May Hurt Heart Rhythm - WebMD, 7/30/03 - "When the QT interval gets longer, it's a sign that the heart may be developing rhythm problems, or arrhythmia ... Women taking estrogen-only HRT -- but not women taking combination estrogen/progestin HRT -- had twice the risk of prolonged QT interval compared with women who never took HRT"

How to Boost Glutathione Levels - Dr. Murray's Newsletter, 7/30/03 - "When healthy subjects were given a single dose of up to 3,000 mg of glutathione researchers found there was no increase in blood glutathione levels.11 ...  In contrast, blood glutathione levels rose nearly 50% in healthy individuals taking 500 mg of vitamin C.12 Vitamin C raises glutathione by helping the body manufacture it. In addition, to vitamin C, dietary sources of glutathione and several other nutritional compounds can help increase glutathione levels including N-acetylcysteine (NAC), alpha-lipoic acid, glutamine, methionine, and whey protein. Also, vitamin B6, riboflavin, and selenium are required in the manufacture of glutathione"

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

Inadequate antioxidant nutrient intake and altered plasma antioxidant status of rheumatoid arthritis patients - J Am Coll Nutr. 2003 Aug;22(4):311-5 - "RA patients had a decreased mean plasma alpha-tocopherol level. The activity of plasma SOD and GPx in patients was significantly lower than that in control subjects. CONCLUSION: These results suggest proper antioxidant nutrient intake management may reduce free radical generation and improve antioxidant status in RA patients"

Effects of tyrosine, phentermine, caffeine D-amphetamine, and placebo on cognitive and motor performance deficits during sleep deprivation - "administered placebo, tyrosine 150 mg/kg, caffeine 300 mg/70 kg, phentermine 37.5 mg and D-amphetamine 20 mg at 15.30 h following overnight sleep deprivation and compare their effects on cognitive and motor performance in healthy young men ... Although less effective than D-amphetamine, tyrosine improved performance on several tests ... tyrosine may deserve further testing" - See iHerb l-tyrosine products.

Omega-3 fatty acids in major depressive disorder. A preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled trial - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2003 Aug;13(4):267-71 - "In this study, we conducted an 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, comparing omega-3 PUFAs (9.6 g/day) with placebo, on the top of the usual treatment, in 28 patients with major depressive disorder. Patients in the omega-3 PUFA group had a significantly decreased score on the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression than those in the placebo group" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.

Multivitamin Supplements Are Inversely Associated with Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Men and Women-Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP) - J Nutr. 2003 Aug;133(8):2650-4 - "Findings from this study indicate that use of low dose multivitamin supplements may aid in the primary prevention of MI"

Relation between homocysteine concentrations and the consumption of different types of alcoholic beverages: the French Supplementation with Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Aug;78(2):334-338 - "Wine consumption may increase tHcy concentrations, whereas beer consumption seems to have no effect (or even an inverse effect) on tHcy"

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