Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/27/03:

Low-Dose Oestrogen Increased Bone Density in Older Women Without Increasing Oestrogen-Associated Adverse Effects - Doctor's Guide, 8/26/03 - "They randomised 167 women, older than 65 years of age, to receive either 0.25 mg/day micronized 17beta-estradiol or placebo for 3 years ... patients treated with low-dose estradiol showed bone mineral density increases of 2.6% at the femoral neck, 3.6% of the total hip, 2.8% at the spine, and 1.2% in total body measurements. Similar bone mineral density changes were seen between those who received and did not receive progesterone"

Painkillers Cut Aspirin's Heart Benefit - WebMD, 8/25/03 - "half took 325 mg aspirin on alternate days; half took a placebo ... The aspirin group had 44% fewer heart attacks than the placebo group -- 139 heart attacks in the aspirin group; 239 in the placebo group ... Those who regularly took ibuprofen and other common anti-inflammatory drugs did not get that protective effect" - See Drugstore.com aspirin products.

Age-Related Disease: Reduce Risk with Vitamin E, Exercise - Physician's Weekly, 8/25/03 - "Free radical cells, which are unstable molecules that damage cells and are believed to contribute to the development of various diseases, were significantly reduced when exercise was combined with taking vitamin E. Moreover, the combined strategies reduced the risk of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, all of which worsen free radical cell damage. The researchers note that after age 40, the body produces more free radicals and fewer natural antioxidants to fight them, and taking vitamin E supplements can be beneficial to the well-being of patients" - See Gamma E Tocopherol / Tocotrienols at iHerb.

Should Depressed Patients Take Antidepressants Longer? - Physician's Weekly, 8/25/03 - "depressed women had a smaller hippocampus ... women who remained on a medication for less time experience greater shrinkage of the hippocampus"

Pravachol Benefits More Than Cholesterol - Medline Plus, 8/25/03 - "used heart scans to follow 25 patients with heart disease and poor cholesterol readings during the first six months of Pravachol treatment ... Blood flow to the heart muscle did not change until six months, but when it did it improved from severe to moderate-average in the group as a whole. In fact, it became normal in five of the patients ... Improvements in cholesterol did not relate to heart-muscle blood-flow ... Heart scans "are much more powerful predictors of coronary event risk than the lipid profile, which is the focus of our national guidelines,"" - Note:  Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin.  See iHerb and Vitacost red yeast rice products.

Molecules found in food and wine may help to extend life - MSNBC, 8/24/03 - "of the molecules, a compound known as resveratrol, was shown in a study to extend the life span of yeast cells by up to 80 percent ... tests on worms and flies were already yielding "encouraging" results ... I can't say any more because I will scoop my next two publications" - See iHerb or Vitacost resveratrol products.

Depression Weighs Heaviest on the Elderly - HealthDay, 8/24/03 - "People die from the sort of excess disability that is created by depression in the context of other diseases ... Older people will basically agree that they're experiencing every symptom of depression except depression"

French Secrets to Staying Slim - WebMD, 8/22/03 - "Only 7% of French people are obese, compared with 30% of Americans ... The average portion size in Paris was 25% smaller than in Philly ... Chinese restaurants in Philly served meals that were 72% bigger than Parisian Chinese restaurants"

Does High Cholesterol Harm Your Kidneys? - Dr. Weil, 8/22/03 - "apparently healthy men with low HDL (high density lipoprotein), the “good” cholesterol, and high LDL (low density lipoprotein) or “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides have twice the normal risk of reduced kidney function ... You can raise HDL by increasing exercise, drinking alcohol moderately, and eating only healthy fats (monounsaturates such as olive oil and omega-3s from sources like salmon and sardines). Taking prescription statin drugs also will help, although I prefer natural alternatives such as red rice yeast"

Regular Exercise Can Help Prevent Impotence - WebMD, 8/22/03 - "men over age 50 who kept physically active had a 30% lower risk of impotence than men who were inactive ... The fitter the man, the better the erection. Frequent, vigorous exercise, the equivalent of running at least three hours a week or playing singles tennis five hours per week, produced the most benefit -- with a 30% lower risk of impotence"

Anti-psychotic drug a diabetes risk? - MSNBC, 8/22/03 - "patients on Seroquel had 3.34 times as many cases of diabetes as those on older drugs"

Thiamine May Curb Diabetic Kidney Problems - Yahoo, 8/22/03 - "adding thiamine, and its fat-soluble derivative benfotiamine, to the animals' food reduced the development of kidney damage by 70 to 80 percent ... previous studies suggest thiamine and benfotiamine can prevent nerve damage and eye problems related to diabetes. "Thiamine and benfotiamine may also be expected to have some benefit in decreasing the risk of ... heart disease and stroke,""

Losartan More Effective Than Atenolol in Preventing Morbidity and Mortality in Low-Risk Hypertensive Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/21/03 - "Losartan appears to be more effective than atenolol in preventing cardiovascular morbidity and death - especially fatal and non-fatal stroke - in patients with hypertension but without clinically evident vascular disease. Furthermore, the effect appears to be independent of blood pressure reduction ... In addition, incident diabetes occurred less often in patients treated with losartan"

Glycemic Index: New Way to Count Carbs? - WebMD, 8/20/03 - "Foods with a high glycemic index (and therefore a higher number) cause a sudden and drastic jump in blood sugar levels. Low-glycemic foods are more easily absorbed in the body and raise blood sugar more gradually ... The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition lists any food under 55 as a low-glycemic food and any food more than 70 as high glycemic"

• Glycemic Index Table - Nutrition Science News, 4/00
• Booklet's listing glycemic index - Amazon.com

Cholesterol Drugs Don't Seem to Dampen Mood - HealthDay, 8/20/03 - "Statins seem to be associated with a reduced risk of anxiety, depression and hostility. We saw somewhere between 30 to 40 percent reduction of risk" - Note:  Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin.  See iHerb and Vitacost red yeast rice products.

The Omega Principle - WashingtonPost.com, 8/19/03 - "Omega-3s, dubbed the "happy" fats in some quarters, are under investigation for treating depression, bipolar disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease and even the so-called baby blues, or postpartum depression ... there are many profound neurological disorders that are known to be caused by lipid problems ... The brain itself, is, in fact, about 60 percent fat ... while the body can manufacture saturated fat, cholesterol and even some unsaturated fat -- it is incapable of producing two of the fatty acids that are most vital ... there has been an 1,000-fold increase in [consumption of] omega-6 fatty acids ... Flooding brains and bodies with a diet rich in omega-6 fatty acids theoretically could give an unfair advantage to these molecules, allowing them to block omega-3s from getting inside cells" - See Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.

Addition of Low-Dose Potassium to Diet Lowers Blood Pressure - Medscape, 8/19/03 - "KCl was administered as 1 slow-release tablet containing 8 mmol KCL taken 3 times daily with meals. This daily dose of potassium is equivalent to the content of 5 portions of fresh fruits and vegetables. At the end of the 6-week intervention, the 30 subjects who took potassium showed significant decreases in SBP and DBP (7.60 and 6.46 mm Hg, respectively)" - See iHerb or Vitacost potassium products.  How many milligrams is 8 mmol of KCl?:

• I read http://departments.brooklands.ac.uk/science/moles.htm and looking at the periodic table I get 39.1 for K and 35.45 for Cl. Adding them together I get 74.55 gms/mol or 74550 mg/mol. This study used 8 mmol (or .008 mol) time released three times per day. 74,550 mg/mol x .008 moles = 596 mg time released three times per day. The reason I think that number is right is because they said it was equal to 5 portions for fresh fruit per day. One glass or orange juice is about 450 mg of potassium. See http://www.supermarketguru.com/page.cfm/884. However, I don't believe slow released potassium is available over the counter. Also, I'm not a doctor or a chemist so don't hold me to those numbers.  Check with your doctor.  I believe that the maximum potassium per capsule allowed by law is 99 mg and there is probably a good reason for that.  - Ben

New Class of Antihypertensive Agents Continues in Development - Medscape, 8/19/03 - "ALT-711 did not demonstrate statistical significance compared with placebo against the prespecified primary endpoint of reduction of SBP by office cuff pressure measurement at the highest of 4 dose levels (210 mg/day)"

New Definition For Metabolic Syndrome Predicts Coronary Heart Disease And Type 2 Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 8/11/03 - "C-reactive protein (CRP) level was significantly elevated in those with metabolic syndrome ... minor modifications of the current definition as achieved by adding CRP or lowering the glucose cut-off may enhance prediction of CHD and diabetes"

Playing weight-loss roulette with high-protein diets - Center for Human Nutrition Newsletter, Spring 2003 - "diets low in carbohydrates and high in protein pose serious health problems, including an increase in the risk of kidney stones and a possible higher risk of bone loss"

Revised dose of niacin hits HDL target for diabetes - Center for Human Nutrition Newsletter, Spring '03 - "In the 1,500 mg/dL group, HDL increased as much as 24 percent, triglycerides decreased as much as 36 percent, and the “bad” cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL), decreased by 7 percent. In the 1,000 mg/dL group, HDL increased by 19 percent"

Affiliates (I could sure use some sales.  Click here for more stores):