Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 10/1/03:

Vitamin E Supplements Effective Treatment for Mild Hypertension - Doctor's Guide, 10/1/03 - "Vitamin E supplements of 200 IU/day improved the blood pressure status of 70 mild hypertensive ... Subjects who received vitamin E supplements had a 24% decrease in systolic blood pressure compared to a 1.6% decrease among placebo controls" - the systolic is the top number and is usually the main concern.  See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin E products.

Rosuvastatin Improves Plasma Lipid Ratios - Doctor's Guide, 10/1/03 - "Rosuvastatin significantly more effective than atorvastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin in improving the ratios of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol" - See Crestor (rosuvastatin) at drugstore.com.

Rosuvastatin 10-40 mg Safe and Well Tolerated Compared to Other Statins - Doctor's Guide, 10/1/03 - "Minor adverse events associated with the use of rosuvastatin included myalgia in 2.1%, asthenia in 1.2%, nausea in 1.4%, dyspepsia in 0.6%, headache in 1.1%, insomnia in 0.8%, abdominal pain in 1.2%, diarrhoea in 1.1%, constipation in 1.1%, and flatulence in 0.9%"

Sound Slumber May Put Cancer to Rest - HealthDay, 10/3/03 - "A disrupted circadian rhythm can cause the body to produce less of a hormone called melatonin, an antioxidant that cleans the body of damaging free-radical compounds. Reduced amounts of melatonin may result in a greater chance that cell DNA will produce cancer-causing mutations ... Disrupted sleep patterns may also affect the hormone cortisol" - See iHerb or Vitacost melatonin products.

Joe Montana beats high blood pressure - USA Today, 9/30/03 - "according to the NIH's seventh report from the Joint National Commission, while approximately 34 million people take blood pressure medication, 47% do not have their disease under control ... The new JNC-7 guidelines advocate a much more stringent control of blood pressure ... According to the JNC-7, any blood pressure level above 115 over 75 increases your risk"

Does HRT Increase Ovarian Cancer? - WebMD, 9/30/03 - "once the researchers looked at the findings more closely, they found that this increased risk was actually not significantly different from rates seen in women taking the placebo pills"

Water Soluble Form of Coenzyme Q10 Suggested for Migraine Prophylaxis - Doctor's Guide, 9/30/03 - "researchers used a new water-soluble form of coenzyme Q10 at 100 mg three times daily for migraine prophylaxis ... Of the Q10 group, 47.6% of the patients had a 50% response for attack frequency, compared to 14.3% for the placebo group, resulting in a therapeutic gain of about 33.3%" - See iHerb or Vitacost coenzyme Q10 products.

Hope That Hormone Therapy Helps Heart - WebMD, 9/30/03 - "Women with heart failure who take hormone therapy are 40% less likely to die over a 3-year period. Adjusting for other heart risk factors, taking hormone therapy increased a woman's chances of 3-year, heart-failure survival from 58% to 78%"

Statins Decrease Aortic Stiffness in Hypertensives With High Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 9/30/03 - "Most significantly, while the PWV remained unchanged in the pravastatin and non-statin group, it was moderately decreased in the simvastatin group and remarkably reduced in the fluvastatin group ... Dr. Ichihara theorized that lipophilic statins, such as fluvastatin, reduce aortic stiffness via three mechanisms -- decreasing serum total cholesterol levels without reducing serum high-density lipoprotein levels, providing powerful scavenging reactive oxygen species, as well as reducing serum levels of low-density lipoprotein and C-reactive protein" - See Zocor (simvastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin) and Lescol (fluvastatin) at drugstore.com.

Statins Used to Treat High Cholesterol and Osteoporosis - Doctor's Guide, 9/30/03 - "simvastatin acts as a double therapeutic weapon by blocking the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate. Not only does this action increase new bone formation via the stimulation of osteoblasts, but it also prevents the production of cholesterol" - See Zocor (simvastatin) at drugstore.com.

Could new surgery be balm for aging eyes? - USA Today, 9/29/03 - "Refractec Inc., which developed the procedure, announced Tuesday that it has asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve the procedure for people with presbyopia, or aging eyes ... The procedure developed by Refractec uses radio waves — as opposed to a laser in the more common LASIK procedure — to reshape the cornea ... The procedure costs $1,500 to $2,000 ... eye doctors can offer CK to patients with aging eyes in what is called an off-label use"

Renin-Angiotensin System Blockade Produces Multiple Benefits Independent of Blood Pressure Reduction - Doctor's Guide, 9/29/03 - "According to the authors, ACE inhibitors and ARBs, at least in higher- or moderate-risk individuals, "show advantages that are additional to the reduction in blood pressure that they achieve ... We still await new and forthcoming data as to whether the better-tolerated ARBs have benefits equivalent to those of the ACE inhibitors, for which there are now numerous data ... We also await data on the combination of both these classes of drugs, particularly with respect to safety"

Vitamin D Deficiency In Kids - CBS News, 9/29/03 - "Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, which is important for the development of strong bones ... The latest research shows that some teens may be at increased risk for vitamin D deficiency because they don't get enough milk on a daily basis or enough sunlight in winter"

Exercise Plus Calcium Keeps Bones Strong - HealthDay, 9/29/03 - "Those who took HRT, calcium and who exercised increased their bone density in more body sites, increasing it by 1 percent to 2 percent in the hip and spine ... Bone density in the hip also increased about 1 percent in those who exercised and took calcium but didn't take HRT ... Depending on age, a daily calcium intake of 1,000 to 1,300 milligrams is recommended" - See drugstore.com/GNC calcium products.

Folic Acid Cuts Children's Cancer - WebMD, 9/29/03 - [in Canada] "neuroblastoma rates dropped by 60% since folic acid was added to flour"

Statins may play a role in the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases - Doctor's Guide, 9/28/03 - "the administration of simvastatin for 8 days was associated with a rapid and significant reduction in proteinuria levels in the three patients with SLE, as well as in the 2 patients with systemic vasculitis. In the five patients with RA, atorvastatin for 8 days was associated with a reduction in C-reactive protein levels and clinical improvement ... statins may have an important therapeutic potential for different inflammatory diseases" - Note:  Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin but check with your doctor.  See iHerb or Vitacost red yeast rice products.

FDA Battles Counterfeit Drugs - CBS News, 9/26/03 - "Serono started the program last fall, after a rash of Serostim counterfeits. No fakes have been detected since ... Fake drugs are proving an increasing challenge to the FDA, which has investigated more than 20 counterfeiting cases a year since 2000 ... Fueling the problem is the increasing popularity of buying drugs via Internet sites, some that ship from overseas with no controls to guarantee the medicine is what's advertised" - I'd be interested in a study on which is the larger problem, counterfeit drugs or people not taking their medications because they can't afford them. - Ben

Men Present With More Severe Osteoporosis Than Women - Medscape, 9/25/03 - "Men with osteoporosis have more severe osteoporosis and higher rates of fracture than women because the illness is often diagnosed later in the disease process"

Methyltestosterone/Oestrogen Therapy Improves Sexual Interest in Surgically Menopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 9/25/03 - "Patients were randomised to receive either combined oral esterified oestrogens and methyltestosterone (EEMT, Estratest Tablets, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) or oral esterified oestrogens alone (EE, two Estratab Tablets, 0.625 mg each) for 8 weeks ... Overall, the researchers observed significantly greater increases in SIQ total score, sexual interest and desire subscale score, and responsiveness scores after 8 weeks of treatment with EEMT as compared to EE therapy"

Minerals Worth Their Salt to Curb Hypertension - HealthDay, 9/25/03 - "In the surveys, sodium intake didn't have a major impact on blood pressure --though calcium consumption drove it down. People who reported eating more calcium, potassium and magnesium tended to have lower blood pressure than those who ate less of these nutrients ... When salt does have an impact on blood pressure, the researchers say, it appears to reflect poor intake of the other nutrients"

Postmenopausal Women Find New Vaginal Ring Delivery System Easy to Use - Doctor's Guide, 9/25/03 - "Postmenopausal women who tried a new vaginal ring delivery system find it is easy to use, comfortable, and highly acceptable"

Regardless of Weight, Physical Activity Lowers Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 9/25/03 - "A new study shows a brisk 30-minute walk every day can substantially lower a person's risk of diabetes, no matter how much they weigh"

FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Approval for Namenda (Memantine HCl) For Moderate to Severe Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 9/25/03 - "an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously recommended the approval of Namenda(TM), previously known by its generic name memantine HCl, for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease"

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

Reduction of Brain Dopamine Concentration With Dietary Tyrosine Plus Phenylalanine Depletion - Am J Psychiatry 160:1887-1889, October 2003 - "Healthy male subjects were scanned on two occasions: once after receiving a balanced amino acid drink and once after receiving a drink mixture from which tyrosine and phenylalanine were omitted ... Dietary tyrosine and phenylalanine depletion increased [11C]raclopride binding in the striatum by a mean of 6%. The change in [11C]raclopride binding correlated significantly with the fall in the ratio of tyrosine and phenylalanine to large neutral amino acids" - See iHerb iHerb and phenylalanine products.

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