Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 12/10/03:

Vitamin B12 might be an answer for depression - Time Magazine, 12/15/03 - "the patients who responded best to treatment were those who had higher concentrations of B12 in their blood" - See iHerb B12 products.

People with Undetermined Muscle/Bone Pain May be Vitamin D Deficient - Doctor's Guide, 12/10/03 - "Research conducted at the University of Minnesota found that 93 percent of all subjects with non-specific musculoskeletal pain were vitamin D deficient"

Treatment with B-Vitamins Can Reduce Homocysteine Levels in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis - Doctor's Guide, 12/10/03 - "In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), treatment with B-vitamins can reduce homocysteine levels, which appear to be related to markers of inflammation"

Statins: A New Therapy for Depression? - Physician's Weekly, 12/8/03 - "adult patients with underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) who continuously used statins were 30% to 40% less likely to be at risk for depression, anxiety, and hostility" - See Zocor at LowPriceMedicine.com but check with your doctor first.

What Causes, Prevents Colon Polyps - WebMD, 12/9/03 - "Just take an aspirin, a multivitamin, and eat a bowl of fiber-packed cereal with some milk ... In this new report, vitamin D shines -- it's associated with a one-third reduced risk of serious colon polyps that often lead to cancer in men getting at least 645 IUs of this nutrient each day"

C-reactive protein associated with yet another heart problem - HealthDay, 12/9/03 - "those with the highest levels of C-reactive protein were twice as likely to develop high blood pressure as those with the lowest levels"

Fat Intake Modifies Progression of Age-Related Macular Degeneration - Medscape, 12/8/03 - "Most types of dietary fat are associated with increased risk of progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), whereas nuts and fish are protective ... Specifically, higher intake of vegetable fat, and to a lesser extent animal fat, increased rates of progression"

Stress May Contribute to Alzheimer's - HealthDay, 12/8/03 - "The finding raises the possibility that treating stress-prone people, perhaps with antidepressants, can help prevent memory loss ... Within five years of taking the test, people in the top 10 percent of susceptibility to stress were twice as likely to develop the memory loss caused by Alzheimer's disease, compared to those in the bottom 10 percent"

Eating Cereal Helps Kids Control Weight - HealthDay, 12/8/03 - "for children who ate cereal eight or more times during the two weeks of the study, the risk for being overweight was reduced to one in five. For those who ate little cereal, the risk increased to almost one in two"

Vitamin D concerns on the rise - MSNBC, 12/5/03 - "Inadequate vitamin D isn’t as obvious in adults, but bone weakening can be significant. In one study of women with osteoporosis, those who consumed the most vitamin D from food and supplements developed 37 percent fewer hip fractures than did women who consumed the least"

Insulin Resistance May Be an Important Factor in Nondipper Essential Hypertension - Doctor's Guide, 12/5/03 - "This may suggest that insulin resistance plays an important role in the aetiology of nondipper essential hypertension"

Red Wine May Protect Against Breast Cancer - HealthDay, 12/4/03 - "The grape skin and seeds appear to hold a natural cancer-fighting chemical ... there was a pretty significant reduction of tumor size in all the mice, and a number of animals ended up with no tumors" - See iHerb or Vitacost grape seed extracts.

Angiotensin II AT1 Receptor Blockers Indicated for Patients Who Cannot Tolerate Cough Side Effect of ACE Inhibitors - Doctor's Guide, 12/4/03 - "Of note is that ARBs do not induce cough because they do not raise bradykinin or substance P levels" - Note:  Many including Nicholas Perricone, M.D. see substance P as bad.  In fact some drug companies were testing substance P antagonists as antidepressants.  It makes me wonder if ACE inhibitors might induce depression by increasing substance P.

Moderate Drinking Shrinks Brain - HealthDay, 12/4/02 - "There is some evidence that moderate drinking might be protective for coronary heart disease, but the effect of drinking on the risk for stroke is still controversial ... moderate alcohol drinking is associated with brain atrophy, as seen by a significant increase in ventricular and sulcal size, but we did not find any evidence that moderate drinking caused white matter lesion or affected brain functioning"

Cholesterol Drug Appears to Improve Blood Flow - Medline Plus, 12/3/03 - "one of the benefits of taking [statins] is that they help the heart to grow new blood vessels that might help supply blood to the part of the heart that is being served by a severely narrowed or even a blocked artery ... Patients who are taking statins might, in effect, grow their own 'bypass' blood vessels" - See Zocor at LowPriceMedicine.com but check with your doctor first.

Silibinin: The Herbal Extract that Protects the Liver - Life Extension Magazine, 12/03 - "The extract from the seeds of milk thistle contains silibinin, a substance with powerful liver-protection effects. In addition, silibinin can help reduce inflammation, diminish oxidation and free radical damage and enhance health in other ways" - See iHerb or Vitacost silymarin products.

Nutraceuticals that wind up vitality and longevity - Health Supplement Retailer, 12/03 - "the increased insulin resistance was seen only in men taking a pure t10,c12 CLA isomer, but not in the group taking a mixed-isomer CLA. Two additional studies that are being prepared for publication, according to O’Shea, have also shown mixed-isomer CLA does not have negative effects on glucose or insulin function"

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

Alterations in Stress Cortisol Reactivity in Depressed Preschoolers Relative to Psychiatric and No-Disorder Comparison Groups - Archives of General Psychiatry, 12/03 - "the first investigation of HPA axis reactivity in very young children with a clinical depressive syndrome ... Depressed preschoolers displayed a pattern of increasing cortisol levels throughout the assessment in response to both separation and frustration stressors"

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