Recent Longevity News (8/22/01):

HRT Slows Systolic Blood Pressure Elevation in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape, 8/21/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "HRT users had an average systolic blood pressure increase between their first and last visit of 1.6 mm Hg, significantly less than the 8.9 mm Hg increase noted in HRT nonusers"

Statins May Reduce Elderly Macular Degeneration - Doctor's Guide, 8/21/01 - "76 subjects (22 percent) of the 352 subjects who did not take statins showed signs of macular degeneration, compared with only one (4 percent) of the 27 subjects taking statins"

Cholesterol Drug Warnings Urged - Intelihealth, 8/21/01 - "For most of the 8 million Americans taking a statin other than Baycol, the benefits still outweigh the risks"

Report Suggests Heart Link With Celebrex, Vioxx, But Critics Say More Research Needed - Intelihealth, 8/21/01 - "The popular and heavily promoted new arthritis drugs Vioxx and Celebrex have been linked by researchers to a small but troubling increase in the risk of heart attacks and strokes"

Some Female Athletes Pushing Bodies to the Breaking Point - ABC News, 8/20/01 - "Doctors are just beginning to understand this syndrome known as the female athlete triad, often described as "old bones in young bodies." It starts when a young woman pushes herself to swim that extra lap or run that extra mile. And then she dramatically limits what she eats ... Her posture will be permanently in that position, because the bones have been compressed due to osteoporosis"

Are Statins Safe? - ABC News, 8/20/01 - "Baycol is more dangerous than these other drugs. But these other drugs are more dangerous than most doctors and patients realize."

Nutrition Is A Key To Better Health For Elderly - Intelihealth, 8/20/01 - "Too many older people may be accepting a cognitive and immunological decline as a normal part of aging, when it may reflect a deficiency in essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals ... a nutrient supplement with modest amounts of 18 vitamins, minerals and trace elements could improve cognitive function in apparently healthy people over 65 ... How might nutrients improve brain function? One possibility is that taking a modest nutrient supplement daily can improve immune function"

Many Miss Symptoms of Thyroid Disease - ABC News, 8/20/01 - "The symptoms it shares with depression include fatigue, memory loss and difficulty concentrating. But the distinguishing symptoms of hypothyroidism are: coarse, dry skin and hair, intolerance to cold and constipation ... increased amount of LDL cholesterol"

Study Backs Exercise Supplements - Intelihealth, 8/20/01 - "Caffeine and ephedrine supplements could help soldiers tap their deepest reserves of strength ... In the longer anaerobic test, caffeine combined with ephedrine produced an increase of about 7 percent in the ability to do work ... But users should realize that they are playing with fire, especially if they have blood pressure problems"

Study: Physicians Miss High Blood Pressure - ABC News, 8/16/01 - "Older people usually have systolics over 140 and diastolics under 90 due to changes in the blood vessels that happen with age. If the diastolic number is over 90, then the physician will generally do something about it. They should do the same thing for a systolic over 140, but they do not" - See hypertension, also memory and hypertension

Whole Wheat and Half Truths - ABC News, 8/16/01 - "The key is making sure that the word "whole" is the first ingredient in the food item. Food label ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. Look for whole-wheat flour, whole wheat, whole-grain wheat, whole-oat flour, whole-grain oats, or 100 percent wheat flour as the first ingredient"

Diet And Exercise Cut Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes In Half - Intelihealth, 8/16/01 - "Americans who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes can reduce their risk of developing the condition by more than half with a daily regimen of diet and exercise"

New Approach Recommended to Treatment of Chronic Insomnia - Medscape, 8/15/01,  user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "Chronic insomnia, unlike sleep deprivation, is associated with increased plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol ... The hypercortisolism is likely to lead not only to depression, but also to hypertension, visceral obesity, and osteoporosis, the researchers suggest ... medications that downregulate the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, such as antidepressants, may be of greater therapeutic benefit than hypnotics" - Related articles:

• New Antidepressant Class May be On Its Way - Doctor's Guide, 8/9/01 - "A new class of antidepressants, which antagonize corticotropin releasing hormone 1 receptors, may be available soon"
• Mirtazapine Regulates Stress Hormones, Improves Sleep In Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/8/01 - "Mirtazipine might be the best option for depressed patients with sleep disturbance and irregularities in stress hormone function ... Depression is often accompanied by sleep disturbance -- subjective and objective -- as well as [hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal] HPA-axis dysregulation ... Mirtazapine is a treatment that [profoundly affects] the HPA-axis within hours and promotes sleep within days ... They tested the 24-hour urinary free cortisol (UFC) levels of 16 healthy men and 20 men and women with major depression ... mirtazipne significantly reduced UFC concentrations, which is often elevated in depressed patients"
• Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Triggers Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 6/00, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "The fact that depressed patients hypersecrete cortisol is "the most common finding in biological psychiatry," and CRF, which is secreted by the hypothalamus, appears to be "the culprit." It stimulates pituitary release of corticotropin, or ACTH, which in turn triggers cortisol."
• Brief lesson on the HPA axis:  The Neurobiology of Depression - Scientific America, 6/98 - "When a threat to physical or psychological well-being is detected, the hypothalamus amplifies production of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which induces the pituitary to secrete ACTH. ACTH then instructs the adrenal gland atop each kidney to release cortisol"
• Why Are So Many Women Depressed? - Scientific America Women's Health: A Life Long Guide, Summer 1998 (see the subtopic "Stress and Cortisol") - "It is unclear whether depression is a cause or a consequence of elevated cortisol levels, but the two are undoubtedly related."

Study Links Depression and Heart Failure Death - Medscape, 8/15/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "Depression appears to increase the risk of death from congestive heart failure, but it remains unclear whether treating the depression would improve longevity"

Is Your Job Killing You? Maybe - WebMD, 8/15/01 - "The new findings boost a growing body of evidence suggesting that work-related stress including long hours, low reward, hectic pace, and lack of social support can increase a person's risk of heart disease by increasing their blood pressure"

Study: Snacks May be Bad for Vision - Intelihealth, 8/15/01 - "Overindulging in fat-filled snack foods may heighten the risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness and vision impairment in the United States for those over 55 ... The foods that contain these fats are highly processed, store-bought junk foods. Included in the study: margarine, chocolate, commercially prepared pie, cake, cookies, peanut butter, potato chips, french fries and nuts ... The study found that diets high in omega-3 fatty acids, found primarily in albacore tuna and salmon, could lessen the risk for age-related macular degeneration, as long as fish eaters maintain a low intake of linoleic acid (found in processed food and margarine)."

Small Study Supports Flaxseed As Cancer Fighter - Intelihealth, 8/15/01 - "Researchers at Duke University Medical Center found, in a study of 25 men with prostate cancer, that even short-term diet changes resulted in tumor cells that didn't divide as quickly as those in people not on the diet ... this diet was really having substantial changes within 34 days ... Coupled with low-fat eating, the diet included three tablespoons a day of finely ground flaxseed sprinkled on cereal or mixed into juices, yogurt or applesauce"

Study: High blood pressure is rampant within reach of health system -  ABC News, 8/15/01 - "An estimated 42 million Americans have high blood pressure, the study says. Of those, only 10 million are successfully treating it ... But many doctors fear that drugs knocking down mildly high systolic pressure between 140 and 160 may do harm by also lowering diastolic pressure and cutting off blood flow to the brain and other organs" - The investigational drug ALT-711 may correct this, Ben.

Johnson & Johnson Strengthens Warnings - ABC News, 8/15/01 - "it has strengthened warnings about the risk of serious infections for people taking its Remicade drug for rheumatoid arthritis ... Experts believe the drugs increase infection risk because they suppress part of the immune system linked to the inflammation that is the hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis"

Product Review: Phytoestrogens -- Soy and Red Clover Isoflavones - ConsumerLab, 8/15/01

Memory Loss Begins at 20 - ABC News, 8/14/01 - "But other recent research suggest that sections of the brain that strengthen memory are becoming flimsy and weak in a generation reliant on computers ... They're losing the ability to remember new things, to pull out old data or to distinguish between important and unimportant information"

Hormones Up Bone Density in Frail Elderly Women - ABC News, 8/14/01 - "Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases bone mineral density even in frail elderly"

Affiliates:

iHerb policosanol products - use this link to receive a 5% discount (discount code "qc") plus free shipping on orders over $40 - see policosanol

Anti-aging Recommendations

Past newsletters