Recent Longevity News (8/29/01):

Hyper-Secretion of Cortisol Found in Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/28/01 - "a dysfunction in 5-HT 1A receptor activity could be due to a hyper-secretion of cortisol"

Hormone Levels Could Spell D-I-V-O-R-C-E in Future - WebMD, 8/24/01 - "those who had the highest levels of three out of four key stress hormones during initial interviews were the most likely to be divorced 10 years later ... The hormones included epinephrine (better known as adrenalin, or the "fight-or-flight" hormone), norepinephrine, ACTH, and cortisol"

Millions Of 30-Somethings Urged To Get Diabetes Tests As Disease Strikes Young Adults - Intelihealth, 8/28/01 - "the fatter you are, the more likely Type 2 diabetes is to strike before age 45 - as young as 18. Obesity not only was key to early diabetes, but the risk rose 6 percent for every 5 pounds to 8 pounds (2 to 4 kilograms) of extra weight"

Brain scans reveal reactions to sex-specific chemicals - MSNBC, 8/28/01 - "the new research suggests that at least some human behaviors may be subliminally influenced by invisible chemicals with no obvious odors ... Whatever the something else, it caused an activation in the part of the brains of both men and women that is involved in regulating sex — the hypothalamus"

Estrogen Patch Found to Improve Memory - WebMD, 8/27/01 - "after two months of wearing an estrogen patch, postmenopausal women with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease showed some improvement in both memory and thinking ability"

Diets Rich in Vegetable Fat May Prevent Diabetes - WebMD, 8/24/01 - "those women who consumed the highest amounts of vegetable fat -- 41.7 grams per day -- had a 22% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than their counterparts who consumed the least amount of such fats ... women who traded animal fat or saturated fat for the type found mainly in vegetable oils such as safflower, sunflower, corn, flaxseed, canola oils, and fish lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes by about 16%"

CoQ10 Shows Promise In Slowing Progression Of Huntington's Disease - Intelihealth, 8/23/01 - "CoQ10 appeared to slow the progression of the disease by 13%"

Senators Propose Legislation For Insurance Coverage Of Dietary Supplements - Intelihealth, 8/23/01 - "Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced a bill on August 2 to encourage health insurance coverage of dietary supplements, medical foods, and foods for special dietary use ... The legislation would also allow the cost of these items to be tax deductible for employers and excluded from taxable income for employees"

Researchers: Obesity May Be Linked To Cancer - Intelihealth, 8/22/01 - "the researchers found that obese people are 72 percent more likely to get pancreatic cancer than those who are much thinner. But they also found that exercise appears to reduce the risk"

Folic Acid/Vitamin B12 Show Potential as Heart Disease Treatments - Doctor's Guide, 8/22/01 - "The evidence for the beneficial effects of vitamins B12 and folic acid is much stronger than for garlic, vitamin E, and other dietary supplements promoted for heart disease prevention ... For most people, especially those with heart disease, taking a folic acid and vitamin B12 supplement is projected not only to be safe and save lives, but also to save money because it prevents heart disease and the costs associated with expensive medical treatments and procedures"

Yasmin (Drosperinone/Ethinyl Estradiol) Found to Relieve Pre-Menstrual Symptoms - Doctor's Guide, 8/22/01 - "Yasmin has promise as a treatment for both the mood and physical symptoms of premenstrual syndromes" - see HRT.

Popular Anti-Inflammatory Drugs May Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Events - Doctor's Guide, 8/22/01 - "An analysis of clinical trials suggests a potential increase in the rate of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular events among patients treated with the popular anti-inflammatory drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors"

New Study Links Glucose/Protein Complexes (A.G.E.S) And Alzheimer's Disease - Intelihealth, 8/7/01 - "Advanced Glycation End-products (A.G.E.s) are a critical factor in the early progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) ... The formation and crosslinking of A.G.Es. are an inevitable part of the aging process, and are accelerated in diabetes, where higher sugar levels are present. The scientific literature points to A.G.E.s as a causative factor in many complications of aging and diabetes, including heart, kidney and eye diseases"

International Anti-aging Systems sent me three new articles as follows:

Aminoguanidine: AGE Inhibitor - Phil Micans PharmB/IAS - "the membrane surface area of the rats was reduced by 30%. Furthermore, the collagen content of their arterial walls was increased by 24-30%. Aminoguanidine is therefore acting to improve overall heart and arterial condition and not just by preventing or slowing proteins from cross-linking, but also by decreasing the AGE-induced cross-linking of the extra-cellular matrix ... 11 patients with peripheral vascular disease were treated with aminoguanidine. Their blood vessels were so clogged that they couldn't walk for more than 500 yards. But after treatment with aminoguanadine the patients blood flow improved on average by 30% and the patients exercise abilities improved by 50% to 105%."

Natural estrogen replacement article by Jonathan Wright MD. - IAS - "DIM may reduce prostate cancer incidence as it has been shown to stop human cancer cells from growing by (54-61%) and provoking the cells to self-destruct (apoptosis). DIM also improves prostate function, enhances insulin sensitivity and increases abdominal fat loss."

Excitotoxin Article -  James South/IAS - "glutamate and aspartate are the two major excitotoxins out of 70 so far discovered (1-3,6). Excitotoxins are biochemical substances (usually amino acids, amino acid analogs, or amino acid derivatives) that can react with specialized neuronal receptors - glutamate receptors - in the brain or spinal cord in such a way as to cause injury or death to a wide variety of neurons"

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