Anti-aging news was scarce this week.  Most of the health news involved the World Trade Center disaster and included articles such as how handle the stress, how to help your kids cope, the psychology of a terrorist, what makes a hero, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), etc.

A representative from Life Extension Magazine (Life Extension Foundation) called me complaining that my web site was too pro DIM and downplayed I3C.  DIM is an extract of I3C.  The doctor that holds the patent on a popular DIM extract claims that the DIM is better, but he has a financial stake as does LEF with I3C.  I don't know who is right but Life Extension Magazine is going to come out with their argument for I3C in the November or December issue.  Personally, I took the middle road and take half a dose of each.

Last week I included a couple articles claiming that anti-depressants that increase both serotonin and norepinephrine may work better than those that only increase serotonin.  Increasing dopamine has also been shown to have anti-depressant effects (Refs. x).  I forgot to mention that I have a table that shows which anti-depressants and/or supplements may increase which brain chemicals.

Recent Longevity News for the week ending 9/26/01:

Hypertension May Affect Memory - Medscape, 9/26/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "hypertension causes changes in brain blood flow that affect short-term memory ... memory changes are "very slight, similar to the type of difference you might see between a healthy 45-year-old and a 55-year-old""

New study shows soy products may be harmful to some - Healthscout, 9/26/01 - "New research shows soy-based products could increase the risk of developing this painful urinary tract condition [kidney stones] ... The culprit is oxalate, a compound in plants that recently was discovered to be abundant in the soybean ... patients with calcium oxalate kidney stones limit oxalate levels to no more than 10 milligrams per serving ... Other high-oxalate foods include legumes like refried beans, lentils and peanuts, each containing between 100 and 200 milligrams of oxalate per serving ... For most folks oxalate, which has no nutritive value of its own, is not a problem"

Tree Extract Shows Promise in Fighting Cancer - Medscape, 9/26/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "The Australian desert tree contains biologically active chemicals, known as avicins, that demonstrate anticancer properties ... Avicin-treated mice were 70% less likely to develop premalignant lesions than untreated mice ... the avicin-treated mice that did develop lesions had 90% fewer than untreated mice"

Honing In on the Fountain of Youth - WebMD, 9/25/01 - "scientists have discovered how to outfox the body's slow deterioration by stimulating a gene called FoxM1B ... By increasing the activity of the gene, researchers found that liver cells in old mice were able to grow as if the mice were still youngsters ... the researchers believe this finding could one day be used to replace aging cells with young, new ones to revitalize exhausted body organs"

Stopping Smoking, the Re-starting is Worse for Your Health than Not Stopping at All - Doctor's Guide, 9/25/01 - "Smokers who quit for a while and then resume the habit might be doing more damage to their lungs than those who continue smoking"

Diet & Exercise: A Recipe for Blood Pressure Control - WebMD, 9/24/01 - "The mixture of the two -- exercise plus diet -- is best for reducing both blood pressure and weight ... If you have to choose one, exercise is better than diet ... For six months, the first group ate a balanced diet of 1,200 calories a day ... The exercise group did aerobic exercise for more than an hour every day. The third group both exercised and followed the diet ... Blood pressure went from an average 153/101 for everyone before the study to 141/93 in the diet group; 137/87 in exercisers; and 135/86 in the combination group ... insulin, the hormone responsible for metabolizing blood sugar, seems to be a key player in weight loss. ... If you have too much insulin, you become obese ... Exercise seems to be an excellent way to decrease insulin and obesity"

High Calcium Intake May Increase Risk Of Prostate Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 9/21/01 - "the risk of prostate cancer in men may increase with calcium intake, especially from dairy products ... Compared with the men who consumed less than .5 serving of dairy products daily, men who consumed more than 2.5 servings had a 34 percent higher risk of developing prostate cancer"

Blood Pressure Drug May Help Kidneys - Intelihealth, 9/20/01 - "Doctors found that the medicines, called angiotensin II receptor blockers, forestall complete kidney failure by about two years in diabetics with advanced kidney disease. They predict the effects will be even more dramatic in those with less severe kidney damage, potentially protecting them from ever reaching end-stage disease ... If the data keep getting stronger, it will become a recommendation, because there is very little downside to these drugs ... Angiotensin blockers have fewer side effects than ACE inhibitors, which cause a cough in about 20 percent of users"