Recent Longevity News for the week ending 10/10/01:

Glucosamine Sulfate Treats Osteoarthritis in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape, 10/10/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "The subjects were randomized to receive either 1500 mg of glucosamine sulfate or placebo for 3 years. None received estrogen ... there was no joint space narrowing in the women treated with glucosamine sulfate while the average joint space narrowing in the placebo group was 0.24 mm. Likewise, WOMAC symptom scores improved by 5.5% among women receiving glucosamine sulfate and worsened by 15.4% in the placebo group ... Symptoms improved within 2 weeks of treatment initiation, and at 3 months pain was significantly reduced" - Also see arthritis

Drink To Breast Health - Intelihealth, 10/9/01 - "Women who drink milk daily are less likely to develop breast cancer than those who drink little or no milk ... Possible anti-cancer factors found in milk include calcium, vitamin D and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). A recent Finnish study found that women with breast cancer had significantly lower levels of CLA in their diets and blood, compared with women without breast cancer. CLA has been shown to block the local growth and spread of breast cancer in animal studies"

Low Melatonin Values, Melancholic Depression Linked - Doctor's Guide, 10/9/01 - ""Melancholic patients had lower 23.00-hour melatonin values in comparison to the rest of the patients and the atypical and undifferentiated patients," the researchers report ... This indicates that "low melatonin values were closely related to melancholic depression," investigators state"

Estradiol Beneficial In Treating Some Menopausal Women With Depression - Doctor's Guide, 10/9/01 - "Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the preferred means of treating more serious forms of depression, the suggestion has been made that estradiol might offer some synergistic effect when used together with SSRIs"

Statin Use Associated With Decreased Prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease - Medscape, 10/8/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "[statins] cross the blood-brain barrier efficiently ... The first study compared the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in patients who received HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors with that in patients who received drugs for hypertension or cardiovascular disease. The researchers found that patients taking statins were 60% to 73% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than the other patients ... In the second study, the investigators found that patients taking statins were 70% less likely to develop dementia than were patients with untreated hyperlipidemia or those taking other lipid-lowering drugs, such as fibrates, cholestyramine, or nicotinic acid ... statin treatment reduces the production of the A-beta-amyloid peptide"

HRT, but Not Raloxifene, Improves Endothelial Function - Medscape, 10/8/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "endothelium-dependent flow mediated vasodilation "increased from 7.4% to 12.4% with HRT but there was no increase evident with raloxifene.""

Health Experts Advise Against High-Protein Diets - WebMD, 10/8/01 - ""There are no long-term studies of these high-protein diets," she tells WebMD. However, scientific evidence suggests that the diets carry "great potential" risk of heart disease as well as problems for the kidneys, bones, and liver ... They may increase LDL ... They may increase blood pressure ... They may promote bone-thinning osteoporosis ...The initial water weight loss is "the diuretic effect, which happens when you restrict carbohydrates" ... On the bathroom scales, it looks like you've dropped weight, but it's not fat weight."""

Protecting against prostate cancer - MSNBC, 10/5/01 - "men who ate no fish had two to three times more prostate cancer than those who ate moderate to large amounts ... this study is looking at men eating naturally fatty fish, like mackerel, herring and salmon. These fatty fish are excellent sources of a particular type of fat high in omega-3 fatty acids. Past research suggests that these omega-3 fats help block the production of substances that promote cancer development"

Kava, Valerian May Fight Stress-Related Insomnia - ABC News, 10/4/01 - "People who are regularly kept awake at night, plagued by thoughts of work deadlines, relationship problems or other stressful life events might find relief in the herbs kava and valerian ... On average, the participants had suffered from insomnia for more than 15 years ... Participants reported that both herbs significantly relieved overall stress and insomnia"

Popcorn plant workers develop rare lung disease; artificial butter flavoring is blamed - ABC News, 10/4/01 - "Workers at a microwave popcorn plant have developed a rare lung disease that investigators believe was caused by breathing vapors from artificial butter flavoring ... Four of the workers need lung transplants"

Vitamin E: Lost Its Luster? - Dr. Weil, 10/4/01 - "some vitamin E supplements contain only alpha-tocopherol, but I recommend mixed tocopherols, which include alpha and a range of other helpful tocopherols (and, preferably, tocotrienols as well). If you're under 40, take 400 IU of vitamin E daily; those over 40 should take 800 IU per day. Since vitamin E is fat-soluble, it's best absorbed when taken with a meal containing some fat" - Note:  Lack of mixed carotenoids and lack of mixed tocopherols are two major reasons, outside of not getting what's labeled, that I'd throw most multiple supplements out the window.  Taking just one of over 600 carotenoids can cause a deficiency of the ones you are not taking, taking only the alpha form of vitamin E can lower some of the other forms.  See:

The Life Extension Foundation just sent out a nice flyer on their Life Extension Mix.  I have that via my affiliate links.  See LEF and iHerb.  Also, see the Body Wise AM/PM formula (mixed carotenoids via Dunaliella salina algae and mixed tocopherols).