Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/27/02:

A Heart's Hidden Danger - Time Magazine, 4/1/02 - "It is not an uncommon story--a fit man in his 40s or 50s arrives at his doctor's office for his annual checkup and eventually leaves with a clean bill of health. Soon afterward he drops dead of a heart attack ... researchers are focusing on ways to make vulnerable plaque more stable. One promising possibility: the increasingly popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, which seem to pull soft plaque out of fatty deposits wherever it is located in the artery, making it less likely to burst" - Note:  Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin.  VitaminShoppe is finally selling the 90 count size.

Coffee Intake and Risk of Hypertension: The Johns Hopkins Precursors Study - Archives of Internal Medicine, 3/26/02 - "After adjustment for the variables listed above, however, these associations were not statistically significant ... Conclusion  Over many years of follow-up, coffee drinking is associated with small increases in blood pressure, but appears to play a small role in the development of hypertension"

FDA Grants Orphan Drug Status to Creatine for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Doctor's Guide, 3/26/02 - "Creatine is a critical element in cellular energy production and modulation. It is the substrate of the creatine kinase system, which helps prolong cellular life and protect against cell injury and death ... We have seen, and continue to see, encouraging results among ALS patients, as measured by muscle strength and a decreased rate of deterioration. Additionally, creatine has a long history of safe use, and is well tolerated by patients in the study"

Rheumatoid arthritis linked to intestinal bacteria - Reuters, 3/26/02 - "The researchers found that rheumatoid arthritis patients had markedly less bacteria belonging to the Bacteroides, Prevotella and Porphyromonas families in their guts than controls (4.7% versus 9.5%, respectively), and this result was confirmed using one of the bacteria-specific probes" - That raises the question of whether probiotics might help protect against rheumatoid arthritis.

Bone Mass Response to Discontinuation of Long-term Hormone Replacement Therapy: Results From the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions (PEPI) Safety Follow-up Study - Archives of Internal Medicine, 3/26/02 - "Rates of BMD loss among women who stopped HRT during or after the PEPI-RCT [Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions randomized controlled trial] did not differ significantly from those of women who did not undergo HRT, who lost bone at a rate of approximately 1% yearly during the first year of the PEPI-RCT and about half that rate afterward. Women who continued HRT after the PEPI-RCT did not show additional BMD gains" - Here's the layman's version:

• Hormones Boost Bone in First 3 Years, Not After - ABC News, 3/26/02 - "While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) initially strengthens bones in postmenopausal women, taking the drugs for more than 3 years does not make bones even stronger ... women who stop taking hormones do lose bone density, but no more rapidly than women who never took hormones"

Iron Supplementation Enhances Aerobic Training In Iron-Depleted Women - Intelihealth, 3/25/02 - "Iron deficiency without anemia occurs in about 12% of premenopausal women in the United States, and may negatively affect adaptation to aerobic training in women by reducing their endurance capacity"

Alternatives to Prescription Estrogen Cream? - Dr. Weil, 3/26/02 - "My colleague Ann L. Mattson, MD, medical director of the Boulder Valley Women's Health Center in Colorado and an associate fellow at the Program in Integrative Medicine here at the University of Arizona, suggests the prescription alternatives Estrace or Estrace vaginal cream that are "bioidentical" to the body's own estrogen but are made from plant sources (soy and wild yam). By contrast, the estrogen in Premarin comes from the urine of pregnant horses and is different chemically from the body’s own hormones"

Prozac Scientist Plays Down Cancer Fears - ABC News, 3/26/02 - "the brain's mood-regulating chemical serotonin caused some cancer cells to self-destruct ... Eli Lilly and Co's Prozac, Glaxo SmithKline Plc's Paxil and Lundbeck's Celexa all "substantially blocked" this process"

Some Herbs Boost Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 3/26/02 - "Our studies show that dong quai and ginseng stimulate the growth of [breast cancer] cells" - That conflicts with other studies:

• Asian Ginseng (Panax ginseng) - Healthwell.com - "Long-term intake may be linked to a reduced risk of cancer"
• Beyond the Label: American Ginseng Protects - Nutrition Science News, 2/01 - "American ginseng has been shown to display synergistic effects against breast cancer cell growth when combined with chemotherapy"
• Herbal Aids for Cancer - Nutrition Science News, 3/00 - "A recent cell study by Tadahir Takeda from Kanazawa University in Ishikawa, Japan, showed that polysaccharides from panax boost production of the immune-stimulating cytokine interleukin-8"

Pill Raises Cancer Risk in Virus-Infected Women - ABC News, 3/26/02 - "Long-term use of oral contraceptives increases the risk of cancer of the cervix up to fourfold in women infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV)"

‘Pill’ raises breast cancer risk - MSNBC, 3/22/02 - "Using the birth control pill can increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, particularly if she is still taking it after the age of 45 ... the chance of getting the disease rises by about 26 percent in women who have used oral contraceptives compared to those who have not"

Cancer and Diet, Colon Vitamins - US News & World Report, 3/25/02 - "Three factors knocked down the risk in people with family cancer histories. A daily dose of 400 micrograms of folic acid, found in many multivitamins, was one. Fewer than two drinks per day was another. (Folic acid improves DNA repair while alcohol inhibits it, and damaged DNA is clearly tied to cancer.) The third factor, methionine, also helps DNA. But the substance has been linked to heart disease, so worried people would be better advised to concentrate on more vitamins and less booze"

High-Protein Diet Could Repair Bone Loss - WebMD, 3/25/02 - "The supplement group -- particularly those who ate a diet high in protein -- had significantly better bone mass density -- an accurate measure of bone loss. Those who took the placebo, however, had less calcium absorbed into their bloodstream when they consumed more protein" - Related Articles (I'm not big on high protein.  I guess the moral of the story is if you eat a high protein diet, take calcium supplements):

• Health Experts Advise Against High-Protein Diets - WebMD, 10/8/01 - "The following are some of the health risks of high-protein diets, according to the experts: ... They may promote bone-thinning osteoporosis, since excess protein in the diet triggers the body to excrete calcium during urination"
• Protein That Helps May Also Harm in High Amounts - WebMD, 10/2/00
• Protein Popularity: The Evidence Behind the Hype - WebMD, 4/25/00 - "The authors cite several studies that have found associations between excess protein in the diet and kidney disease. Another study suggests a relationship between high protein intake and prostate cancer, and a Japanese study explored the association between diabetes and protein"
• Too much animal protein causes osteoporosis - drmirkin.com, 1/11/00
• Dietary protein intake and urinary excretion of calcium: a cross-sectional study in a healthy Japanese population - Am J Clin Nutr 1998 Mar;67(3):438-444 - "Our findings suggest that excess protein, especially that rich in sulfur-containing amino acids, in habitual diets may augment calcium excretion in the urine, at least in the elderly."
• Is Milk Bad for Bones? - Dr. Weil, 11/9/99 - "The fact is, milk adds to the general protein load in the western diet -- and high-protein diets can cause minerals, including calcium, to leach out of the body"

Diet Linked to Prostate Enlargement - WebMD, 3/25/02 - "diet had the strongest link with prostate problems ... The men who had prostate disease ate more meat and more fats, specifically polyunsaturated vegetable fats and fish oils ... This is a perplexing association, but Suzuki suggests it may be due to these fatty acids igniting a process called oxidation in the body. Oxidation damages DNA, cells, and tissues, eventually contributing to heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses ... Fruit, vegetables, and whole grains are known to counter oxidation" - More on oxidation:

• The Cleveland Clinic: Eating to Prevent Cancer - WebMD - "Free radicals are one of the by-products of oxygen use by every cell in our body. These substances damage the body's cells through oxidation, the same process that rusts metal and turns butter rancid. Oxidation has also been shown to contribute to heart disease, cataracts, aging, and infections ... The body's cells have a natural defense strategy against free radicals and are able to repair the damage caused by them. However antioxidants, such as selenium and beta-carotene, help reinforce this protection"
• Memory loss in old rats is associated with brain mitochondrial decay and RNA/DNA oxidation: partial reversal by feeding acetyl-L-carnitine and/or R-alpha -lipoic acid - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002 Feb 19;99(4):2356-61 - "Oxidative damage to nucleic acids occurred predominantly in RNA. Dietary administration of ALCAR and/or LA significantly reduced the extent of oxidized RNA, the combination being the most effective"

Report Links Vioxx To Meningitis - Intelihealth, 3/25/02 - "Symptoms included headache, stiff neck, eye pain, fever and chills ... The diagnosis was aseptic meningitis, inflammation of the brain and spinal cord that is not caused by bacteria and is generally less severe than bacterial meningitis" - Related Vioxx article:

• Willow Bark Cheap Alternative To Pain Killers For Low Back Pain - Intelihealth, 1/31/02 - "Noting that willow bark is roughly 40% less expensive than rofecoxib [Vioxx], the researchers conclude that willow bark and rofecoxib are equally safe and effective in the treatment of low back pain, but that willow bark extract "has the current advantage of being cheaper than rofecoxib.""

Lower Engrogen Estradiol In Aged Tied To Cognitive And Behavioural Ills - Doctor's Guide, 3/22/02 - "Lower endogenous estradiol levels are linked in older people with poor cognitive function as well as with upsets in behaviours and activities of daily living"

Smokers Look Older -- Butt Why? - WebMD, 3/22/02 - "Bottom line: Smokers get a double whammy -- once from the sun and again from tobacco, since both trigger this skin-destructive MMP-1 action"

Oxidative Stress Associated With Acute Abdominal Pain Severity - Doctor's Guide, 3/22/02 - "Compared to healthy controls, serum from patients presenting with acute abdominal pain showed lower total antioxidant capacity"

Vision loss reported in handful of men on Viagra - Reuters, 3/22/02 - "Five men developed permanent vision loss while taking the impotence drug Viagra (sildenafil)" - I feel that phosphatidylserine (800 mg) is the best supplement in that area. - Ben

Study: Mobile phone users worse than drunk drivers - Reuters, 3/22/02 - "We were surprised to discover that talking on a mobile phone is actually more dangerous than being drunk behind the wheel"

Female Sexual Dysfunction, Thyroid Trouble May Be to Blame - WebMD, 3/21/02 - "she has seen no published studies evaluating the frequency of thyroid disease in women with sexual dysfunction issues ... But, with the exception of sexual issues related to menopause, I see it more often than anything else in my female patients"

The cancer preventative agent resveratrol is converted to the anticancer agent piceatannol by the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP1B1 - Br J Cancer 2002 Mar 4;86(5):774-8 - "This observation provides a novel explanation for the cancer preventative properties of resveratrol. It demonstrates that a natural dietary cancer preventative agent can be converted to a compound with known anticancer activity by an enzyme that is found in human tumours"

I was updating my selenium page and ran across these:

Selenium, Cancer Prevention, and the Nutrition-Health Paradigm - Medscape, 12/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "It found that risks to cancer mortality and the incidences of total carcinomas as well as cancers of the lung, prostate, and colon-rectum each appeared to be reduced in response to Se supplementation at 200 µg/day to normal diets that appeared to have provided an additional >/= 85 µg Se/day. This level of total Se intake is several times greater than that necessary to support the maximal expression of the known selenoenzymes"

Dr. Dean Edell ticked me a couple times but a couple years ago he had an article on growth hormone and totally ignored all the good studies and put down anti-aging medicine and growth hormone in general and just used one example of the study that showed growth hormone increased mortality in critically ill elderly patients.  I ran across the following that may explain the reason for that.

Conference Report -Specialized Nutrition in Critically Ill Patients - Medscape, 11/01, user=benhess, pwd=asdfgh - "Growth hormone is a polypeptide responsible for increasing carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and stimulating protein synthesis ... a recent study performed by Takala and colleagues[1] demonstrated an increase in mortality associated with the use of growth hormone. The heterogeneous population enrolled in this large, randomized, multicenter study included cardiac and abdominal surgical patients, trauma, and respiratory failure patients ... Unlike the trauma and burn patient population studied previously who were at their maximal metabolic and inflammatory state of the disease process, these patients were not yet at that level. Therefore, administration of growth hormone at this time within the disease course produces an initial energy deficit due to an increase in cellular metabolism and an increase in cytokine levels. These hypermetabolic and proinflammatory effects of growth hormone are thought to have led to a lack of oxygen supply to vital tissues, resulting in multiple organ failure and death. Dr. Gervasio concludes that growth hormone, at this time, should not be given to patients with critical illness with the possible exception of thermally injured or trauma patients."

The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients "The Examiner of Medical Alternatives" recently published Dr. Jesse Stoff's double blind placebo controlled study on Antigen Infused Colostrum Whey Extract (which is the AiE10 in Body Wise AG Immune) pg 80 - 84.  You can order the publication for $6.95 each directly at 360-385-6021 (PST). They are located in Washington State. They take credit cards.

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