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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/1/02:

Creatine May Help Older Men - ABC News, 5/1/02 - "Creatine may not be just for young athletes. Older men who took the supplement increased strength in just a week ... Earlier studies have found athletes generally get performance increases of 5 percent to 10 percent with creatine supplements ... The men on creatine gained 7 percent to 15 percent in the strength of large muscles of the hip, chest and shoulders"

Study Questions Safety of New Drugs - ABC News, 5/1/02 - "newly approved drugs can be riskier than previously thought and argues they should be avoided if older, safer alternatives exist ... there is a 20 percent chance that unexpected medication problems will arise after the drug has been approved ... "I would use a drug that has already been in practice and has been around for at least seven years if I could""

Sizing up omega-3 - USA Today, 5/1/02 - "The omega-3 picture is muddled by theories about omega-6 fatty acids found in vegetable oils such as corn, safflower, cottonseed and sunflower oils. Simopoulos says people in the USA consume too many of these oils and need to eat a more balanced ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. She doesn't support eating soybean oil, she says, because it's too high in omega-6"

Most Americans Breathe Polluted Air - ABC News, 5/1/02 - "More than half of all Americans breathe polluted air that can damage their health because the government doesn't fully enforce clean air laws, the American Lung Association said on Wednesday" - Possible solution:

Estrogen May Protect Women From Hearing Loss - ABC News, 4/30/02 - "postmenopausal women with lower levels of estrogen in their blood were more likely to be diagnosed with some degree of hearing loss. However, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was not associated with better hearing, possibly because just 3% of the group were taking HRT during the study"

Neuroprotective Effects of Melatonin Assessed - Doctor's Guide, 4/30/02 - "The neuroprotective effects of melatonin appear to be related to antioxidant and antiamyloidogenic features of the hormone, not to the involvement of melatonin receptors"

Impaired Body Clock Speeds Tumor Growth in Mice - ABC News, 4/30/02 - "The investigators found that the tumors grew two to three times faster in the animals whose rhythms had been disrupted"

Which Antidepression Drug Is Best? - WebMD, 4/30/02 - "As initial therapy for depression, most doctors tend to use newer drugs that target a specific brain chemical -- serotonin -- involved in depression. These drugs, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs ... Effexor does this, too, but it isn't quite as specific. It also increases the amount of another chemical -- norepinephrine -- in the brain ... Those who received Effexor were 43% more likely to have their depression go into remission than those taking SSRIs" - Note: See my St. John's wort page.  There are studies that support the fact that SJW may increase all three primary brain chemicals (serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine).  I'm not a doctor but it's just another reason I feel it's the best antidepressant out there and they are using way too low a dose in the studies with severe depression.  See my letter to the NIH.  Why might dopamine be a good addition.  See:

The Challenges of Living With Osteoporosis - ABC News, 4/29/02 - "Interestingly, many women don't even know they have osteoporosis, because it has no associated symptoms. In fact, it's often referred to as the 'silent disease'. But when they are diagnosed with osteoporosis, they are often dismayed, very fearful, lots of anxiety tends to set in, because they just can't believe that they have this disease." - Related article:

Headaches-Germ Link Suggested - Intelihealth, 4/29/02 - "about 18 percent of chronic migraine sufferers were infected with the stomach bug helicobacter pylori and antibiotics appeared to clear the headaches ... Adding the friendly bacteria Lactobacillus seemed to work even better ... Helicobacter pylori, the bug that causes gut ulcers, has recently been linked to a growing list of diseases, including heart disease, autoimmune diseases and skin conditions"

Calcium Plus Protein Equals Strong Bones - ABC News, 4/29/02 - "Dietary protein was linked to increased bone density only in people who were taking [calcium] supplements. Protein intake did not have a noticeable effect on bones in study participants who were assigned an inactive placebo pill ... The relationship between protein and bone density is not clear-cut. Some studies have detected a decreased risk of bone loss and fracture in people who consume high levels of protein. But other studies have linked protein consumption to an increased risk of fracture, especially in people who consume high levels of animal protein"

Oestrogen-Androgen Replacement Significantly Benefits Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 4/26/02 - "Compared with oestrogen alone, oestrogen-androgen significantly increased total lean body mass and reduced the percentage fat for all body parts ... There was a statistically significant increase in weight in the oestrogen-androgen group (2.7 +/- 5.1 lb.) (1.22 +/- 2.31 kg.) compared with the oestrogen only group ... In self-reporting questionnaires, women who received oestrogen-androgen noted more improvement in sexual functioning and quality of life than the women who received oestrogen alone"

FDA Grants Marketing Approval For Benicar (Olmesartan Medoxomil) For Treatment Of Hypertension - Doctor's Guide, 4/26/02 - "is a member of the rapidly growing angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) class ... Studies have shown that Benicar 20 mg once a day, the recommended starting dose, resulted in double-digit blood pressure reduction, lowering systolic blood pressure by an average of 15mm Hg* and diastolic blood pressure by an average of 12mm Hg. In these studies, patients receiving placebo had average reductions in systolic blood pressure of 5.6 mm Hg and in diastolic blood pressure of 6.2mm Hg. In clinical trials the only adverse event that occurred in more than 1 percent of patients treated with Benicar and more frequently than those receiving placebo was dizziness (3% vs 1%)"

FDA Approves First Prescription Drug Using Penwest's PROSOLV®; MOVA To Market Thyroid Treatment Formulation - Doctor's Guide, 4/26/02 - "is a sodium levothyroxine dosage form indicated for the treatment of hypothyroidism and the suppression of thyroid stimulating hormone"

Report card on reducing cancer risk - MSNBC, 4/26/02 - "THE MAIN recommendation of AICR’s report is that we eat a primarily plant-based diet, which means our plate should be filled two-thirds (or more) with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, and one-third (or less) with animal products" - Also see "Alternative News" on my cancer page.

Obesity: A Childhood Epidemic - ABC News, 4/26/02 - "In the past 30 years alone, obesity in American children has more than doubled ... More children are being diagnosed with adult conditions such as sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, and nearly half of these children will carry the burden of their weight into adulthood" - See my weight control page.

Nutrition Affects Thinking in Elderly - WebMD, 4/25/02 - "In this study of healthy elderly people, higher concentrations of folic acid and vitamin B-12 were associated with increased memory and thinking ability"

Oat fiber may cut need for blood pressure meds - Reuters, 4/25/02 - "among the 45 study participants consuming oats [137 grams of oat cereal daily, with approximately 12 grams of total fiber and 6 grams of soluble fiber] daily, 73% were able to reduce their blood pressure medication. After 12 weeks, average total cholesterol dropped by 15% and LDL ("bad") cholesterol dropped by 16%, and blood glucose levels improved significantly"

Dutch Study Links Tea Drinking To Reduced Heart Attack Risk - Intelihealth, 4/25/02 - "Those subjects who were heavy tea drinkers-more than 375 mL per day-had roughly half the risk of heart attack of non-tea drinkers, and less than one-third the risk of a fatal attack ... flavonoids, together with other antioxidants, may prevent excess vascular damage from ischemic heart disease and increase the chances of recovery from an MI" - See Nature's Way Green Tea Extract.

'Dr. Atkins' Suffers Cardiac Arrest - ABC News, 4/25/02 - "The cardiac arrest was reportedly due to cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle in which the muscle thickens and stiffens" - He was 71.  Sounds like advance glycation end products. I'm wondering if it could it have been from the lack of anti-oxidants in his diet plan. - Ben

This was in the Doctor's Guide Newsletter:

Relationship between 3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid status during early infancy and neurodevelopmental status at 1year of age - Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics, Volume 15 Issue 2 Page 111 - April 2002 - "These statistically significant correlations suggest that the omega-3 fatty acid status during early infancy may be important with respect to neurodevelopmental status at 1year of age and highlight the need for further studies of this possibility."

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