QualityCounts.com Newsletter of 7/3/02

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New Compound Shows Promise Against Wrinkles - ABC News, 7/3/02 - "A new compound may be as effective as older treatments at improving sun-damaged skin but without the side effects ... Palmitoyl pentapeptide had reduced wrinkles more quickly at 2 months ... After 4 months, both the new compound and retinol increased skin thickness by an average of 9%. The new compound did not cause the irritation associated with retinol ... the new compound improved skin roughness, wrinkle volume and wrinkle depth"

Common Sense Suncare Tips For Summer - ABC News, 7/3/02 - "Skin cancer has reached epidemic proportions in the Unites States over the past few years ... Sunscreen is supposed to be put on the body twenty to thirty minutes before you actually leave the house to do your outdoor activities ... Water actually acts as a lens and lets the sunlight penetrate a little more deeply into your skin ... The higher you go, the more intense the ultraviolet radiation. So you're going to get more UVB and UVA rays, especially UVB when you're skiing on a mountain ... You may not get sunburn immediately under the clouds, because the clouds are going to block a lot of the ultraviolet B wavelengths, but you're going to get a lot of exposure to UVA"

Prostate Cancer Over-Treated - ABC News, 7/3/02 - "29 percent to 44 percent of the men were "over-diagnosed." ... up to 30 percent may have been treated unnecessarily"

Methods Are Many To Reduce Blood Pressure - Intelihealth, 7/2/02 - "If an ACE inhibitor's side effects - a cough and a rash - are troublesome, a patient could try an ARB or angiotensin receptor blocker, which prevents the action of angiotensin II. Thus far, the ARB's appear to be more effective than beta-blockers in preventing strokes, though the drugs are equally effective in reducing blood pressure ... So far, neither the ACE inhibitors nor the calcium channel blockers have been shown to be better than diuretics in preventing heart attacks ... nearly all the antihypertensive medications can inhibit sexual function, particularly in men" - That last statement is not necessarily true for ARBs. See:

Vitamin C May Lower Pregnancy Complication Risk - ABC News, 7/2/02 - "Preeclampsia is thought to be caused by oxidative stress to blood vessels, which occurs when damaging compounds called free radicals are released during normal body processes. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning it can help fight damage from oxidative stress ... women with the lowest levels of vitamin C in the blood during labor were nearly four times more likely to be diagnosed with preeclampsia, compared with women who had the highest levels, regardless of their age, calorie intake, and whether or not they were overweight before pregnancy"

Study Shows Chemicals Affect Sperm - ABC News, 7/2/02 - "chemicals in the environment including some in foods such as peas and beer mimic the effect of the female sex hormone estrogen on the ability of sperm to fertilize eggs ... estrogen-like chemicals can disrupt the development of the male reproductive system and reduce the production of sperm, but this is the first time scientists have shown they affect sperm itself. Whether the effect is strong enough to cause harm is uncertain ... human sperm is even more sensitive to female sex hormones than mouse sperm" - Sounds like another reason to keep aromatization to a minimum.

Study Says Hormone Treatment Gives No Heart Benefit - ABC News, 7/2/02 - "Hormone replacement therapy should not be taken as a way of preventing heart attacks and can also increase the risk of gall bladder disease ... hormone therapy caused higher rates of blood clots in the legs and lungs and heightened the risk of gall bladder disease requiring surgery ... Beyond warding off osteoporosis, hormone replacement therapy helps relieve the hot flashes, insomnia, sexual side-effects and other unpleasant symptoms of menopause. It may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease ... While hormone treatment does have positive effects, like raising good cholesterol, reducing bad cholesterol and relaxing the blood vessels, it can also have negative side effects, like causing inflammation of blood vessels and increasing the likelihood of blood clots"

Tea May Be Cup of Life - ABC News, 7/1/02 - "drinking more than two cups of tea a day decreased the risk of death following a heart attack by 44 percent. Even less spirited tea drinkers were rewarded: Consuming just two cups a day decreased the risk of death by almost a third ... Green tea extracts were found to inhibit the growth of bladder cancer cells in the lab — while other studies suggest that drinking green tea protects against developing stomach and esophageal cancers ... older women who are tea drinkers are 60 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who do not drink tea ... Parkinson's Disease: Tea consumption may be protective against developing this debilitating neurological disorder ..." - See green tea extract at iHerb, Vitacost green tea products and VitaminShoppe.

A Report on Curcumin's Anti-cancer Effects - Life Extension Foundation, 7/02 - "Imagine a natural substance so smart it can tell the difference between a cancer cell and a normal cell; so powerful it can stop chemicals in their tracks; and so strong it can enable DNA to walk away from lethal doses of radiation virtually unscathed. Curcumin has powers against cancer so beneficial that drug companies are rushing to make drug versions. Curcumin is all this and more" - See curcumin at iHerb, VitaminShoppe or Vitacost.

ALC and Alpha-Lipoic Acid - Dr. Janson's Newsletter, 7/02 - "The recent studies in rats show that ALC (especially when combined with the antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid) can protect the brain from the oxidative damage related to aging, and can protect the mitochondrial membranes ... when older animals are supplemented with ALC and lipoic acid they are more physically active, have better short-term memory, and overall enhanced cognitive function. (They also have better liver function because of the same protection of the mitochondria, with increased mitochondrial metabolism and reduced oxidative damage.) ... It appears that these nutrients also help the heart, especially when taken together. While ALC helps restore cardiac carnitine levels, and improves cardiac energy, the aging heart also becomes sensitive to oxidative stress. For protection from such stress, you need to combine the ALC with alpha-lipoic acid (LA) ... It is apparent that the accelerated aging that results from lifestyle choices, stress, and oxidative exposures, can be slowed or even reversed" - I take 500 mg of Jarrow ALC and 100 mg of Jarrow ALA three times per day. I doubt if you'd find a better price. (5% discount code "qc")

When it comes to vitamin C, not all OJ created equal - MSNBC, 6/28/02 - "new research shows that ready-to-drink versions contain about 30 percent less of the biologically active form of vitamin C than juice made from frozen concentrate ... most ready-to-drink juice is now pasteurized. (Frozen concentrate does not need to be pasteurized since freezing destroys dangerous bacteria.) ... For the orange juice highest in vitamin C content, choose a frozen concentrate that is reconstituted with water at home"

Caffeine May Worsen Glaucoma - Nutrition Science News, 6/27/02 - "Compared with decaffeinated coffee, regular coffee produced a statistically significant increase in IOP at both 60 and 90 minutes. The magnitude of the increase was approximately 2 to 3 mm Hg, an amount that, if sustained over the long term, could have an adverse effect on visual function" - Also see my glaucoma page.

Several Factors Influence Persistence With Antihypertensives In New Hypertension Patients - Doctor's Guide, 6/27/02 - "Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors were the most commonly prescribed drugs, followed by calcium channel blockers, diuretics, beta-blockers and angiotensin II antagonists ... Rate of patient persistence with treatment increased proportionately with their increasing age. Such rate was highest with angiotensin II antagonists and progressively lower with ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and diuretics" - That's the second study I've read that indicates that angiotensin II antagonists (ARBs) have the highest compliance, most likely because they have the least side effects. Yet they are the least prescribed. Are doctor's not getting the word or are HMO's trying to save a few bucks per patient on the cost or are they the least effective? From the studies I've read, I don't think it is the latter. If anyone reading knows the answer, just hit "Reply" on this newsletter and let me know. Even if other's were better, if they aren't taking it because of the side effects it's not doing them any good. Speaking of ARBs:

Cozaar (Losartan) Lowered Risk Of Total Mortality In Patients With Diabetes By 39% Versus Atenolol - Doctor's Guide, 6/27/02 - "treatment with losartan resulted in a 24 per cent reduction in the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, stroke and heart attack compared to the beta-blocker atenolol (p=0.03). Blood pressure and pulse pressure reductions were similar with both therapies. In addition, losartan significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular death by 37 per cent (p=0.03) and total mortality by 39 per cent ... A 39 per cent reduction in total mortality with losartan is an important observation given that the observed reduction is versus an established antihypertensive, atenolol ... It is widely accepted that elevated systolic blood pressure is an even stronger risk factor for cardiovascular events than diastolic blood pressure"

iHerb sent out a 5% discount code to their customers but the iHerb discount code for my site is "qc" and also gets you a 5% discount plus it gets me a small 5% commission on the sale.