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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 9/25/02:

Certified Organic - Newsweek Cover Story, 9/30/02 - "As farmers saw what the new chemicals made possible, American agriculture was transformed from a rural art into a heavy industry dominated by large corporations growing single crops on vast stretches of poisoned soil ... Insects died off conveniently at first. But each application of insecticide left a few hearty survivors, and within a few generations whole populations were resistant. Today, says Scowcroft, “we’re applying three times as much chemical as we were 40 years ago to kill the same pests.” It’s not just insects. Conventional farmers now use herbicides to kill weeds, fungicides to kill fungi, rodenticides to kill field mice and gophers, avicides to kill fruit-eating birds and molluscicides to kill snails"

Primary Care Drug Therapy for Hypertension Poorly Tailored to Individual Patients - Doctor's Guide, 9/24/02 - "The task of the primary care physician is to help the patient achieve a blood pressure level that puts cardiovascular risks at their lowest possible level ... They found that treatment achieved adequate blood pressure control in 16.5 percent of subjects at systolic/diastolic BP <140/90 mm Hg ... The doctors used beta-blockers with 51.6 percent of the patients, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors with 31 percent, diuretics with 23.5 percent, calcium channel blockers with 19.6 percent and methyldopa with 3.0 percent" - I can't figure out why the newer class of antihypertensive drugs, ARBs aren't more popular.  The following was in today's (9/25/02) JAMA (losartan is an ARB and atenolol is a beta-blocker) - Ben:

• Effects of Losartan on Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality in Patients With Isolated Systolic Hypertension and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: A Losartan Intervention For Endpoint Reduction (LIFE) Substudy - JAMA, 9/25/02 - "Blood pressure was reduced by 28/9 and 28/9 mm Hg in the losartan and atenolol arms. The main outcome was reduced by 25% with losartan compared with atenolol, 25.1 vs 35.4 events per 1000 patient-years ... Patients receiving losartan had reductions in the following without a difference in the incidence of myocardial infarction: cardiovascular mortality (8.7 vs 16.9 events per 1000 patient-years ... nonfatal and fatal stroke (10.6 vs 18.9 events per 1000 patient-years ... new-onset diabetes (12.6 vs 20.1 events per 1000 patient-years ... total mortality (21.2 vs 30.2 events per 1000 patient-years ... Losartan decreased ECG-LVH more than atenolol (P<.001) and was better tolerated"

Tea May Reduce Risk of Cancer, Heart Disease - ABC News, 9/24/02 - "Blumberg said tea is loaded with phytochemicals -- a wide range of molecules that can act as antioxidants. Such compounds counteract the damage done to DNA cells by free radicals -- charged particles produced by sunlight, chemicals, many foods and simply the stress of day-to-day living ... Damaged DNA is the first step to cancer, and is also associated with heart disease ... We found that their blood lipids, when they drank tea compared to the placebo beverage, had up to 10 percent lowering of low density lipoprotein, the 'bad' cholesterol ... What we found was a 25 percent decrease in the green tea group ... No changes were seen in the people who drank black tea or water" - See iHerb (5% discount code "qc") and Vitacost green tea extracts.  I take Nature Way brand.

Diet Rich In Soy Protein Lowers Estrogens Associated With Breast Cancer - Intelihealth, 9/24/02 - "Consuming tofu and other soy-based foods significantly lowers levels of a class of estrogens normally associated with breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women ... The study found a link between soy-rich diets consumed by Asian women in Singapore and reduced levels of an estrogen called estrone, the predominant form of estrogen in women following menopause ... estrone levels did not decline in a linear manner with increasing soy intake; an apparent reduction was only seen among those in the top 25 percent of soy protein consumers ... The study also showed that hormone levels remained unaffected by other dietary and lifestyle choices. These included consumption of alcohol, coffee, tea, fat, fiber and various micronutrients, including vitamins A, C and E, along with calcium and carotenoids ... There is a suggestion that weight change (particularly weight increase) has a profound influence on breast cancer rates in Asian-American women"

Sexual Enhancement Supplements (Including L-arginine, Yohimbe, and Epimedium (Horny Goat Weed)) review - ConsumerLab.com, 9/24/02 - "In a four-week, double-blind study, 77 women with decreased libido were given either the combination product (ArginMax) or placebo. As expected, a high percentage of participants taking placebo showed improvement. However, participants taking the product showed statistically greater improvement such as increased reported sexual desire level in 71% of participants given the treatment vs. 42% in the placebo group" - See Drugstore.com/GNC ArginMax products.

Testosterone supplementation provides additional BMD gains in hypogonadal men following cardiac transplantation - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "hypogonadal men who received additional testosterone supplementation showed the largest increases in BMD [bone mineral density]"

Pharmacy Compounding Prone to Error, FDA Finds - Doctor's Guide, 9/24/02 - "More than half had less than 70 percent of the potency stated on labelling" - That's why I worry about compounded testosterone. - Ben

FDA Looking for Grapefruit Interactions - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "If a drug has a large first pass effect, consuming grapefruit could cause a higher drug dose to enter the bloodstream through any of these actions ... Two drugs Dr. Piazza-Hepp cited as coming recently under suspicion are amlodipine, a calcium channel blocker, and atorvastatin" - I'm not a doctor but the First Amendment should give me the right to give my opinion on something without being sued.  From what I've read, there are a lot of drugs (like Prozac), supplements (like St. John's wort) and foods (like grapefruit) that effect the cytochrome P450 system one way or the other.  Trying to account for all the variables seems fruitless.  It seems like you would have to stay on a steady diet, supplement and medication ritual and have your doctor adjust the drugs based on blood tests and effectiveness. - Ben

Salt Reduction Has Little Impact On Cardiovascular Events Or Mortality - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "Reducing patient dietary sodium intake has little effect or either cardiovascular events or mortality ... There also are doubts about effects of salt reduction on overall health"

Cholesterol-Cutting Drugs May Clear Artery Build-Up - ABC News, 9/23/02 - "Heart patients may be able to actually reverse some of the build-up of fatty plaque in their arteries by taking aggressive doses of cholesterol-lowering medications that decrease their LDL, or "bad," cholesterol levels to well below current recommendations" - Note: Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin and is available at VitaminShoppe but talk to your doctor first.

Secondary Causes of Osteoporosis Higher in Fracture Patients - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "The most common cause of secondary osteoporosis is corticosteroid excess, whereas others include malignancy, gastric surgery, alcoholism, and anticonvulsant therapy use. Prior studies have shown that as many as 30 percent of postmenopausal women exposed to corticosteroids demonstrate causes of secondary osteoporosis"

Low Bone Mineral Density and Quantitative Ultrasound in Men Associated with Low Vitamin K Status - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "Low vitamin K status is associated with low quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and low bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck and trochanter ... What we did was measure the amount of vitamin K in circulation and use the more sensitive measures of vitamin K status which was % undercarboxylated osteocalcin ... We corrected for triglycerides because vitamin K is transported in the blood by triglyceride-rich lipoproteins ... What we found was that the higher the amounts of vitamin K in the plasma, the higher the BMD" - So does that mean that if your triglycerides are in check you may need extra vitamin K?  See iHerb (5% discount code "qc") and Drugstore.com vitamin K products. - Ben

Pain Relievers May Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 9/23/02 - "The study found people who took aspirin or other NSAIDs for more than two years before the study began were 45% less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who didn't. And the longer the participants had taken the drugs, the more protected they were against the disease ... previous studies have suggested that aspirin and other NSAIDs might protect against Alzheimer's disease by reducing inflammation in the brain ... their findings show that the beneficial effects of NSAIDs in preventing Alzheimer's take a long time to accumulate and don't become apparent until years later" - The people who did the six week study on ginkgo should read that last sentence. - Ben

Aspirin, ibuprofen warnings urged - MSNBC, 9/20/02 - "Aspirin, ibuprofen and some other over-the-counter painkillers should come with stronger warnings about the risks of stomach bleeding, a side effect that occurs in only a small fraction of cases but can be fatal"

Not all carbohydrates created equal - MSNBC, 9/23/02 - "FORTY STUDIES have linked regular consumption of whole grains with a 10 percent to 60 percent lower risk of certain cancers, especially cancers of the stomach and colon. Several large studies have found greater use of whole grains associated with lower risk of heart disease, too. In the Iowa Women’s Health Study, those who ate the most whole grains suffered about 20 percent fewer heart disease deaths and 10 percent fewer cancer-related deaths than those who ate the least ... The group of people in the Iowa Women’s Health Study who ate the most whole grains actually consumed just over the minimum recommended, which is three servings a day"

Low Vitamin D Levels Not Restricted To High-risk Groups - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "Vitamin D insufficiency is far more common than is generally assumed and is not necessarily restricted to high-risk groups such as the elderly ... Low vitamin D levels were found across diagnostic categories and were identified in 88 percent of patients with hip fractures; 67 percent of patients with wrist fractures; 50 percent of patients with vertebral fractures, and 52 percent of patients with other fractures ... This study demonstrates the high frequency of hypovitaminosis D in a UK specialist bone clinic setting and the clear need for vitamin D therapy may not [be] appreciated without [taking] vitamin D measurements"

Formulation of some calcium supplements interferes with calcium absorption - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "The formulation of some calcium carbonate supplements significantly interferes with calcium absorption and patients may thus be getting substantially less calcium than might be presumed based on product labeling ... the team found that only two calcium carbonate supplements - both oral tablets, although one was chewable - had rates of absorbability that were comparable to plain calcium carbonate ... The other six supplements were substantially less absorbable ... Our findings suggest that pharmaceutical formulation affects absorbability...and we encourage industry to study this issue and to produce calcium supplements with demonstrated absorbability" - I'm still sold on Body Wise Essential Calcium (uses calcium citrate). - Ben.  Related articles:

• Concrete in Your Vitamins? - Vitacost, 9/24/02 - "The typical once-a-day daily vitamin or vitamin sold at your local supermarket frequently contains the carbonate form of calcium. This form of calcium is actually found in concrete ... The reason that companies use the carbonate form of calcium is quite simple – cost"
• Calcium - Body Wise - "Calcium (citrate) is better absorbed than calcium carbonate. Calcium absorption depends on sufficient stomach acid and chelated forms of calcium are already in a soluble and ionized state ready for absorption"
• Drugs That Deplete-Nutrients That Heal - Life Extension Foundation, 7/00 - "The irony here is that excess calcium supplementation may lead to magnesium deficiency (it also interferes with zinc and iron absorption)." - That's why some feel you should take them all in the correct proportions.

Mercury in Fish May Be Linked to Infertility - ABC News, 9/23/02 - "Eating too much seafood, which can contain high levels of the toxic substance mercury, could be linked to an increased risk of infertility in men and women"

Osteoporosis Under-Recognized at Time of Admission to Nursing Home - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "New data confirm that few patients in nursing homes are on osteoporosis-related treatments despite the known high prevalence of osteoporosis in this population"

Primary Care Residents Don't Screen for Osteoporosis - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "Primary care residents assess women who are at risk for postmenopausal osteoporosis at a rate far below that for other common health conditions ... She also pointed out that the results are regrettable since osteoporosis is a prevalent chronic health problem with associated morbidity and mortality outcomes on a par with other chronic illnesses such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes. Also, the disease is preventable"

Low Bone Mineral Density Common in Elderly Black Women - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/02 - "New findings document that 60 percent of elderly African-American women have a low bone mineral density (BMD)"

Blood Test Doesn't Catch All Statin-Caused Muscle Problems - Intelihealth, 9/20/02 - "They have few serious side effects - many cardiologists tout them as being safer than aspirin. But they can cause rare cases of muscle destruction, some fatal ... a less severe form of statin-caused muscle toxicity weakens muscle without damaging the membranes that release CK into blood ... doctors should not dismiss statin users who have muscle pain despite a normal CK test"

New Warning Labels for Acetaminophen - WebMD, 9/20/02 - "The warnings would urge consumers to take only the recommended doses because exceeding them could cause serious liver damage ... Another issue is that drugstore shelves are bursting with products that contain acetaminophen -- more than 200 of them. Each of these remedies is safe by itself. But people who take more than one product at a time may unknowingly get an overdose"

“Herbal Aspirin” Effective for Low Back Pain - New Hope Natural Media, 9/19/02 - "randomly assigned to daily treatment with four capsules of a standardized extract of willow bark (containing 240 mg of salicin per day) or one 12.5-mg tablet of the anti-inflammatory drug rofecoxib (Vioxx®) for four weeks. In all measures of pain relief, willow bark treatment was found to be as effective as rofecoxib" - See iHerb (discount "qc") and Vitacost willow bark products.

Green Tea May Fight Allergies - Intelihealth, 9/19/02 - "Researchers in Japan identified a compound in green tea that, in laboratory tests, blocks a key cell receptor involved in producing an allergic response ... Researchers in Japan identified a compound in green tea that, in laboratory tests, blocks a key cell receptor involved in producing an allergic response ... Although similar compounds in green tea have previously been shown to be anti-allergenic, this particular compound appears to be the most potent"

Analysis Shows HRT Raises Breast Cancer,Stroke Risk - ABC News, 9/19/02 - "A British study backed U.S. findings on the side-effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) ... The review estimates that for healthy women on HRT for five years there would be a total of six extra cases of either breast cancer, stroke or clot on the lung among every 1000 HRT users between aged 50-59 ... The number would double to 12 for HRT users aged 60-69 ... By contrast, there would be an estimated 1.7 fewer cases of bowel cancer or hip fracture per 1000 HRT users aged 50-59 and 5.5 per 1000 users between 60-69"

Does Waist Size Affect Your Heart? - WebMD, 9/19/02 - "Researchers wanted to find out if waist circumference is a more accurate measurement than BMI (body mass index) in determining the risk of heart attack or stroke ... To minimize the risk of heart disease, men with 35-inch waists and women with 33-inch waists should not gain any more weight ... To reduce their heart-disease risk, men whose waists are at least 39 inches and women whose waists are at least 37 inches should lose weight"

I receive a Medscape Newsletter that had links to two September conferences on depression and a September conference on Syndrome X.  See the "CME" section of my depression or syndrome X pages.

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Life Extension Foundation / iHerb - use this link to receive a 5% discount (discount code "qc") plus free shipping on orders over $60 / Vitacost.com / VitaminShoppe / Gerovital / drugstore.com / GNC / Body Wise International / Gero Vita International / DermaDoctor / Dr. Whitaker / Online Prescriptions / Body by Jake / ArginMax / Love Scents Pheromones / Mass Quantities / Netrition.com / Road Runner Sports / Amazon.com / Office Depot / The Sports Authority / J & R Appliance Store / Dell Computer / Buy.com / Lands' End / Walmart / Tupperware / REI / REI Outlet / Verizon DSL Internet Service / Verizon Wireless!

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iHerb policosanol products - use this link to receive a 5% discount (discount code "qc") plus free shipping on orders over $60 - see policosanol

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