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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 1/29/03:

Joint, bone problems plague athletes - MSNBC, 1/27/03 - "SOCCER PLAYERS are 10 times more likely to develop osteoarthritis in their hip than other men and long-distance runners are more prone to low bone mineral density, which can lead to fractures and the brittle-bone disease osteoporosis ... instead of increasing bone mineral density in female athletes, long distance running lowered it ... By measuring the bone density of 52 women who ran between three and 43 miles a week, they discovered a link between lower bone density in the spine and hip and running greater distances" - I still feel that Body Wise Essential Calcium is the best formula for osteoporosis.

Glucosamine for Knees -- Evidence Builds - WebMD, 1/27/03 - "the biggest benefits of glucosamine seemed to be in reducing the amount of perceived pain. By the end of the study, 88% of the glucosamine group said their knee pain had improved compared to only 17% in the placebo group ... After four weeks of treatment, only 36% of users reported some pain relief, but that number grew to 68% at week eight and 88% by week 12" - See iHerb (5% discount code "qc") or Vitacost glucosamine products.

New Heart Disease Blood Test Discouraged - WebMD, 1/27/03 - "hs-CRP is most useful when a doctor is "sitting on the fence" while determining the right treatment strategy for a person with intermediate risk of heart disease. In those cases -- meaning someone who, based on cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking history, and weight, is believed to have about 10% to 20% increased risk for heart attack over the next 10 years -- an elevated hs-CRP could tip the scale toward more aggressive treatment"

Sizing up supplements - MSNBC, 1/24/03 - "The USP mark, which says “dietary supplement verified” in a circle, means that a product contains the ingredients stated on the label in the amount and strength indicated. The supplement has also passed tests to prove that it effectively dissolves (so that contents can be absorbed by the body), has been screened for harmful contaminants and has been manufactured using sanitary, well-controlled procedures ... However, even USP-verified supplements are not guaranteed to be safe and effective"

Blood Pressure Control -- Timing Matters - WebMD, 1/24/03 - "Researchers found that the diuretic and calcium-channel blocker were effective around the clock. The beta-blocker was the least effective of the four drugs overall and it had no effect on blood pressure during the night or in the early morning hours. ACE inhibitors actually worked best while the study participants were sleeping, but had little effect on blood pressure during the day"

Less Body Fat = Longer Life - WebMD, 1/23/03 - "Of the 250 mice in Bluher's study, half were specially bred to lack a response to the hormone insulin specifically in their fat cells -- he calls them "FIRKO mice." These mice were unable to store body fat. The normal mice were able to gain weight and body fat as usual ... The normal mice lived normal mouse-length lives -- 30 months. But at 30 months, 80% of the FIRKO mice were still alive ... His study suggests that increased metabolism is the secret to the FIRKO mouse's leanness and longevity" - I don't understand their association between lack of response to insulin (sounds like insulin resistance) and increased metabolism.  It would seem like the only way to use this information would be to go with low glycemic index foods and replacing sugar with Splenda, which would lower insulin secretion, which should produce a lower response, i.e., lower insulin secretion, less response.

Selegiline Helps Smokers Quit - Medscape, 1/23/03 - "Its effect was about half that of buproprion but comparable to that of nicotine replacement ... selegiline doses greater than 10 mg/day are associated with increased risk of hypertensive crises" - Selegiline is used by many for anti-aging. - Ben

Antidepressants Aren't All They're Cracked Up to Be - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "The fact is, the stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria routinely used in pharmacologic antidepressant clinical trials enable investigators to paint an unrealistically rosy picture of the drugs' performance. This renders the trials largely irrelevant to real-world clinical practice" - That's an important consideration with the Pfizer (makers of Zoloft) funded St. John's wort study.

Transdermal Estradiol May Be An Effective Antidepressant - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "The response to transdermal estradiol was “quite rapid,” compared with conventional antidepressants ... Moreover, transdermal estradiol's antidepressant effect remained significant during the 4-week washout period at the end of the 12-week study period"

New Fish Oil Guidelines Endorse Use of Supplements - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "the American Heart Association (AHA) has recommended that these patients [documented coronary heart disease] consume about 1g of omega-3 fatty acids per day ... In a major departure, the AHA also said, for the first time, that a recommended nutrient could alternatively be consumed as a supplement"

Bupropion May Aid Weight Loss - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "Of those in the bupropion group, 52% lost at least 5% of their body weight during the 26-week study, compared with 15% of the placebo group" - Bupropion is available online as Zyban.

NSAID Use Linked to Lower Incidence of Alzheimer's - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "The largest reduction in risk was among former users of NSAIDs or aspirin who had taken the medications for 2 years or more. The incidence of Alzheimer's disease in that group was 29% of the rate seen in nonusers"

Regular Periods Don't Rule Out Low Testosterone - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "Physicians who see young women complaining of low libido should consider that the problem could be low testosterone even if the women have regular menstrual periods"

Focus on Risk Factors in Erectile Dysfunction - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "I generally tell patients that what's good for your heart is generally good for your sex life—and so maintaining good cholesterol levels, exercising, losing excess weight—all these things could make a difference to the severity of a patient's ED [erectile dysfunction]—partly by improving vascular flow"

Statin Therapy Does Not Slow Cognitive Decline - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "pravastatin showed no effect at all on cognition in PROSPER. Similarly, simvastatin exerted no impact upon cognitive decline in the earlier 20,536-patient randomized double-blind Heart Protection Study ... It might be better to look at the use of antihypertensives in the elderly to prevent cognitive decline” based upon accumulating extremely promising clinical trials data on that score ... Prior statin trials in middle-aged patients have shown stroke prevention but not until after 5-6 years of treatment"

Three Depression Subtypes Respond Selectively - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "Psychotic depression ... In general, the antidepressant needs to be helped along by an adjunctive antipsychotic agent or by ECT ... That constellation of symptoms known as atypical depression seems to preferentially respond to our old friends—the MAO inhibitors"

St. John's Wort for Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "Most St. John's wort preparations are standardized to the hypericin component. This compound has been shown to reduce 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor density; weakly inhibits reuptake of 5-HT, norepinephrine, and dopamine; and binds to -aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors ... It also has MAO inhibitor activity ... In biochemical and animal studies, the researchers wrote, hyperforin also inhibits the synaptosomal uptake of 5-HT, noradrenaline, dopamine, glutamate, and GABA"

Lower Blood Pressure Naturally - Dr. Murray - "The degree of blood pressure reduction in these studies was quite significant, typically reducing the systolic by at least 10 mm Hg and the diastolic by 7 mm Hg in people with borderline and mild hypertension.  Greater reductions will be seen in people with higher initial blood pressure readings" - See Anti-Ace Peptides™ at iHerb (5% discount "qc").

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