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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 4/9/03:

Several Options Available for Androgen Replacement Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 4/8/03 - "By restoring them to a eugonadal state, it can increase muscle mass and strength, help maintain bone density, increase cognition and mood, improve libido, sexual function, and a generalized state of well-being ... Studies suggest that bringing a hypogonadal man back to a normal level of testosterone with exogenous androgen does not affect the prostate negatively. "There is essentially no significant change in the PSA [prostate specific antigen], in prostate volume, and in urinary symptoms," ... Side effects of exogenous androgen therapies are mood changes, polycythemia, gynecomastia, exacerbation of sleep apnea, and in some patients, acne" - See my aromatization page for ways that may prevent gynecomastia.

Diabetes Linked to Development of Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 4/8/03 - "people with diabetes had a 73% greater chance of developing Alzheimer s disease compared to controls ... people with diabetes had a 51% greater rate of decline in perceptual speed" - See my diabetes page for preventative measures.

Survival to 90 Years Linked to Low Weight in Young Adulthood and Exercise - Doctor's Guide, 4/8/03 - "baseline height and weight were not associated with mortality. However, a higher weight at age 21 was associated with increased odds of dying before reaching 90 years (OR=1.04 per 5 lb increase, P 0.0001). Those who exercised were 24-31% less likely to die by the age of 90 (OR=0.76, P 0.0001 for less than 1 hour per day, OR=0.69, P 0.0001 for 1 hour or more per day). Similarly, being in the mid tertile of BMI at baseline (22-24 for men, 20-23 for women) was associated with decreased odds of dying before age 90 (OR=0.70, P 0.0001)"

Excess Body Weight a Significant Risk Factor for Colorectal Cancer in Older Women - Medscape, 4/8/03 - "Among postmenopausal women, excess body weight is a statistically significant risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer"

You Can Trim Down Online - HealthScout News, 4/8/03 - "people in the e-mail counseling group lost more than twice as much weight as those just using the basic Internet weight-loss program. At the end of a year, the people in the e-mail counseling group lost an average of 10 pounds while those in the basic program lost an average of 4 pounds"

• eDiets.com - "eDiets.com has been honored with the Forbes "Best of the Web" rating for fitness and nutrition"

Commercial Diet Programs Beat Do-It-Yourself Ones - HealthScout News, 4/8/03 - "At the end of the first year, the self-help group lost and maintained 2.86 to 3.08 pounds. By the end of the second year, however, the weight was back to what it had been at the beginning of the study ... The Weight Watchers group lost 9.46 to 11 pounds by the end of the first year, and 5.94 to 6.6 pounds overall by the end of the second year"

Healthy Lifestyle Can Halt Prostate Cancer - HealthScout News, 4/8/03 - "Men who had the lowest risk of cancer progression were those who kept their body weight down, got regular exercise and had routine prostate cancer screenings"

Strong Inverse Link Between Breast Cancer and NSAID Use - Medscape, 4/8/03 - "Taking two or more NSAID tablets per week (aspirin, ibuprofen, or related compounds) for 5 to 9 years reduced the risk of breast cancer by 21%. Extending NSAID use to 10 years or more led to an even greater risk reduction of 28% ... Specifically, "aspirin had about a 22% risk reduction effect and ibuprofen had a 49% risk reduction effect,"" [Doctor's Guide] - See drugstore.com NSAID and aspirin products.

Treatment of Subclinical Hypothyroidism Advocated - Doctor's Guide, 4/7/03 - "Adverse effects fall into four general categories, according to Dr. Gardner -- neuropsychiatric symptoms, abnormal lipids, altered myocardial function, and greater risk of atherosclerotic heart disease ... Adding to the controversy, he added, is growing evidence that the upper limit of normal serum TSH concentration should be less than 2.5-3.0 U/mL and not the current levels of 5.0-5.5 U/mL"

Nighttime Salivary Cortisol Test Has Excellent Specificity and Sensitivity - Doctor's Guide, 4/7/03 - "Pseudo-Cushing's may result from obesity, depression, anxiety, poorly controlled diabetes, alcoholism, liver disease, or excessive exercise ... The salivary cortisol test had "100% specificity for ruling out pseudo-Cushing's," ... the test provides the opportunity for long-distance monitoring and follow-up. The patient can collect a sample and mail it to a laboratory for measurement" - One of my affiliates has that test.  See TestCountry.com (StressCheck).

Blood Pressure Rises Decades Before Diabetes Develops - Doctor's Guide, 4/7/03 - "Elevations in blood pressure precede the development of type 2 diabetes in middle age by 20 to 25 years"

Babies Need More Vitamin D - HealthScout News, 4/7/03 - "the nation's leading group of child doctors is recommending that many infants and children be given daily vitamin D supplements ... women are choosing to breast-feed ... people are avoiding the sun"

Experts Predict Spread Of Mystery Illness - Intelihealth, 4/7/03 - "many experts reluctantly conclude it is likely if not inevitable that it eventually will spread everywhere ... While many are infected through face-to-face contact, evidence is mounting that the virus may also spread through the air or be picked up from contaminated surfaces ... it could grow less virulent as it reproduces inside the human body and then passes on, or it might grow worse" - See my SARS page for the latest preventative measures.  Also see iHerb (5% discount code "qc") and Vitacost immunity products.

• A Healthy Immune System is Your Best Defense - Vitacost, 4/9/03 - "Washing your hands thoroughly with hot water and soap for 15 seconds can be important as well. In a recent article in a South Florida newspaper, it mentioned that many people were running out to their health food stores to buy vitamins, thinking that improved immune function could play some positive role. I would fully agree with this approach. A healthy immune system can make the difference between getting mildly sick if you are exposed to infectious agents versus getting very sick or even dying"
• Scared of SARS? - Dr. Weil, 4/8/03 - "The CDC recommends washing your hands frequently to guard against infection. This is always good advice, especially during cold and flu season. These infections spread when sick people touch their noses or mouths and then touch surfaces such as doorknobs, telephones or elevator buttons. If you’re the next one to touch these objects, you can pick up the bug"
• Source Naturals(R) Arms Immune Defenses - NPI Center, 4/9/03 - "With threats of bioterrorism, and now SARS, people are very concerned ... Source Naturals responded to these needs, adding Beta Glucan (Purified Beta 1,3/1,6-Glucan), Mushroom Immune Defense(TM) and AHCC(R) to their strong line of immune-boosting products"

Study finds more evidence C-reactive protein is a bad actor - HealthScout News, 4/7/03 - "Men with the highest blood levels of CRP when the study began had a 3.8-fold increased incidence of stroke over the next 10 to 15 years compared to men with the lowest levels ... The most striking finding was that the elevated risk associated with high CRP levels was "strongest in the healthier group of men, those without high blood pressure or diabetes, those who don't smoke,""

Ezetimibe Plus Simvastatin Reduces C-Reactive Protein in Patients with High Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 4/4/03 - "C-reactive protein is considered an emerging risk factor and risk marker for coronary heart disease ... the levels of C-reactive protein were about halved when the pooled ezetimibe plus simvastatin results were compared with simvastatin alone. The combination produced about a 34.8% reduction compared to an 18.2% reduction if the statin was used as monotherapy" - CPR is bad.  See my inflammation page.  Related article:

• Bad Boy in the Blood: CRP - WebMD, 1/15/03 - "CRP doesn't just mark risk. It contributes to plaque formation in the blood-vessel wall. It promotes cholesterol uptake ... The most dazzling observation has been that in postmenopausal women, even those with low cholesterol levels, CRP identifies a three-fold increased risk for coronary artery disease ... When they added CRP to these cells, they saw dramatic effects. The cells began to secrete a substance called PAI-1. Increased PAI-1 secretion predicts formation of blood clots and heart disease. It also predicts diabetes and the pre-diabetes condition known as metabolic disorder ... You can lower your CRP levels by doing the same things you would do to lower your cholesterol levels: lose weight, eat fewer calories and a very low fat diet, take the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins, and the natural form of vitamin E"

Aspirin May Protect Against Parkinson's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 4/4/03 - "Dr. Ross hypothesized that since inflammation is thought to play a role in the neurodegenerative process leading to Parkinson's disease, anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin may help slow the progression of the disease ... The study showed that there were 17.7 cases of Parkinson's per 10,000 person-years in the patients who never took aspirin or were taking it on one occasion, compared with 6.8 cases per 10,000 person-years in the men who were taking aspirin on both assessments ... No conclusion could be drawn regarding the use of other NSAIDs and Parkinson's, he said, because too few of the men reported taking the drugs" - See drugstore.com aspirin products.

More Migraine Relief Seen with Over-the-Counter Combination than with Sumatriptan - Doctor's Guide, 4/4/03 - "Patients are more likely to get relief from a migraine episode if they use an over-the-counter (OTC) treatment that combines acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine at the first sign of an attack than if they use 50 mg of sumatriptan (Imitrex) ... Among the OTC subjects, 87% had responded to treatment at 2 hours, compared to 75% of sumatriptan subjects (P=0.045). The differences seen 24 hours after treatment showed that 66% of the OTC subjects had sustained relief, compared to 49% of the sumatriptan group" - See drugstore.com acetaminophen products.  Related acetaminophen article:

• 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"

Raising HDL-C Levels Slows CAD Progression and Reduces Mortality - Medscape, 4/3/04 - "Results of two studies of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)-targeted therapies indicate that attacking heart disease by increasing HDL-C levels appears to slow progression of atherosclerosis and reduce mortality ... Although the protective effect of HDL-C is well known, "most researchers ignore this fact," said Henrietta Reicher-Reiss, MD, from Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel. It is a costly oversight since "about half of heart attack victims have normal [low-density liprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels]," ... drugs designed to target HDL-C have a number of adverse effects. Niacin, for example, causes flushing, and fibrates are associated with gastrointestinal side effects. That side-effect profile might be a factor against this approach. Statins, on the other hand, tend to be very well tolerated" - I haven't had any side effects with inositol hexanicotinate (no-flush niacin).  I don't know why it isn't used in place of regular niacin in studies.  Maybe they just aren't aware like when they use the dl form of vitamin E in studies instead of the d-alpha tocopherol or gamma tocopherol. - Ben.  See:

• Triglycerides: You've Said a Mouthful - Dr. Whitaker, 1/16/03 - "The form of niacin we use at the Whitaker Wellness Institute, inositol hexaniacinate"

Emerging Research Reveals Important Role of Chromium Picolinate in Insulin Resistance and Chronic Disease - NPI Center, 4/3/03 - "Recent research suggests that chromium enhances insulin action which may help lower some risk factors for diseases associated with insulin resistance, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and atypical depression"

Effects Of Alcohol, Lipids And Insulin In Non-Diabetics - Doctor's Guide, 4/3/03 - "In men, increasing alcohol consumption was associated with decreased insulin levels as well as a decline in insulin resistance. However, these effects were not apparent among women ... In men, triglyceride levels and alcohol intake showed a J-shaped relationship. Moderate drinkers, who consumed between 10 and 29 g of alcohol daily, showed the lowest triglyceride levels"

Intermittent and On-Demand Very Low Calorie Diets Bring Significant Weight Loss - Doctor's Guide, 4/3/03 - "All patients started with 16 weeks on a very low calorie diet. Then, patients assigned to an intermittent group were scheduled to use a very low calorie diet for two weeks every third month, while patients in an on-demand group were told to use a very low calorie diet whenever their body weight passed an individualized cut-off level ... Completers in both groups maintained highly significant weight losses after two years. Patients in the intermittent group lost 7.0 [15.43 pounds] +/- 11.0 [24.25 pounds] kg. Patients in the on-demand group lost 9.1 [20.06 pounds] +/- 9.7 [21.38 pounds] kg"

Vitamin D Improves Calcium Intake - HealthScout News, 4/3/03 - "The Creighton University studies indicate that vitamin D supplements can increase calcium absorption by as much as 65 percent, even when a person's initial level of vitamin D is normal"

Red Clover Causes Prostate Cancer Cell Suicide - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 4/03 - "Compared with controls, men taking the red clover supplements showed six times more apoptosis (1.49 percent of cells compared with 0.25 percent) in areas of low- to moderate-level cancer. The longer they took the supplements, the more apoptosis resulted" - See iHerb (5% discount code "qc") or Rimostil or Trinovin at Vitacost.

The B's Are Anti-Alzheimer's - Delicious! Online, 4/03 - "Because B-vitamin supplementation—specifically with folic acid, B6, and B12—helps lower homocysteine levels by converting the amino acid into less-harmful substances, the B's could be crucial for Alzheimer's prevention. In fact, researchers in Stockholm, Sweden, tested this theory when they followed 370 people aged 75 and older for three years and discovered that subjects with low B12 or folic acid levels were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's"

The following two abstracts were in this week's Doctor's Guide newsletter.  The way I read the first one is a greater than 20% decrease in fasting glucose just by taking magnesium in those who were deficient.

Oral Magnesium Supplementation Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects: A randomized double-blind controlled trial - Diabetes Care 2003 Apr;26(4):1147-52 - "At the end of the study, subjects who received magnesium supplementation showed ... fasting glucose levels (8.0 +/- 2.4 vs. 10.3 +/- 2.1 mmol/l ... Oral supplementation with MgCl(2) solution restores serum magnesium levels, improving insulin sensitivity and metabolic control in type 2 diabetic patients with decreased serum magnesium levels" - See iHerb (5% discount code "qc") or Vitacost magnesium products.

Clinical manifestations of the mouth revealing Vitamin B12 deficiency before the onset of anemia - Ann Dermatol Venereol 2003 Feb;130(2):191-4 - "Vitamin B12 deficiency revealed by stomatodynia, glossitis and erosions in the mouth ... the majority of cases of Vitamin B12 deficiency reported in the literature were only discovered several months or years after their onset, or were treated for other causes. Vitamin B12 deficiency leads to severe neuropathies. The neurological damage is reversible when replacement therapy is initiated early. Since the oral signs appear before the modification in the systemic markers of deficiency, it is crucial that these signs be recognized and diagnosed before the occurrence of severe after effects" - See iHerb (5% discount code "qc") or Vitacost B12 products.

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