Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 2/11/04:

Recent Vintage, No Bouquet - Time Magazine, 2/16/04 - "Packed into each Longevinex capsule is an active ingredient roughly equivalent to between 5 and 15 glasses of red wine or unfermented grape juice. The key compound is an antioxidant called resveratrol, which has been shown to play a role in longevity — at least for one-cell organisms"

Red Clover Isoflavone Reduces Loss of Lumbar Spine Bone Density - Medscape, 2/11/04 - "After one year, women receiving the isoflavone supplement lost significantly less lumbar spine bone mineral content and bone mineral density than those receiving placebo"

5 a day force, new evidence - Nutra USA, 2/11/04 - "High intakes of vegetables, fruits and wholegrain foods reduces the risk of rectal cancer by 28 per cent, 27 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively ... High fiber diet – more that 34 grammes a day reduced risk of rectal cancer by a staggering 66 per cent"

Doctor Atkins was obese, had heart disease - USA Today, 2/10/04 - "Dr. Robert Atkins, whose popular diet stresses protein-rich meat and cheese over carbohydrates, weighed 258 pounds at his death and had a history of heart disease ... Before his death, he had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension"

Metabolic Syndrome Nearly Doubles Stroke Risk - Doctor's Guide, 2/9/04 - "Patients who suffer from the metabolic syndrome face nearly double the risk of developing stroke ... Organization define the metabolic syndrome as the simultaneous presence of at least 3 of 5 metabolic abnormalities: abdominal circumference of greater than 88.9 cm (35 in) for women and greater than 101.6 cm (40 in) for men; triglyceride levels of 150 mg/dL or greater; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels of less than 40 mg/dL for men or less than 50 mg/dL for women; blood pressure of 130/85 mm Hg or greater or use of antihypertensive medication; and fasting glucose of 110 to 126 mg/dL"

What's Really In Your St. John's Wort Tablets? - Intelihealth, 2/9/04 - "Actual amounts of hypericin ranged from 1.7 to 38.5 percent of the claimed amount" - Note:  It was the LI 160 extract (Kira brand) used in many of the studies on St. John's wort.  Related study:

• Comparison of German St. John's wort Products According to Hyperforin and Total Hypericin Content - Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association, Jul/Aug. 2001 - "The St. John's wort preparations studied exhibited large differences in hypericin and hyperforin content and are not interchangeable for the treatment of mild-to-moderate depression. Pharmacists should take this variability into account when counseling patients on the use of St. John's wort products"

Testosterone Patch Improved Postmenopausal Sexual Desire - Clinical Psychiatry News Online, 1/04 - "This is the first study to evaluate the efficacy of a testosterone patch used in combination with an estrogen patch, rather than oral estrogen, which is metabolized quite differently ... Women in the testosterone group experienced an average increase of 75% in their sexual desire scores over the course of the study"

Estrogen Users Fared Better Than Nonusers on Cognitive Testing - Clinical Psychiatry News Online, 1/04 - "Estrogen users performed significantly better on every test than did nonusers. After adjustment for possible confounders, the difference in performance scores between the estrogen users and nonusers had a mean effect size of 1.13. Effect size is the standardized difference between two means. An effect size of 0.2-0.3 is considered small, one of 0.3-0.7 is considered moderate, and one of 1.1 is considered large"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics:

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