Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 2/18/04:

The Secret Killer - Time Magazine Cover Story, 2/23/04 - "Inflammation is the body's first defense against infection, but when it goes awry, it can lead to heart attacks, colon cancer, Alzheimer's and a host of other diseases ... exercise more, eat better and floss" - See my inflammation page for ways to reduce it.

'Anti-aging' hormone found to boost brain cell growth - Nutra USA, 2/18/04 - "Human neural stem cells, exposed in a lab dish to the steroid DHEA, exhibit a remarkable uptick in growth rates, suggesting that the hormone may play a role in helping the brain produce new cells" - See iHerb or Vitacost DHEA products.

Aspirin May Ward Off Some Cancers - WebMD, 2/17/04 - "regular aspirin use may prevent Hodgkin's disease ... The finding holds true only for aspirin and not for other drugs of its class such as ibuprofen ... aspirin is the key to preventing esophageal cancer" - See Drugstore.com aspirin products.

Statins Cut Deaths From Heart Failure - HealthDay, 2/17/04 - "Overall, patients taking statins had a 55 percent reduction in their death risk at one year compared to patients not taking statins. This was true regardless of cholesterol levels, age, gender, medications and other conditions such as diabetes"

Antioxidants Appear to Protect Against Diabetes - Yahoo, 2/16/04 - "people who ate diets that contained the most vitamin E were 30 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes"

Clogged Arteries Can Cause Mental Decline - HealthDay, 2/16/04 - "large vessels on either side of the neck, called carotid arteries, can become blocked over time as plaque builds up on the artery walls ... blockages in the carotid arteries are also associated with having trouble with thinking"

Drug Combo Cuts Death Risk for Heart Patients - HealthDay, 2/16/04 - "patients who took the combination of aspirin, a beta blocker, an ACE inhibitor and a statin had a 90 percent lower risk of dying in the six months after they were discharged from hospital than patients who took none of the four drugs"

Physical Fitness May Protect Aging Brain - Yahoo, 2/16/04 - "Older adults who had a high level of physical fitness performed better on the activity. What's more, people who were in better shape demonstrated much more activity in parts of the brain that are believed to be involved in attention"

Depression, The Mind Body Connection - Physician's Weekly, 2/16/04 - "We are just beginning to realize the high number of patients coming to doctors with physical complaints that, at least in part, stem from depression. Approximately 12% of the general population is depressed, and among those with physical illness that number increases dramatically to maybe more than 40%; an astronomical number of ill patients are depressed ... People who are depressed are likely to have norepinephrine abnormalities; the proper functioning of blood macrophages is dependent upon health norepinephrine"

Carotenoids Reduce HPV Symptoms - Physician's Weekly, 2/16/04 - "Patients who increased their intake of vitamin C and consumed carotenoid-rich papaya at least once per week had a lower risk of persistent HPV in the study" - See Nature's Way Protectamins.

The Fight Against Osteoporosis Should Start in Childhood - HealthDay, 2/15/04 - "The bone-thinning disease that strikes the elderly is largely preventable when children and especially adolescents get enough calcium -- 1,200 to 1,300 milligrams daily -- while their bodies are building bone density"

Growth Hormone May Be Fat Fighter - WebMD, 2/13/04 - "the dosage of growth hormone was increased to 400 µg per day in men and 600 µg in women ... those who used growth hormone lost an average of about 5 pounds and kept it off for up to nine months. Researchers say the weight loss was entirely caused by a loss of body fat ... growth hormone improved cholesterol profiles -- increasing the level of "good" HDL cholesterol by 19%" - Maybe my math is off but I calculate 500 micrograms to be 1.5 IU (0.5 mg/5mg = x /15 IU, x = .5 mg * 15 IU/5 mg, x = 1.5 IU) - Ben

Whole-Grain Foods May Lower Diabetes Risk - Yahoo, 2/13/04 - "In a study of more than 2,800 adults, higher consumption of whole-grain foods, particularly cereals, was associated with a lower risk of insulin resistance. The study also found that people who ate more fiber from cereals were less likely to develop the metabolic syndrome"

Antioxidants Cut Asthma Risk in Children - HealthDay, 2/13/04 - "Children with high levels of antioxidants such as beta carotene and vitamin C have lower rates of asthma ... Children with higher levels of a third antioxidant -- selenium, a mineral nutrient -- also had lower prevalence of asthma"

High C-Reactive Protein Levels Associated with Increased Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration - Doctor's Guide, 2/13/04 - "CRP levels were significantly higher among individuals with intermediate and advanced stages of AMD compared with controls"

Aspirin May Help Prevent Prostate Cancer - Yahoo, 2/12/04 - "The use of aspirin was associated with a 30 percent reduction in the risk of advanced prostate cancer and a 10 percent reduction in total prostate cancer risk" - See Drugstore.com aspirin products.

Vitamin D Appears Beneficial In Reducing The Risk For Rheumatoid Arthritis - Doctor's Guide, 2/12/04 - "Vitamin D has immunologic activity independent of its role in calcium regulation ... overall, greater intake of vitamin D was inversely associated with risk of RA (relative risk [RR] 0.67"

The Facts on Low-Carb Diets and Heart Disease - WebMD, 2/11/04 - "the lack of long-term data on low-carb diets severely limits their ability to evaluate their safety and effectiveness in promoting weight loss as well as reducing the risk of heart disease"

DASH Diet Improves Insulin Sensitivity as Well as Hypertension - Medscape, 2/6/04 - "Based on the results of this study, including the DASH dietary pattern as a basic part of a hypocaloric dietary plan can lead to significant improvements of up to 50% in insulin sensitivity"

Testosterone Magazine | Issue 226 | Cy-BORG - See Arimidex vs Femara about half way down the page.

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

Orange juice ingestion and supplemental vitamin C are equally effective at reducing plasma lipid peroxidation in healthy adult women - J Am Coll Nutr. 2003 Dec;22(6):519-23 - "These data indicate that the regular consumption of 8 fl. oz. orange juice or supplemental vitamin C ( approximately 70 mg/day) effectively reduced a marker of lipid peroxidation in plasma"

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