Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/31/04:

Chondroitin Sulfate Decreases Pain and Improves Knee Function in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis - Doctor's Guide, 3/31/04 - "Oral chondroitin sulfate (CS) appears to decrease pain and improve knee function in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), say researchers. In addition, CS may inhibit medial femoro-tibial joint space narrowing, suggesting that the treatment has structure-modifying properties" - See iHerb or Vitacost chondroitin products.  Related article:

• Use of Glucosamine Sulphate for Osteoarthritis Appears to Have Disease-Modifying Effect in Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 3/24/04 - "After 3 years, postmenopausal participants in the glucosamine sulphate group showed no joint space narrowing (joint space change of +0.003 mm), whereas participants in the placebo group experienced a narrowing of -0.33 mm" - See iHerb or Vitacost glucosamine products.

Higher Serum Vitamin E Levels Linked to Lower Prostate Cancer Risk - Doctor's Guide, 3/30/04 - "Compared with men in the lowest tertile of alpha-tocopherol levels, men in the highest tertile were 53% less likely to develop prostate cancer (P = .05). Men in the highest tertile of gamma-tocopherol were 39% less likely to develop the cancer than those in the lowest tertile" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin E products.

Soy: Prevent Prostate Cancer, Male Baldness? - WebMD, 3/30/04 - "A little-known molecule called equol ... is showing promise as a powerful blocker of a potent male hormone involved in prostate cancer, male baldness, even acne ... Actually, the protective effects occur when two chemicals in soy protein -- genistin and daidzin -- reach the digestive system, Setchell explains. There, they are metabolized to form genistein and daidzein. Daidzein is metabolized once again, to form equol" - See iHerb or Vitacost isoflavone products.

Vitamin E Said To Cut Bladder Cancer Risk - Intelihealth, 3/29/04 - "Those whose vitamin E intake was in the top 25 percent had just half as much bladder cancer as those in the lowest quarter"

Heme Iron and Zinc Have Opposite Effects on Colon Cancer Risk - Doctor's Guide, 3/29/04 - "heme iron appears to raise the risk of proximal colon cancer while dietary zinc appears to lower the risk of both proximal and distal colon cancer"

Walnuts a Smart Choice for Heart - HealthDay, 3/26/04 - "First, the walnut-laced diet increased the elasticity of arteries by 64 percent. Second, it reduced the level of molecules that can gum up blood vessels by 20 percent. It also decreased total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels"

Few Treated for Osteoporosis; Many at Risk - WebMD, 3/26/04 - "Researchers say recent advances in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis not only slow the bone-thinning disease, but they can also help rebuild your bones ... The problem is, only a fraction of those at risk for the disease are ever screened for osteoporosis"

The Lipid Wars - US News, 3/22/04 - "Hunninghake thinks the LDL target could be as low as 70, rather than today's standard of 100 ... the LDL level in umbilical cord blood is about 35, "so maybe that's the natural level." ... I've had patients with LDLs of 20, and they had no problem"

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

The specific role of isoflavones in reducing prostate cancer risk - Prostate. 2004 May 1;59(2):141-7 - "These data suggest that supplementing early stage prostate cancer patients with soy isoflavones, even in a study of short duration, altered surrogate markers of proliferation such as serum PSA and free testosterone in a larger number of subjects in the isoflavone supplemented group than the group receiving placebo"

The effect of grape-seed extract on 24 h energy intake in humans - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004 Apr;58(4):667-73 - "These findings suggest that grape seed could be effective in reducing 24 h EI [energy intake] in normal to overweight dietary unrestrained subjects, and could, therefore, play a significant role in body-weight management" - See iHerb or Vitacost grape seed extracts.

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