Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 6/16/04:

DHEA Supplementation Linked to Improved Quality of Life in Women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus - Doctor's Guide, 6/15/04 - "Their partners reported greater responses to the "gets more done" question compared to placebo ... DHEA replacement decreased high-density lipid (HDL) cholesterol, and it increased insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) and haematocrit"

Calcium More Protective Against Some Polyps - WebMD, 6/15/04 - "The calcium group had 18% fewer noncancerous polyps and 35% fewer advanced polyps ... compared with the placebo group ... her study suggests that total calcium intake over 1,200 mg daily is necessary for colon protection -- and that a high-fiber diet with modest levels of fat will boost the protective effects"

Inflammatory Enzymes Linked to Cancer - HealthDay, 6/15/04 - "COX-2 inhibitor drugs, such as the anti-arthritis drugs rofecoxib (Vioxx) and celecoxib (Celebrex), may help prevent the DNA damage caused by COX-2 enzymes"

Cholesterol Drugs May Fight Glaucoma - WebMD, 6/14/04 - "men who had used statins for two or more years were 40% less likely to develop glaucoma than the others ... Use of other, non-statin cholesterol-lowering drugs was also associated with a 41% lower incidence of glaucoma ... use of statins can also lower the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness among people over 65"

High-Fiber Cereal Cuts Excess Insulin Production - Yahoo, 6/14/04 - "dietary fiber might prevent so-called hyperinsulinemia -- and perhaps help ward off full-blown diabetes"

Fruit May Help Prevent Macular Degeneration - WebMD, 6/14/04 - "people who ate three or more servings per day of fruits had a 36% lower risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARM) compared those who ate less than one-and-a-half servings per day"

Selenium and Prostate Cancer - Physician's Weekly, 6/14/04 - "higher levels of selenium may slow prostate cancer tumor progression"

Enlarged Prostate Tied to Sexual Dysfunction - WebMD, 6/11/04 - "urinary tract problems caused by an enlarged prostate, such as getting up many times during the night to urinate, may be associated with erectile dysfunction and other problems relating to sex in older men ... because both of these conditions are common in aging man, it may be very difficult to see if a true association exists outside of an age-related one"

Exercise, fish oil help keep heart healthy - Medline Plus, 6/10/04 - "The triglyceride levels of participants who took the supplement before a fatty meal were reduced by 38 percent. Those who took the supplement and also participated in prolonged exercise reduced their triglyceride levels by 50 percent"

Is Low-Carb Eating Increasing Scurvy? - WebMD, 6/10/04 - "Because scurvy is rarely suspected, people with the symptoms -- fatigue, limping, bleeding gums, or swollen extremities -- may not be tested for vitamin C deficiency"

Vitamin C May Fight Rheumatoid Arthritis - WebMD, 6/9/04 - "people who ate the least amount of fruits and vegetables had double the risk of developing inflammatory arthritis ... People who got the least vitamin C in their diet had three times the risk of developing inflammatory arthritis than those who got the most"

Birth Control, HRT, and Sex Drive - WebMD, 6/9/04 - "adding natural progesterone moderately reduced estrogen's libido-stimulating effect, but adding MPA [medroxyprogesterone] completely eliminated it ... aggression levels increased when they were on the estrogen/MPA combination ... Oral delivery has more of an effect on libido than transdermal or transvaginal delivery"

FDA Approves Menostar (Estradiol Transdermal) for Osteoporosis Prevention - Doctor's Guide, 6/9/04 - "This patch delivers such a low dose of plant-derived estrogen ... After two years, Menostar increased lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) by three percent over baseline (p= <0.001) and 2.6 percent over placebo (p= <0.001). In addition, Menostar increased hip BMD by 0.84 percent over baseline (p= <0.001) and 1.6 percent over placebo"

Exercise More Critical Than Calcium For Adolescent Bones - Doctor's Guide, 6/9/04 - "Exercise is more influential than calcium intake in determining bone strength in young women ... attaining optimal bone mass and bone strength in adolescence may offer the best protection possible against osteoporosis - bone loss in post-menopausal women and the elderly"

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

Prevalence of vitamin d deficiency among healthy adolescents - Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004 Jun;158(6):531-7 - "Seventy-four patients (24.1%) were vitamin D deficient"

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