Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 7/21/04:

Vitamin K Might Prevent Liver Cancer - HealthDay, 7/21/04 [Abstract] - "vitamin K2 is cheap and safe to use ... the women receiving vitamin K supplementation were nearly 90 percent less likely to develop liver cancer" - See K2 at iHerb.  Related article:

• Vitamin K Therapy Slows Spread of Liver Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 5/29/02 - "Results show that 59 percent of patients treated with vitamin K-II were alive at two years compared to 29 percent of those who were not given vitamin K-II (p=0.14). Invasion of the cancer into the portal vein occurred in 2 percent of the vitamin K-II treated group at one year and in 13 percent at two years, compared to 21 and 55 percent of controls, respectively"

Body Aches May Signal Depression - WebMD, 7/20/04 - "often, physical ills occur for no apparent reason -- and depression could be a likely cause ... Yet unless they are specifically screened for depression, it's hard for some doctors to pick up that it may be depression, especially in the primary care setting"

Diabetes Pill Helps Early Alzheimer's Disease - WebMD, 7/20/04 - "diuretics, water pills that are used to treat high blood pressure, may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by as much as 75%; high levels of HDL "good" cholesterol cuts the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by 50% in women; and the diabetes pill Avandia may improve memory and thinking in people with early Alzheimer's disease"

Research Shows Aspirin Therapy Didn't Work in Almost Half of Stroke Patients Studied - Doctor's Guide, 7/20/04 - "nearly half of patients who suffered a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) after having been committed to aspirin therapy were "aspirin resistant," meaning the aspirin wasn't producing the antiplatelet (blood-thinning) effect needed to avoid these health threats"

Fish Containing N-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Risk of AF - Medscape, 7/19/04 - "Intake of fatty fish containing N-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), but fish sandwiches or fried fish are not protective"

Diet, Activity May Help Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 7/19/04 - "eating vegetables (especially broccoli or spinach), staying active mentally and socially, and keeping a trim waistline can all help prevent or delay Alzheimer's disease"

Plant food combo offers higher cancer protection - Nutra USA, 7/19/04 - "rats fed a combination of tomatoes and broccoli had markedly less prostate tumour growth than rats who ate diets containing either food alone"

Sexual Side Effects Not Common with Propecia - Yahoo, 7/19/04 [Medscape] - "in the current study no sexual side effects were observed" - See Propecia at OffshoreRx1.com.

Sexual Adverse Effects Uncommon With Finasteride - Medscape, 7/19/04 - [Yahoo] "Sexual adverse effects from the use of 1 mg of finasteride for the treatment of alopecia are not common" - See Propecia at OffshoreRx1.com.

No Clear-Cut Answers on Statins as Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 7/19/04 - "Alzheimer mice treated with simvastatin regain their ability to navigate mazes"

Pregnant? Omega-3 Essential for Baby's Brain - WebMD, 7/16/04 - "infants born to mothers with higher blood levels of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at delivery had advanced levels of attention spans well into their second year of life" - See iHerb or Vitacost DHA products.

Berries Good For Your Memory - Intelihealth, 7/16/04 - "rats that had blueberry matter added to their diet at age 15 months -- middle age in the rat world, and the time memory problems begin -- did much better on memory tests at 19 months (old age in rats) than same-age rats eating the same diet without blueberries"

Younger Women May Benefit From HRT - WebMD, 7/15/04 - "The study, however, was limited to older women who were years past the menopause. Now a review of smaller studies concludes that the benefits of HRT probably outweigh the risks for many younger women"

Does red wine hold the secret to long life? - MSNBC, 7/15/04 - "resveratrol acted on fruit flies and worms in the same way as a method known to extend the life of animals ... We found this chemical that can extend the life span of every organism we give it to"  - See iHerb or Vitacost resveratrol products.

Is the Low-Carb Craze Waning? - WebMD, 7/15/04 - "People have the perception that low-carb diets are not healthy ... Of all the most popular diet approaches, the one consumers seem to like best is Weight Watchers"

Right Diet Might Guard Against Endometriosis - HealthDay, 7/15/04 - "Among women who ate a diet rich in fresh fruit and green vegetables, the risk for endometriosis was reduced by 40 percent ... among women who ate a lot of beef, other red meat and ham, the risk of developing endometriosis increased 80 percent to 100 percent"

Study Shows Vitamins C And E Can Prevent Metabolic Damaage In Extreme Exercise - Science Daily, 7/15/04 - "ultramarathon runners who used supplements of vitamins C and E for six weeks prior to their races totally prevented the increase in lipid oxidation that is otherwise associated with extreme exercise"

Niacin in Diet May Prevent Alzheimer's - WebMD, 7/14/04 - "those who got the least niacin were 70% more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who got higher amounts ... Those at the study's highest niacin level were getting 45 mg per day in diet and supplements"

Fish Oil Supplements Safer Than Fish as Source of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid - NPI Center, 7/14/04 - "analyzed 18 random lots of store brand fish oil supplements made by Leiner for America's top retailers. These blinded tests detected no PCBs, dioxins or heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury or arsenic in any of the samples"

More cautious guides released on safe seafood consumption - HealthDay, 7/14/04 - "The new guides recommend children and women of childbearing age avoid fish that have the highest levels of mercury and PCBs"

Hormone Replacement Therapy in Early Menopause Could Have More Benefits Than Risks - Doctor's Guide, 7/14/04 - "When women begin HRT before age 60, their risk of death is 39 percent less than women not on hormones ... The beneficial effects of HRT in younger postmenopausal women appear to be due to HRT's ability to increase high-density lipoproteins ("good" fats) and reduce low-density lipoproteins ("bad" fats), glucose, weight, insulin levels, the incidence of new-onset diabetes and a handful of other risk factors for heart diseases"

Less sun, fad diets limit Vitamin D - Medline Plus, 7/13/04 - "The experts, convened by MedPanel Inc., a medical market intelligence company, estimated between 30 percent and 50 percent of the U.S. population is Vitamin-D deficient, which leads to problems with growth, bone and cognitive development in children and bone pain and fractures in adults" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin D products.  Vitamin D can be toxic in high doses.

Why do the Japanese live so long? - Guardian Unlimited, 6/10/04 - "People in Japan eat a third fewer calories than the typical North American. What they eat is also important: more seafood and, hence, healthy fish oils ... the Japanese are less sedentary than westerners, and Japan a less stressed society"

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

Role of Vitamin K2 in the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Women With Viral Cirrhosis of the Liver - JAMA. 2004 Jul 21;292(3):358-61 - "Hepatocellular carcinoma was detected in 2 of the 21 women given vitamin K2 and 9 of the 19 women in the control group ... the risk ratio for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients given vitamin K2 was 0.13" - See K2 at iHerb.

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