Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 9/15/04:

Crossing Borders - US News, 9/20/04 - "But what about counterfeit or faulty products? It doesn't appear to be a real Canadian problem"

Social & Environmental Factors Play Important Role In How People Age, Two Studies Find - Science Daily, 9/14/04 - "those who scored high on positive affect were significantly less likely to become frail. Each unit increase in baseline positive affect score was associated with a three percent decreased risk of frailty"

Is Lower Really Better for Cholesterol? - WebMD, 9/14/04 - "The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) reduced target LDL levels from 100 mg/dL to 70 mg/dL for those at the very highest risk of heart disease ... high-dose Lipitor decreased CRP by 38%, while high-dose Zocor reduced CRP by just 17% in the current study"

Prolonged, Sustained Exercise Prevents Precursor To Heart Failure - Science Daily, 9/14/04 - "We found that the older, sedentary individuals' hearts were 50 percent stiffer than the Masters athletes, which we expected ... what we didn't expect was that the hearts of these senior athletes were indistinguishable from those of the healthy younger participants"

Stanford Researcher Declares 'PSA Era Is Over' In Predicting Prostate Cancer Risk - Science Daily, 9/13/04 - "the test now indicates nothing more than the size of the prostate gland"

Vitamin Supplements May Slow Middle-Age Weight Gain - HealthDay, 9/10/04 - "the people who had taken multivitamins, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and chromium had less weight gain over the previous 10 years than other respondents"

Growth Hormone Injections Increase Muscle Mass, Decrease Fat Mass in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Doctor's Guide, 9/10/04 - "lean body mass increased significantly in the two growth hormone groups compared with placebo and with baseline. The gains were noticeable as early as 1 month into treatment. At month 3, the 1-mg group increased by a mean of 1.3 kg, the 2-mg group increased by a mean of 0.9 kg, and the placebo group lost a mean of 0.1 kg"

Upping the Ante to Lower Cholesterol - HealthDay, 9/10/04 - "Cholesterol is a symptom of a hormonal imbalance, she explained, and once patients are given therapy to boost low hormone levels, cholesterol levels often improve"

Lifestyle Changes Could Cut Alzheimer's Cases - HealthDay, 9/9/04 - "he put 10 people on a lifestyle program that includes mental exercise, physical exercise, stress reduction, and a "healthy brain" diet, including such foods as fish that are rich in healthy fats ... In just two weeks, 75 percent of those on the program had a 20 to 30 percent improvement in memory scores"

Melatonin Decreases Migraine Frequency and Intensity - Medscape, 9/9/04 - "Of 32 patients who completed the study, 25 patients (78.1%) had at least a 50% reduction in headache frequency from baseline, eight patients (25%) had no headaches, and none of the patients had increased headaches after three months of therapy"

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Get New Health Claim - WebMD, 9/8/04 - "The FDA now says it will allow foods and supplements containing eiscosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) omega-3 fatty acids to carry a qualified health claim that says eating the product may reduce the risk of heart disease"

Do Bacon and Hot Dogs Trigger Diabetes? - WebMD, 9/8/04 - "Compared with women who eat less red meat, women who eat red meat frequently have almost a third higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Frequently eating bacon, hot dogs, and processed (deli-style) meats was associated with a 43% higher risk of type 2 diabetes"

Long-Term Use of Beta Carotene Beneficial - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/13/04 - "there was a highly significant improvement in cognitive scores—particularly in verbal memory—among the 2,029 men with long-term exposure to the supplements, compared with the 2,020 who had been taking placebo for nearly two decades"

Novel Fiber Limits Sugar Absorption - Life Extension Magazine, 9/04 - "With the introduction of a new highly viscous fiber blend trademarked under the name PGX™, it may now be possible to achieve the multiple documented benefits of fiber by swallowing only a few capsules before each meal. The longevity potential associated with reducing after-meal glucose and insulin blood levels, lowering total cholesterol and LDL, and losing some weight is enormous" - Related article:

• Solving Syndrome X - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 7/21/04 - "PGX lowers after meal blood sugar levels by approximately 20 to 40% and also lowers insulin secretion by approximately 40% producing a whole body insulin sensitivity index improvement of nearly 60%"  - See iHerb PGX products.

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

Effects of a diet rich in phytoestrogens on prostate-specific antigen and sex hormones in men diagnosed with prostate cancer - Urology. 2004 Sep;64(3):510-5 - "Statistically significant differences were detected between the HT [heat-treated] soy grits group and the control wheat group for the percentage of change in total PSA (-12.7% versus 40% ... The data from this study indicate that a daily diet containing four slices of a bread rich in HT soy grits favorably influences the PSA level and the free/total PSA ratio in patients with prostate cancer"

Cardiovascular therapies and risk for development of diabetes - J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004 Aug 4;44(3):509-12 - "Treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and calcium antagonists yielded a lower incidence of diabetes development than beta-blockers and diuretics"

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