Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 11/3/04:

Olive Oil Cleared for Heart-Healthy Claim - WebMD, 11/1/04 - "eating about two tablespoons of olive oil a day may reduce the risk of heart disease"

Cholesterol Medication: Are High Doses Better? - WebMD, 11/1/04 - "The high-dose cholesterol medication group appeared to fare better. Their risk of heart disease events - including death, heart attack, and severe chest pain -- was reduced by 17% compared with people receiving usual-care treatment"

Red Wine Mist? Resveratrol Shows Potential Effects Against COPD, Asthma, Arthritis - Science Daily, 11/1/04 - "their research group had "looked at the over-the-counter" versions of resveratrol and found that "it's not very pure and probably wouldn't be worth taking." The major problem is bioavailability. The compound dissolves only in certain solvents, including alcohol"

More good news about the Mediterranean diet - MSNBC, 10/29/04 - "people who ate a mostly Mediterranean diet, exercised moderately, drank little to moderate amounts of alcohol, and didn’t smoke had 65 percent fewer deaths than those who followed none or only one of these healthy habits"

DASH Diet May Do More Than Lower Blood Pressure - Doctor's Guide, 10/29/04 - "the additional fruits, vegetables and whole grains that people consume while on the DASH--or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension--diet provide "an abundance" of food compounds such as lycopene, beta carotene and isoflavones, which are increasingly associated with disease reduction"

Further Evidence Reveals The Association Between Periodontal Disease And Coronary Artery Disease - Science Daily, 10/27/04 - "One reason is that periodontal pathogens could enter the bloodstream, invade the blood vessel walls and ultimately cause atherosclerosis ... Another hypothesis is based on several studies that have shown that periodontal infections can be correlated with increased plasma levels of inflammation such as fibrinogen (this creates blood clots), C-reactive protein, or several cytokines"

Rosuvastatin Provides Better Rates of Lipid Lowering Compared to Other Statins - Doctor's Guide, 10/27/04 - "switching to rosuvastatin from another statin agent helped more patients achieve primary treatment goals for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and secondary apolipoprotein (apo) B treatment goals in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients with high lipid levels"

Got Fruit? Bones Need More Than Milk - WebMD, 10/26/04 - "Most people eat a diet that generates acids ... This increase in acid levels is thought to reduce bone strength ... Eating foods that buffer the acidic foods builds strong bones ... Nutrients found in fruits and vegetables may be protective for bone health ... The teenage girls who ate a large amount of fruit had the strongest bones"

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

Low plasma vitamin E levels in major depression: diet or disease? - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004 Oct 27 - "plasma alpha-tocopherol was inversely related to depression score"

Vitamin B6 level is associated with symptoms of depression - Psychother Psychosom. 2004 Nov-Dec;73(6):340-3 - "A low plasma level of PLP was significantly associated with the depression score"

Dietary folate and the risk of depression in finnish middle-aged men. A prospective follow-up study - Psychother Psychosom. 2004 Nov-Dec;73(6):334-9 - "A low dietary intake of folate may be a risk factor for severe depression"

Glycemic index and dietary fiber and the risk of type 2 diabetes - Diabetes Care. 2004 Nov;27(11):2701-6 - "Reducing dietary GI while maintaining a high carbohydrate intake may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. One way to achieve this would be to substitute white bread with low-GI breads"

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