Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 12/1/04:

Blowing A Gasket - Time Magazine Cover Story, 12/6/04 - "Only about a third of all patients in treatment for high blood pressure have their numbers under control. Over the course of our lives, perhaps 90% us will develop a blood-pressure problem"

Osteo Drug May Prevent Breast Cancer - HealthDay, 11/30/04 - "That trial lasted four years and found that the incidence of breast cancer was 72 percent lower in women taking raloxifene than it was in women taking a placebo"

Elderly Better Off With Underactive Thyroid - HealthDay, 11/30/04 - "researchers followed 599 people from the time they were 85 years old until they were 89 ... the overactive cohort had a slightly worse mortality than normal people, although that had been shown before. Those with underactive hormones had even better survival, which was the new finding"

Chronic Stress Makes Cells Age Faster - WebMD, 11/29/04 - "In translating telomere length into years of aging, researchers determined the cells from the highly stressed mothers had aged from nine to 17 additional years compared with the cells from the low-stress mothers"

Milk link to ovarian cancer risk - BBC News, 11/29/04 - "Dairy products have previously been linked to cancers, including those of the breast and prostate ... women who consumed more than four servings of dairy products a day had twice the risk of serious ovarian cancer than women who had fewer than two"

Some blood pressure drugs may raise cholesterol levels - LA Times (free subscription), 11/29/04 - "Some blood pressure medications may have a negative effect on cholesterol levels. They include diuretics like hydrochlorothiazide and beta blockers such as atenolol (Tenormin) and metoprolol (Toprol-XL)"

EU: Strict Diet Can Help Fight Diseases - Intelihealth, 11/29/04 - "a healthy diet could lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease ... controlled amounts of specific types of fats could prevent this form of dementia, which affects 20 percent of octogenarians and 5 percent of people over 65 ... Bone health is linked to vitamin D"

U.N.: Particle Pollution Shortens Life - ABC News, 11/29/04 - "The burning of fossil fuels and wood is cutting life expectancy in some parts of Europe by up to two years"

Testosterone Deficiency Found In One-Third Of Diabetic Men - Science Daily, 11/29/04 - "The surprisingly high prevalence of low testosterone levels was associated with lower levels of pituitary hormones called gonadotrophins ... The high prevalence of low testosterone in diabetic men is concerning, said Dhindsa, because in addition to lowered libido and erectile dysfunction, the condition is associated with loss of muscle tone, increase in abdominal fat, loss of bone density, and can affect mood and cognition"

Alternative Medicine: Vitamin C - The Epoch Times, 11/28/04 - "Guinea pigs and primates are the only mammals known that do not manufacture vitamin C in their gut. Other mammals not only manufacture vitamin C (ascorbic acid), but do it on an as-needed basis. For daily maintenance they manufacture what would be equivalent to a 150-pound man taking 5 to 50 grams a day"

More Muscle Means Better Regulation Of Blood Pressure, Study Finds - Science Daily, 11/26/04 - "Fat, especially abdominal fat, secretes angiotensin which makes angiotensin II, a powerful vasoconstrictor that also directs the kidneys to absorb more sodium so blood vessels retain more fluid volume"

Seminal Solutions: Maintaining Male Fertility - ABC News, 11/24/04 - "Excess fat actually causes the male hormone, testosterone, to be converted into estrogen, and those estrogens decrease stimulation of the testicle" - Also see my aromatization page.

Healthy Carbs, Fats for Weight Loss - WebMD, 11/23/04 - "eating a so-called low-glycemic diet may overcome the body's natural tendency to slow metabolism when calories are restricted. A low-glycemic diet emphasizes healthy fats and carbohydrates"

Efficacy of Zinc Against the Common Cold Virus - Medscape (free subscription), 11/23/04 - "Clinical trial data support the value of zinc in reducing the duration and severity of symptoms of the common cold when administered within 24 hours of the onset of common cold symptoms"

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Different subject:  Web site will provide free credit reports - The San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/28/04 - "Creation of AnnualCreditReport.com was required by Congress in last year's Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. Among other provisions, the law ordered the three national credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – to design and operate a centralized resource where consumers can obtain a free copy of each of their bureau reports once every 12 months"

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

Effects of 4 weeks iron supplementation on haematological and immunological status in elite female soccer players - Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;13(4):353-358 - "These results suggest that 4 weeks of iron supplementation by elite female soccer players significantly increased body iron stores and inhibited decrease of haemoglobin concentration induced by soccer training"

Metformin or gliclazide, rather than glibenclamide, attenuate progression of carotid intima-media thickness in subjects with type 2 diabetes - Diabetologia. 2004 Nov 24 - "These data indicate that metformin or gliclazide, rather than glibenclamide, have a potent anti-atherogenic effect in type 2 diabetes"

Effects of a low-glycemic load diet on resting energy expenditure and heart disease risk factors during weight loss - JAMA. 2004 Nov 24;292(20):2482-90 - "Reduction in glycemic load may aid in the prevention or treatment of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus"

Vitamin D insufficiency and fracture risk - Endocrinology & Diabetes. 11(6):353-358, December 2004 - "There is a growing body of evidence for the alarming prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency among healthy adolescents, adults, and elders" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin D products.

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