Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 12/22/04:

Aleve Linked to Heart Attack, Stroke - WebMD, 12/21/04 - "patients taking Aleve had 50% more heart attacks and strokes"

Fish oil supplements slow ageing of brain - Nutra USA, 12/21/04 - "People who eat oily fish or take fish oil supplements score 13 per cent higher in IQ tests and are less likely to show early signs of Alzheimer’s disease ... The brains of fish oil users seemed to be faster. There was a strong relationship between mental test scores and the omega-3 content in the blood"

Ritalin (Methylphenidate) Use in Childhood Linked to Depression in Adult rats - Doctor's Guide, 12/21/04 - "the rats that were exposed to the Ritalin exhibited measurable evidence of depression-like behaviors and dysfunctional reward systems compared to controls when they reached adult age"

Home Blood Pressure Monitors Are Valuable Tools - HealthDay, 12/20/04 - "Almost everyone has what we call the 'white-coat effect' when they go into a physician's office -- a response our brains have to being in a nervous situation," he said. "Home monitoring allows the measurement of blood pressure in an atmosphere that more closely measures daily activity." - See  Panasonic blood pressure monitor D at Amazon.com (D is drugstore.com).

American Heart Association Updates Recommendations for Blood Pressure Measurements - Medscape, 12/20/04 - "Cardiovascular risk begins to increase steadily as blood pressure rises from 115/75 mm Hg to higher values"

Experts Say Low-Carb Craze May Be Over - ABC News, 12/19/04 - "the percentage of American adults on any low-carb diet in 2004 peaked at 9.1 percent in February and dropped to 4.9 percent by early November"

Vitamin C May Be Cancer Fighter - HealthDay, 12/17/04 - "We knew that vitamin C is an antioxidant that can help neutralize free radicals. But the new discovery indicates it has a complex protective role against toxic compounds formed from oxidized lipids, preventing the genetic damage or inflammation they can cause"

Drinking Without Food May Set You Up For High Blood Pressure - Science Daily, 12/17/04 - "even light to moderate alcohol intake outside of meals puts drinkers at risk for hypertension"

Ward off cancer with a Japanese diet - MSNBC, 12/17/04 - "Cruciferous vegetables make a unique contribution to good health. They contain natural substances called glucosinolates that break down in the body to form indoles and other compounds that fight cancer development in several different ways"

St. John's Wort - Imatinib Drug Interactions - Medscape, 12/17/04 - "Coadministration of imatinib with St. John's wort may compromise imatinib's clinical efficacy"

Study Links Low Iron to ADHD - WebMD, 12/17/04 - "Low iron levels in the brain are known to alter the activity of dopamine, a chemical involved in controlling movement. The researchers suggest that this could explain the observed link between iron stores and ADHD"

Protective Effects of Oral Antioxidants on Skin and Eye Function - Medscape, 12/17/04 - "Carotenoids used as nutritional supplements seem to play an interesting photoprotective role for both skin and eyes"

Scientists Discover Recipe For Life: Eating The 'Polymeal' Cuts Heart Disease By 76% - Science Daily, 12/17/04 [Abstract] - "Results of dining on the Polymeal were most dramatic for men, who were projected to live on average 6.6 years longer in total than those not eating the meal ... The Polymeal includes wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruits and vegetables, almonds and garlic, eaten on a daily basis (but four times a week for fish). Scientists reviewed the medical literature on how much each ingredient cuts heart disease, blood pressure or cholesterol levels by varying amounts, (150ml wine daily for instance reduces heart disease by 32%) and worked out the combined effect of the ingredients"

Warning Added to ADHD Drug Strattera - WebMD, 12/17/04 - "If blood tests show evidence of liver damage, the drug should also be stopped"

FDA Approves Lunesta (Eszopiclone), Formerly Estorra, for Treatment of Insomnia - Doctor's Guide, 12/16/04 - "Unlike all other available prescription sleep aids, which are generally indicated for short-term use, eszopiclone has been studied and approved for use when longer-term treatment is needed"

Analysis finds fish oil supplements safe - USA Today, 12/15/04 - "of 41 fish oil supplements tested, none were contaminated with mercury or PCBs ... the oil is distilled to filter out contaminants. Also the fish used to make pills tend to be younger and smaller than the fish we eat, meaning they have had less time to accumulate toxins"

Green Tea Capsules Loaded With Antioxidants - WebMD, 12/15/04 - "Green and black tea polyphenols have been extensively studied as cancer chemopreventive agents ... Green tea supplements produced the highest levels of antioxidants in the blood compared with liquid black or green tea"

Green Tea Polyphenols Thwart Prostate Cancer Development At Multiple Levels - Science Daily, 12/15/04 - "The polyphenols present in green tea help prevent the spread of prostate cancer by targeting molecular pathways that shut down the proliferation and spread of tumor cells, as well as inhibiting the growth of tumor nurturing blood vessels" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.

Vitamin E in Food May Fight Cancer - WebMD, 12/15/04 - "Most supplements provide a different form of the vitamin, alpha-tocopherol ... Gamma-tocopherol aced its lab tests. It inhibited the spread of prostate and lung cancer cells without hurting the healthy cells ... Mixing several forms of vitamin E -- including gamma-tocopherol -- was even better at blocking cancer's spread"  - See Gamma E Tocopherol / Tocotrienols at iHerb.

Blood Test May Predict Heart Disease - WebMD, 12/15/04 - "Researchers at Harvard investigated the role of CRP in association with three other markers of inflammation and found that "the level of C-reactive protein is a significant marker of the risk of coronary heart disease," ... blood cholesterol levels were more strongly associated with an increased heart disease risk than CRP or other inflammatory markers"

If Bush Needs a Cholesterol Drug, Do You? - WebMD, 12/14/04 - "his total cholesterol level was listed as 170 mg/dL, which is considered within the normal range ... people with normal total cholesterol but low HDL "good" cholesterol levels (below 40) had a 37% reduction in heart attack risk over five years by taking a statin"

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

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