Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 2/9/05

Gum Disease Seems to Clog Arteries - HealthDay, 2/7/05 - "participants with higher levels of oral bacteria also tended to have thicker, more narrowed carotid arteries. What's more, this association was only found with oral bacteria known to cause gum disease" - [Doctor's Guide]

DHEA May Help Midlife Depression - WebMD, 2/7/05 - "treatment with DHEA resulted in a 50% reduction in depression symptoms in half the participants ... Treatment with the supplement was associated with an increase in testosterone blood levels in both men and women ... Taking DHEA for 6 weeks also significantly improved sexual function scores"

Zinc-Induced Copper Deficiency: A Report of Three Cases - Medscape, 2/2/05 - "Excess zinc ingestion is among the causes of copper deficiency"

Problems In The Bedroom Can Indicate Heart Problems - Science Daily, 2/2/05 - "ED is now being considered an important barometer of a man's overall cardiovascular health and an early symptom of a more generalized vascular problem"

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

Dehydroepiandrosterone Monotherapy in Midlife-Onset Major and Minor Depression - Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2/05 - "Six weeks of DHEA administration was associated with a significant improvement in the 17-Item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale ratings"

Are omega-3 fatty acids the most important nutritional modulators of coronary heart disease risk? - Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2004 Nov;6(6):447-52 - "The strength of the n-3 story has now led to a proposal that blood levels of EPA plus DHA be considered a new, modifiable, and clinically relevant risk factor for death from CHD" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb - 15% discount code "qc") or Vitacost.

Major depressive disorder: probiotics may be an adjuvant therapy - Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(3):533-8 - "Stress, a significant factor in MDD [major depressive disorder], is known to alter GI microflora, lowering levels of lactobacilli and bifidobacterium. Research suggests that bacteria in the GI tract can communicate with the central nervous system, even in the absence of an immune response. Probiotics have the potential to lower systemic inflammatory cytokines, decrease oxidative stress, improve nutritional status, and correct SIBO. The effect of probiotics on systemic inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress may ultimately lead to increased brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It is our contention that probiotics may be an adjuvant to standard care in MDD"

Why we should offer routine vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy and childhood to prevent multiple sclerosis - Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(3):608-18 - "Prevention of MS by modifying an important environmental factor (sunlight exposure and vitamin D level) offers a practical and cost-effective way to reduce the burden of the disease in the future generations"

Neuropsychology of vitamin B12 deficiency in elderly dementia patients and control subjects - J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2005 Mar;18(1):33-38 - "cobalamin deficiency may cause a reversible dementia in elderly patients"

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