Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 2/23/05

Wine Keeps Women's Hearts Beating Healthily - Science Daily, 2/22/05 - "HRV was highest in women who drank 5 or more grams of alcohol a day, equivalent to more than half a standard unit, and lowest in those who drank no alcohol at all"

Herbal blend found safe, effective on allergy symptoms - [Abstract] - Nutra USA, 2/21/05 - "92 percent of patients in double-blind, placebo-controlled trials treated with Aller-7 reported an improvement in symptoms ranging from more than 40 to 100 percent" - See Aller-7 at iHerb (15% discount code "qc")

Vitamin D May Cut Prostate Cancer Risk - CBS 2 Chicago, 2/17/05 - "men with higher levels vitamin D in their blood were half as likely to develop aggressive forms of the disease than those with lower amounts"

Columbia Study Suggests Brushing Your Teeth May Reduce Risk Of Stroke And Heart Attack - Science Daily, 2/17/05 - "people with gum disease are more likely to suffer from atherosclerosis – a narrowing of blood vessels that can lead to stroke or heart attack ... one possible explanation for the link is that the bacteria that cause the gum disease may migrate throughout the body via the bloodstream and stimulate the immune system, causing inflammation that results in the clogging of arteries"

Vitamin B12 Status of Patients Treated With Metformin - Medscape, 2/17/05 - "Patients exposed to long-term metformin therapy had 26.7% lower cobalamin, 21.6% lower holotranscobalamin and 9.7% higher HCy serum concentrations than control subjects. Such changes indicate a potential risk for development of vitamin B12 deficiency"

Which Drinks Damage Your Teeth the Most? - WebMD, 2/16/05 - "noncola soft drinks, energy/sports drinks, and commercial lemonade "showed the most aggressive dissolution effect on dental enamel,""

Zinc Deficiency Linked to Increased Risk of Less-Common Form of Esophageal Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 2/16/05 - "zinc deficiency in humans is associated with an increased risk of developing esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, an often-fatal form of esophageal cancer that has about 7,000 cases a year"

Sweetener in the Spotlight: Is Splenda Safe? - WebMD, 2/16/05 - "there are currently only a handful of studies that question Splenda's safety and more than 100 which attest to it's safe use ... it simply hasn't been around long enough to amass any long-term data -- or even short-term data involving heavy consumption"

Antidepressant Foods - Forbes.com, 2/10/05 - "The Omega-3 diet showed results after one month, and uridine was effective as long as the rats were fed enough of it. But when given both together, within ten days the rats who were eating the good foods behaved as well as those on medications ... Uridine fuels mitochondria, and paired with the lubricating effect of the Omega-3s, helps them make more energy more efficiently"

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

Effects of metformin on the body composition in subjects with risk factors for type 2 diabetes - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2005 Mar;7(2):189-92 - "In the metformin group, there was a decrease in fat weight from 25.9 +/- 9.4 to 20.8 +/- 9.2 kg, p < 0.01, an increase in lean weight from 57.05 +/- 13.6 to 61.9 +/- 16.5 kg, p < 0.01, an increase in basal metabolism from 1735 +/- 413 to 1878 +/- 505 calories/day, p < 0.05 and an increase in body water" - See metformin at IAS.  Note:  That's a 19.7% decrease in fat (25.9-20.8)/25.9 = 19.7%, a 8.5% increase in lean weight (61.9-57.05)/57.05 = 8.5% and a 8.2% increase in basal metabolism (1878-1735)/1735 = 8.2%. - Ben

N-3 fatty acids and pregnancy outcomes - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2005 Mar;8(2):161-166 - "Children whose mothers received docosahexaenoic acid supplementation during pregnancy and lactation scored better in mental processing tests carried out at 4 years than children whose mothers received placebo" - See iHerb docosahexaenoic products (15% discount code "qc")

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