Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/2/05

Vitamin E: Which Type Best for Prostate Cancer? - WebMD, 3/1/05 - "the men with the highest blood levels of alpha and gamma tocopherol had lower prostate cancer risk. Men with the highest levels of both forms of the vitamin were 30%-40% less likely to develop prostate cancer as those with the lowest levels"

Applications of Omega-3 Fatty Acids - Medscape, 3/1/05 - "Fish saves lives, and physicians must recognize this potential life-saving treatment choice in patients with cardiovascular disease. In addition, family physicians can safely offer patients an alternative therapeutic approach for difficult-to-treat conditions such as hypertriglyceridemia and rheumatoid arthritis. For those without cardiovascular disease, including young mothers and women, it is reasonable to recommend 650 to 1000 mg of low-risk fish oils per day through dietary approaches as suggested by the National Institutes of Health working group, AHA, and the FDA—easily achieved by 1 to 2 fatty fish meals per week"

Dialysis Patients: Longer Lives With Vitamin D? - WebMD, 3/1/05 - "vitamin D injections, given to patients with kidney failure, results in a significantly reduced risk of death compared to those who do not receive the treatment"

Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 Decrease Risk of Hip Fracture in Stroke Patients - Doctor's Guide, 3/1/05 - "Patients who took folic acid and vitamin B12 after their stroke had a reduced risk of hip fracture compared to patients who took placebo"

Chromium Supplementation May Not Improve Impaired Glucose Tolerance - Medscape, 3/1/05 - "We found no beneficial effect of chromium supplementation in the treatment of people with IGT despite increases in serum chromium levels, which suggested an adequate dosage regimen"

'Power Foods' For Your Health - CBS 2 Chicago, 3/1/05 - "the United Stated Department of Agriculture has put together a list of the 20 foods with the highest concentration of antioxidants ... Small red beans ... Wild blueberries ... Red Kidney beans ... Pinto beans ... Cultivated Blueberries ... Cranberries ... Artichokes ... Blackberries ... Prunes ... Raspberries ... Strawberries ... Red Delicious & Granny Smith apples ... Pecans ... Sweet cherries ... Black plums ... Russet potatoes ...Black beans ... Plums ... Gala apples ... Walnuts"

Preventing Heart Disease and Depression with High-Dose Folic Acid - Life Extension Magazine, 3/05 - "High-dose folic acid—up to 5000 mcg daily—is a scientifically substantiated and safe nutritional approach to achieving optimal health in men and women who want to prevent or reverse chronic illness. With demonstrated benefits in reducing cardiovascular risk factors, preventing and enhancing treatment outcomes in depression, and preventing cancer, folic acid is highly indicated as a therapeutic ally for men and women of all ages"

Green tea 'may protect the heart' - BBC News, 2/28/05 - "a major chemical component of green tea known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) can reduce cell death after a heart attack or stroke ... EGCG also appears to speed up the recovery of heart cells" - See iHerb (15% discount code "qc") or Vitacost green tea products.

Zinc Shortage Linked to Esophageal Cancer - Reuters, 2/28/05 - "People in the highest quartile of zinc levels were 79 percent less likely to develop esophageal cancer than those in the lowest quartile"

Diet, Exercise Top Drugs in Preventing Diabetes - HealthDay, 2/25/05 - "Diet and exercise delayed the onset of type 2 diabetes by about 11 years, while metformin delayed the onset by about three years" - See metformin at IAS.

Folic Acid May Prevent Hypertension in Addition to Reducing the Risk of Birth Defects - Doctor's Guide, 2/24/05 - "younger women who consumed at least 1,000 micrograms per day of total folic acid (dietary plus supplemental) had a 46 percent decreased risk of hypertension, compared with those who consumed less than 200 micrograms a day of total folic acid. Older women with high total folic acid intake also had an 18 percent reduced risk of hypertension"

Carotenoids May Protect Against Prostate Cancer - Medscape, 2/24/05 - "The risk of prostate cancer declined with increasing consumption of lycopene, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and other carotenoids. Consumption of foods including tomatoes, spinach and citrus fruits was also inversely associated with cancer risk"

Tea Might Protect Transplanted Livers - HealthDay, 2/23/05 - "Mice receiving the green tea derivative showed a 100 percent post-surgery survival rate, compared to a 65 percent survival for animals not receiving the compound"

Studies Examine Coffee Drinking And Risk Of Liver And Colorectal Cancers - Science Daily, 2/23/05 - "People who drank coffee on a daily or almost daily basis had about half the risk of HCC [hepatocellular carcinoma] compared with those who never drank coffee"

Green Tea Helps Reduce Red in Rosacea - WebMD, 2/23/05 - "Women treated with the green tea extract cream had a 70% improvement in rosacea compared with women treated with a placebo"

Green Tea Extract Shows Potential As An Anti-cancer Agent - Science Daily, 2/23/05 - "green tea extract interrupts a process that is crucial in allowing bladder cancer to become invasive and spread to other areas of the body" - See iHerb (15% discount code "qc") green tea extracts.

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

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