Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/30/05

Calcium as Part of a Normal Protein Diet May Increase Fecal Fat and Energy Excretion - Medscape, 3/29/05 - "A short-term increase in dietary calcium intake, together with a normal protein intake, increased fecal fat and energy excretion by [approximately] 350 kJ/day ... This observation may contribute to explain why a high-calcium diet produces weight loss, and it suggests that an interaction with dietary protein level may be important"

Mountain Life Spells Longer Life - Science Daily, 3/29/05 - "as blood lipids and blood pressure were higher among the mountain residents, other 'protective' factors must be at play ... living at moderately high altitude produces long term physiological changes in the body to enable it to cope with lower levels of oxygen, and that this, combined with the exertion required to walk uphill regularly on rugged terrain, could give the heart a better work-out"

High Dietary Iron in Patients With Elevated Transferrin Saturation May Increase Cancer Risk - Medscape, 3/29/05 - "Among persons with increased transferrin saturation, a daily intake of dietary iron more than 18 mg is associated with an increased risk of cancer"

Organic Diet Makes Rats Healthier - Science Daily, 3/29/05 - "the organically-fed rats enjoyed several health benefits, in that they slept better, had stronger immune systems and were slimmer than rats fed conventional diets"

One Or Two Drinks A Day May Be Better For Women Than None - Science Daily, 3/29/05 - "women who never drink alcohol are in poorer health than those who have up to two drinks a day ... drinking three or more drinks a day tips the health scales the other way"

Raw Food Vegetarian Diet May Cause Low BMD Without Evidence of Increased Bone Turnover - Medscape, 3/28/05 - "People on a raw food (RF) vegetarian diet have low bone mineral density (BMD) but without evidence of increased bone turnover ... Although low bone mass is a risk factor for fracture, bone quality also plays a role. It is therefore possible that RF vegetarians with a low bone mass may not have an increased incidence of fractures because of good bone quality" - [WebMD] [MSNBC]

Government Recommends Eating Whole Grains - ABC News, 3/28/05 - "Three servings of whole grains each day will reduce your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes ... You need to look on the ingredient list to make sure you've got whole grains. The words "whole" or "whole grain" should come before the grain ingredient. And that should be the very first thing listed"

High Cholesterol Levels Accelerate Growth Of Prostate Cancer - Science Daily, 3/27/05 - "The researchers also present evidence that cholesterol-lowering ''statin'' drugs, now widely used in cardiovascular disease, may inhibit cancer growth ... Increased cholesterol levels didn't trigger new cancers in the mice, but six weeks after tumor cells were injected, the incidence of tumors was more than doubled in the mice on high-cholesterol diets, and the tumors were markedly larger in size"

'Mangia, Mangia!' -- Certain Foods Fight Depression - Science Daily, 3/35/05 - "confirmed the antidepressant-like effects of omega-3 fatty acids ... uridine, a compound found in sugar beets and molasses, has similar effects"

Homocysteine and cognitive function - Medscape, 3/25/05 - "Higher homocysteine levels were associated with worse function across a broad range of cognitive domains, and the magnitude of the associations was large. The data suggest that homocysteine may be a potentially important modifiable cause of cognitive dysfunction"

Treating Depression Keeps Elderly Strong - HealthDay, 3/25/05 - "This study is important for two reasons. First, it shows that even older adults with failing physical health can be successfully treated for depression. Second, it shows that treating the depression also helps slow the physical decline"

Once-a-month drug for osteoporosis approved - MSNBC, 3/25/05 - "Known as ibandronate sodium, the 150 milligram tablets are intended for both treatment and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The drug is expected to go on sale, by prescription, in April"

Vitamin D Can Help Most Dialysis Patients - HealthDay, 3/24/05 - "At the end of the two-year study, 76 percent of the patients receiving vitamin D injections were still alive, compared with 59 percent of patients who didn't receive vitamin D"

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

The beneficial effect of a diet with low glycaemic index on 24 h glucose profiles in healthy young people as assessed by continuous glucose monitoring - Br J Nutr. 2005 Feb;93(2):179-82 - "The present study provides important data on how a simple adjustment to the diet can improve glucose profiles that, if sustained in the long term, would be predicted from epidemiological studies to have a favourable influence on CVD"

Administration of B-group vitamins reduces circulating homocysteine in polycystic ovarian syndrome patients treated with metformin: a randomized trial - Hum Reprod. 2005 Mar 24 - "These findings suggest that B-group vitamins and folic acid administration counteract the Hcy-increasing effect seen with metformin therapy"

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