Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 6/15/05.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Novartis Receives EU Marketing Authorization for Diovan to Treat People With Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 6/13/05 - "This trial demonstrated that Diovan reduced combined mortality and morbidity by 13.2% in heart failure patients also taking standard therapy, including a striking 33% reduction in mortality in heart failure patients not taking ACE inhibitors" - Diovan (valsartan) is available at OffshoreRx1.com and SuperSaverMeds.com but check with your doctor first.

Obesity, Smoking Linked to Faster Aging - WebMD, 6/13/05 - "Telomeres are the tips of the chromosomes, which contain DNA. They gradually shorten over a lifetime ... The difference in telomere length between being lean and being obese corresponds to 8.8 years of aging ... Obesity and smoking are important risk factors for many age-related diseases. Both are states of heightened oxidative stress … and inflammation"

Vitamin D Supplementation Appears to Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Development in Women: Presented at ADA - Doctor's Guide, 6/13/05 - "When they compared the highest and lowest quintile cohorts of vitamin D intake from all sources, the researchers found the relative risk (RR) of type 2 diabetes was 0.72" - I read that as a 28% reduced risk.  See iHerb vitamin D products (7.5% discount code "qc")

Calcium, Vitamin D in Diet May Prevent PMS - WebMD, 6/13/05 - "Those who ate about four servings a day of low-fat dairy or yogurt or fortified orange juice had a 40% lower risk of PMS than those who did not. That is about 1,200 milligrams of calcium or 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D each day"

Lowering Resistance To Insulin May Delay Or Prevent Onset Of Type 2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 6/12/05 - "Type 2 diabetes may be significantly delayed or prevented through medication that takes the load off of the body's delicate insulin-producing cells ... our initial findings for diabetes prevention with troglitazone apply not only to this class of drugs-thiazolidinediones-but to the general mechanisms of reducing stress on beta cells by treating insulin resistance" - Note:  Actos and Avandia are in the thiazolidinedione class.  See the information on Avandia toward the end of last weeks newsletter.  Avandia is available at OffshoreRx1.com and SuperSaverMeds.com but check with your doctor first.

Vision Problems Occur During Pre-Diabetes - HealthDay, 6/12/05 - "changes in the eye may be starting earlier and at lower glucose levels than we previously thought"

Diabetics control glucose, lower cardiac risk - USATODAY.com, 6/12/05 - "Early, intensive treatment to keep blood sugar levels close to normal in people with diabetes can cut their risk of cardiovascular disease by about 50% and the risk of heart attack and stroke by 57%, much better results than those achieved by any cholesterol or blood pressure drug"

Pre-diabetes a Costly Condition for Patients - HealthDay, 6/11/05 - "In 2003, the cut-off point for pre-diabetes was lowered to 100 mg/dL from 110 mg/dL ... patients with normal blood glucose levels had annual costs of $3,799 versus $4,580 for those at the new cut-off point for pre-diabetes, and $4,960 for those at the old cut-off point"

Low Testosterone a Common Problem for Diabetic Men - HealthDay, 6/11/05 - "Men age 45 and older with diabetes may be more than twice as likely as non-diabetic men to have low testosterone levels ... Signs and symptoms of low testosterone include diminished interest in sex, erectile dysfunction, decreased bone mineral density, reduced muscle mass and strength, increased fat mass, and depressed mood and fatigue"

Oxidative Stress Linked to Arteriosclerosis in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape, 6/10/05 - "Ascorbic acid infusion increased large elastic artery compliance by 26% in postmenopausal women (p < 0.001) but had no effect in premenopausal women"

Vitamin B6 May Help Prevent Colorectal Cancer - Medscape, 6/10/05 - "those in the highest quintile had a 34% lower risk of colorectal cancer (multivariate rate ratio"

Growth Hormone Reduces Belly Fat and Improves Function in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape, 6/10/05 - "Twice-daily administration of high-dose recombinant human growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH) 1,44-amide stimulates growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) production, decreases abdominal visceral fat, and improves physical performance in postmenopausal women"

Soy Appears To Lower Cholesterol And Blood Sugar Levels, Aid Weight Loss - Science Daily, 6/10/05 - "The soy-based group lost slightly more weight in any given week, and displayed lower serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels. Soy intake also produced small but significant reductions in serum glucose values"

Curry Spice May Curb Breast Cancer's Spread - WebMD, 6/9/05 - "Less than a quarter of the mice in the curcumin-plus-Taxol group had cancer that spread to the lungs. So did half of the curcumin group. In comparison, cancer spread to the lungs in three-fourths of the Taxol group and almost all (95%) mice that got no treatment" - See iHerb curcumin/turmeric products (7.5% discount code "qc").

Large Study Shows Link Between Statin Use and Risk of Lymphoma: Presented at ICML - Doctor's Guide, 6/9/05 - "Use of statins is associated with a decrease in the risk of developing any type of lymphoma"

Byetta (Exenatide), Newly Approved First-in-Class Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes, Now Available in US - Doctor's Guide, 6/9/05 - "Byetta is the first in a new class of diabetes treatment called incretin mimetics. By mimicking the mechanisms of a naturally occurring human hormone, Byetta is a diabetes self regulating drug that stays in the blood system, working actively only when blood sugar levels are too high"

Testosterone Replacement Improves Exercise Capacity in Men With CHF - Medscape, 6/8/05 - "Exercise capacity improved significantly in patients who were taking testosterone, but deteriorated in those who were receiving placebo"

Testosterone Plus PDE Inhibitor Improves Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men - Medscape, 6/8/05 - "Healthy aging men may develop erectile dysfunction and they are usually put on an oral PDE-5 inhibitor and they usually respond for a short period of time, but after that there often is total failure with no response at all ... With this novel regimen, more than 90% of men reported significant improvement in erectile function and this improvement lasted for more than 2 years"

Growth Hormone Add-Back Has Cardiac Benefits in GH-Deficient Adults - Medscape, 6/8/05 - "In this study, low individually titrated dose GH normalized IGF-1 in our patients ... This was followed by markedly decreased levels of atherogenic lipoproteins and CRP as well as significant improvement in body composition with an increase in lean body mass and a decrease in body fat"

Omega-3 Offers Hope For New Anti-breast Cancer Drugs - Science Daily, 6/8/05 - "Compounds of Omega-3 fatty acids and propofol reduce the ability of breast cancer cells to develop into malignant tumours, inhibiting cancer cell migration by 50% and significantly reducing their metastatic activity ... Propofol is a potent anti-oxidant known to inhibit cancer cell migration by only 5-10%"

Weight Loss and Other Benefits of Conjugated Linoleic Acid - Life Extension Magazine, 6/05 - "Researchers concluded that a dose of 3.4 grams results in significant body-fat loss compared to placebo, but that greater amounts of CLA do not result in greater fat loss" - See iHerb CLA products.

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

Treatment for diabetic mononeuropathy with alpha-lipoic acid - Int J Clin Pract. 2005 Jun;59(6):645-50 - "alpha-lipoic acid appears to be an effective drug in the treatment for not only peripheral and autonomic diabetic neuropathy, but also diabetic mononeuropathy of the cranial nerves leading to full recovery of the patients" - See iHerb alpha-lipoic acid products (7.5% discount code "qc").

Vitamin B12, homocysteine and carotid plaque in the era of folic acid fortification of enriched cereal grain products - CMAJ. 2005 Jun 7;172(12):1569-73 - "Vitamin B12 deficiency is surprisingly common among patients with vascular disease, and, in the setting of folic acid fortification, low serum vitamin B12 levels are a major determinant of elevated homocysteine levels and increased carotid plaque area"

Chronic coffee consumption has a detrimental effect on aortic stiffness and wave reflections - Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jun;81(6):1307-12 - "Chronic coffee consumption exerts a detrimental effect on aortic stiffness and wave reflections, which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease"

Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cataract in women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jun;81(6):1417-1422 - "Compared with women in the lowest quintile of fruit and vegetable intake, women with higher intakes had modest 10-15% reduced risks of cataract"

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