Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/3/05.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Omega-6 promotes prostate tumors - MedlinePlus, 8/2/05 - "omega-6 fatty acids are found in corn oil and most of the oils used in bakery goods ... Which means that if you're eating a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids, it's possible that you're turning on this cancer cascade, which has been shown to be a common denominator in the growth of prostate, colorectal, and some breast cancers"

Study Links Tobacco Smoke With Belly Fat - Intelihealth, 8/2/05 - "6 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds had metabolic syndrome ... 1 percent of those unexposed to smoke developed the syndrome, 5 percent of those exposed to secondhand smoke had the disorder and 9 percent of active smokers had it"

Research May Provide New Link Between Soft Drinks And Weight Gain - Science Daily, 8/2/05 - "Those consuming the fructose-sweetened water showed significant weight gain over the course of the study, with an average final weight of 48 grams—compared with averages below 44 grams for the other groups—and had about 90 percent more body fat than the mice that consumed water only"

Vitamin D low in nearly all elderly who break hip - Reuters, 8/1/05 - "97.8 percent of the patients had vitamin D levels below normal" - See iHerb vitamin D products.

Signs found 10 years in advance of Alzheimer's - USATODAY.com, 7/31/05 [Doctor's Guide] - "The first hints of impending Alzheimer's include not just forgetfulness but lags in attention and other subtle problems that can show up 10 years before an official diagnosis"

Dangers of Teeth Whitening Obsession - ABC News, 7/30/05 - "When people abuse teeth whitening products, the results aren't pretty ... The edges of your teeth will become bluish-translucent in color, and that is irreversible ... Your teeth can become very sensitive. You can harm the gum tissue and burn it away"

Broccoli Packs Powerful Punch To Bladder Cancer Cells - Science Daily, 7/29/05 - "men who ate two or more half-cup servings of broccoli per week had a 44 percent lower incidence of bladder cancer compared to men who ate less than one serving each week ... The plant's kin, which include cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and kale, may all contain similar disease-fighting phytochemicals"

Heart study strengthens interest in wholegrain products - Nutra USA, 7/28/05 - "Women with a history of heart disease who participated in a research study and reported having eaten six or more servings of per week had slower progression of atherosclerosis ... Insufficient milling breakthroughs had, until last year, prevented bakers from making a wholegrain bread with a similar taste and texture to white bread"

Dopamine May Play New Role in Depression - WebMD, 7/28/05 - "Current antidepression treatments are mostly based on the deficiency or imbalance of the brain chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine ... This new study highlights the importance of the dopamine system"

Fresh Grapes Enhance Heart Health for Women, Reduce Whole-Body Oxidative Stress - controlhypertension.org, 7/28/05 - "grape polyphenols significantly reduced blood triglyceride levels, LDL cholesterol levels, apoliproteins B and E, cholesterol ester transfer protein activity, and key markers for inflammation in the body. Additionally, the researchers observed a significant reduction in whole-body oxidative stress"

Clinical Management of the Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 7/27/05 - "TZDs not only improve glucose control but favorably affect both free fatty acid metabolism and insulin action. TZD therapy has been proposed as a treatment for the metabolic syndrome by some, and a number of reports at this year's ADA meeting provided support for such an approach to therapy"

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

Antihypertensive, cardiovascular, and pleiotropic effects of angiotensin-receptor blockers - Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 2005 Sep;14(5):435-41 - "it has been shown that treatment with ARBs prevents the development of type 2 diabetes ... ARBs are first-line agents for the treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Blocking the renin-angiotensin system with these agents has special advantages due to specific vascular and antiatherosclerotic effects, which contribute to a better cardiovascular and renal protection in patients at risk from or with cardiovascular disease"

Effect of a dietary supplement containing probiotic bacteria plus vitamins and minerals on common cold infections and cellular immune parameters - Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2005 Jul;43(7):318-26 - "These data indicate that the intake of a dietary supplement containing probiotic bacteria plus vitamins and minerals during a period of at least three months in winter/spring may reduce the incidence and the severity of symptoms in common cold infections in otherwise healthy adults. This may be due to stimulated cellular immunity"

Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate concentration and carotid atherosclerosis in men with type 2 diabetes - Atherosclerosis. 2005 Aug;181(2):339-44 - "evaluated intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque score (PS) ... Negative correlations were found between DHEA-S concentration and IMT (r=-0.298, P<0.0001) and between DHEA-S concentration and PS (r=-0.308, P<0.0001). IMT and PS were significantly greater in patients with lower concentrations of DHEA-S (<1000ng/ml) than in patients with higher concentrations of DHEA-S"

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