Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/31/05.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Blood Flow to Brain Linked to Dementia - WebMD, 8/30/05 - "The average blood flow into the brain among the dementia group was 443 milliliters per minute, which was 108 milliliters per minute lower than older adults of the same age with good brain function. In comparison, average blood flow in the brain was 742 milliliters per minute among the healthy, young adults"

Protein + Exercise May Promote Weight Loss - WebMD, 8/29/05 - "obese women who exercised regularly and ate a reduced-calorie diet high in protein lost more fat and less muscle than those who ate a similar diet high in carbohydrates. Both diets contained the same number of total calories and percentage of calories from fat"

Statin Treatment Within First 24 Hours After Heart Attack Cut Mortality By Half - Doctor's Guide, 8/29/05 - "early treatment with a statin drug within 24 hours of having a heart attack reduced in-hospital mortality rates by over 50%"

Estrogen's Antioxidant Power May Play Key Role In Cerebral Blood Vessel Health - Science Daily, 8/29/05 - "In rats treated with doses of estrogen, however, vascular mitochondria produced energy more efficiently with lower amounts of damaging free radicals"

Fewer Wrinkles And Firmer Skin Linked To Earlier Use Of Estrogen Therapy - Science Daily, 8/26/05 - “We don’t believe hormone therapy will make wrinkles melt away once they’re already there, but the results of our study shows that hormone therapy can prevent them. Hormone therapy makes wrinkles less severe and keeps skin more elastic,”

Studies Link Bike Seats, Erectile Dysfunction - WebMD, 8/25/05 - "three new studies in The Journal of Sexual Medicine ... when erectile dysfunction is related to bicycling, it's linked to pressure on the perineum (the area between the anus and scrotum where nerves and arteries pass). The pressure, which comes from sitting on a bicycle seat with a nose extension, restricts blood flow to the penis"

'Modest' Arthritis Benefit Seen From MSM - WebMD, 8/24/05 - "Patients who got MSM reported 12% less pain and 14% more knee function than those who got the placebo" - See iHerb MSM products.

What about erectile dysfunction? - Dr. Murray Natural Facts, 8/24/05 - "by far the most common cause of impotence by far is atherosclerosis of the penile artery. Atherosclerosis refers to a process of hardening the artery walls due to a build up of plaque containing cholesterol, fatty material, and cellular debris"

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

Obesity, cigarette smoking, and telomere length in women - Lancet. 2005 Aug 20-26;366(9486):662-4 - "telomere length decreased steadily with age at a mean rate of 27 bp per year. Telomeres of obese women were 240 bp shorter than those of lean women (p=0.026). A dose-dependent relation with smoking was recorded (p=0.017), and each pack-year smoked was equivalent to an additional 5 bp of telomere length lost (18%) compared with the rate in the overall cohort"

• Oxidative stress shortens telomeres - Trends Biochem Sci. 2002 Jul;27(7):339-44 - "oxidative stress accelerates telomere loss, whereas antioxidants decelerate it"
• Stress Promotes Cell Aging - About.com - "The telomeres of the women suffering from severe stress (those caring for a chronically ill child) had undergone shortening equivalent to about 10 years of additional aging when compared with those of less-stressed women"

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