Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 9/21/05.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Antioxidant in Green Tea May Fight Alzheimer's - WebMD, 9/20/05 - "high doses of the green tea ingredient -- known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) -- significantly reduced the formation of beta-amyloid proteins in the brains of mice that were altered to develop Alzheimer's disease" - See iHerb green tea products.

Smoking Plus Beta-Carotene May Up Cancer Odds - WebMD, 9/20/05 - "high beta-carotene intake (from foods or supplements) was linked to low levels of cancer in nonsmoking women and high levels of the same cancers in women who smoke"

Beer and liquor may boost colon cancer risk - MSNBC, 9/20/05 - "Beer and spirits drinkers face a higher risk of colorectal tumors, but wine drinkers may have a lower risk ... Red wine, “due to high levels of (the natural antioxidant) resveratrol,” he added, should be even more protective against colorectal tumors than white wine"

Plasma Triglyceride and the Risk for Vascular Disease - Medscape, 9/19/05 - "omega-3 fatty acid therapy, particularly when administered in moderate doses[42] on a scale matching natural fish consumption, significantly reduces plasma triglyceride"

High-vegetable Diet Linked To Protection Against Pancreatic Cancer - Science Daily, 9/19/05 - "fruits and vegetables -- particularly vegetables -- is associated with about a 50 percent reduction in the risk of developing pancreatic cancer"

High Blood Pressure: Nightly Aspirin May Help - WebMD, 9/15/05 - "After three months, these were the results: ... Aspirin at night: Significant drop in blood pressure ... Aspirin in the morning: Slightly higher blood pressure" - Related study:

• Night Time Aspirin Regimen Found to Reduce Blood Pressure - Doctor's Guide, 6/4/03 - "Researchers randomly assigned participants to 3 subgroups, which received a regimen of no aspirin, 100 mg aspirin after waking, or 100 mg aspirin before sleeping ... The subgroup following a regimen of evening aspirin administration showed a reduction in the 24 hour mean of 6.2 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure and 4.1 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure ... the effect was not evident for the subgroups receiving no aspirin or morning administration" - See aspirin at Amazon.com.

Low-Fat, Vegan Diet May Be Effective for Weight Loss - Medscape, 9/15/05 - "14-week trial reported in the September issue of the American Journal of Medicine ... Mean body weight decreased by 5.8 +/- 3.2 kg in the vegan group and by 3.8 +/- 2.8 kg in the control group" - Note: 5.8 kg is 12.8 pounds, 3.8 kg is 8.4 pounds.  12.8 - 8.4 = 4.4 pounds more weight loss in the vegan group after 14 weeks. [Abstract]

First Link Found Between Obesity, Inflammation and Vascular Disease - Doctor's Guide, 9/16/05 - "Researchers find human fat cells produce C-reactive protein ... aspirin and statin drugs, now commonly used to treat heart diseases, effectively damp down production of CRP from fat cells"

Compounds Found In Cruciferous Vegetables Block Lung Cancer Progression - Science Daily, 9/15/05 - "A family of compounds found in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and watercress, blocked lung cancer progression in both animal studies and in tests with human lung cancer cells"

Exercise Fights 'Hidden' Body Fat - WebMD, 9/14/05 - "Higher amounts of exercise cut deep belly fat and fat around the waist ... Deep belly fat (technically called "visceral fat" or fat surrounding organs within the abdomen) has been linked to health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors that greatly increase the chance of developing these diseases"

Excess Body Fat May Elevate Risk for Age-Related Eye Diseases - Doctor's Guide, 9/14/05 - "excess body fat may elevate one's risk for age-related eye diseases such as macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts ... if the body has too much adipose tissue, too much lutein and zeaxanthin remain there in storage and do not get to the eye where they are needed"

High Blood Sugar Levels a Risk Factor for Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 9/14/05 - "Lowering blood sugar levels could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in both diabetics and non-diabetics ... Non-diabetic persons with HbA1c levels of 6% or higher had almost a two-fold greater heart disease risk compared to persons with an HbA1c level below 4.6%"

Testosterone Replacement a Double-Edged Sword: Impact of supplementation is largely positive, but adverse effects found among men on highest doses - Clinical Psychiatry News, 8/05 - "Testosterone supplementation trims visceral fat, builds skeletal muscle, improves muscle strength, and promotes overall sexual function in healthy older men ... The adverse events included polycythemia, leg edema, and two cases of prostate cancer that may have been indolent prior to the patients' receiving high-dose testosterone ... Abdominal visceral fat, however, increased by 16.6% in the placebo group, and decreased by 6.8% in men taking testosterone—a significant difference between groups"

A note from a reader:

Dear Ben,

I am saying thank you for your wonderful newsletter by dragging your Amazon.com link onto my desktop. Since I buy many books over the course of a year this simple step allows all my Amazon purchases to be credited to your affiliate account. Perhaps if you post this thank you letter in your next newsletter it will encourage others to do the same.

Thanks Again,
Tom

Note:  You can drag any of the links, such as iHerb, Vitacost, etc. to your Windows Desktop and using those links would give me credit for the sale even if you use iHerb's discount codes. - Ben

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

The therapeutic impacts of tocotrienols in type 2 diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia - Atherosclerosis. 2005 Oct;182(2):367-74 - "tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF) ... After 60 days of TRF treatment, subjects showed an average decline of 23, 30, and 42% in serum total lipids, TC, and LDL-C, respectively ... daily intake of dietary TRF by type 2 diabetics will be useful in the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia and atherogenesis" - See iHerb tocotrienol products

Effects of vitamin C on intracoronary L-arginine dependent coronary vasodilatation in patients with stable angina - Heart. 2005 Oct;91(10):1319-23 - "L-arginine dependent coronary segment vasodilatation was augmented by the antioxidant vitamin C in patients with coronary artery disease. Thus, vitamin C may have beneficial effects on nitric oxide bioavailability induced by L-arginine"

Plasma homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folate levels in age-related macular degeneration - Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2005 Sep 15;:1-5 - "Patients with both exudative and dry types of AMD had significantly higher plasma homocysteine levels ... Plasma vitamin B12 levels were found to be significantly lower in the exudative AMD group"

Extending the Cardiovascular Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids - Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2005 Sep;7(5):375-380 - "The cardiovascular benefits of omega (n)-3 fatty acids (FA) become clearer with each passing year ... Studies in women with coronary heart disease now suggest that plaque progression may be slowed by increased intakes of oily fish, even in women with diabetes. The relative importance of the n-6 FA linoleic acid (LA), the short-chain n-3 FA alpha linolenic acid (ALA), and the long-chain n-3 FAs EPA and DHA is becoming clearer. If intakes of the latter are adequate (perhaps over 250 mg/d), then there appears to be little need to consume more ALA or less LA"

Homocysteine and folate as risk factors for dementia and Alzheimer disease - Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Sep;82(3):636-43 - "Elevated plasma tHcy concentrations and low serum folate concentrations are independent predictors of the development of dementia and AD"

Affiliates (I could sure use some sales.  Click here for more stores):