Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 10/12/05.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Aging Naturally - Time Magazine, 10/17/05 - Cover story.  Sounds like a good article but you have to pay for the article now.

Very Low Cholesterol Is Safe - WebMD, 10/11/05 - "Those who achieved LDL levels of 60 and less had decreased major events such as second heart attack or stroke"

Pulse Pressure May Be the Best Predictor of CV Mortality - Medscape, 10/11/05 - "Pulse pressure and diastolic and systolic BPs were the best predictors for CVD death followed by mean and mid BPs"

Exercise amount more important than intensity - MSNBC, 10/11/05 - "How much you exercise may be more important than how hard you exercise in terms of heart health"

More Aggressive Diabetes Treatment Needed - Doctor's Guide, 10/11/05 - "Primary care physicians treat about 90% of all patients with diabetes in the United States, but receive relatively little training in medical school on the subject ... Target fasting blood glucose levels should be 80 to 100 mg/dL and dinner glucose levels should be <140 mg/dL"

Erectile Dysfunction, Artery Problems Linked? - WebMD, 10/11/05 - "Erectile dysfunction often stems from blood vessel problems tied to atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries"

Obesity at Midlife Raises Dementia Risk Later - WebMD, 10/10/05 - "people who were obese at midlife were nearly 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia more than 20 years later than those who were normal weight ... high blood pressure and total cholesterol levels at midlife also doubled the risk of dementia in later life ... when a person had all three of these risk factors at midlife, the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease was six times higher"

Red Meat May Be Linked to Pancreatic Cancer - Medscape, 10/10/05 - "Compared with subjects in the lowest quintile of daily intake of processed meat (g/1,000 kcal), those in the highest quintile had a 68% increased risk"

Hypertension and Insulin Resistance in the Metabolic Syndrome - Medscape, 10/10/05 - "As observed in animal studies, insulin-sensitizing medications may play a potential role in the reduction of blood pressure. Metformin treatment of spontaneously hypertensive rats decreased blood pressure by 34 mmHg but had no effect on the blood pressure of normotensive rats.[9] Pioglitazone prevents hypertension in the Dahl salt-sensitive rats,[10] and rosiglitazone prevents development of hypertension in insulin-resistant rats"

Fish Fights Aging in the Brain - WebMD, 10/10/05 - "eating fish at least once a week slowed the rate of mental or cognitive decline in elderly people by 10%-13% per year ... Researchers attribute the protective effects of fish on the brain to omega-3 fatty acids" - See Twin EPA at iHerb.

Blood Pressure Drugs Prevent Headaches - WebMD, 10/10/05 - "We can't exactly shout from the rooftops that high blood pressure causes headache, although we think it probably does"

Phytochemicals May Protect Cartilage, Prevent Pain In Joints - Science Daily, 10/10/05 - "plant-derived compounds known for their ability to protect tissue also appear to block the activity of an enzyme that triggers inflammation in joints"

High Cholesterol May Raise Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 10/10/05 - "If further studies confirm these results, researchers say cholesterol management may be incorporated in to treatments for Alzheimer's disease"

Viewpoint: How Low Should Blood Pressure Go? - Medscape, 10/7/05 - "How low should the blood pressure go? A meta-analysis of 61 trials of blood pressure control demonstrated that mortality appeared to decrease proportionally with blood pressure, all the way down to a pressure of 115/75.[5] Future research might find even lower healthy thresholds for blood pressure. Until then, physicians should encourage patients to reduce their blood pressure to < 120/80"

Filling Up with the Right Breakfast Keeps Weight Down - ABC News, 10/6/05 - "Those who ate cereal at least three mornings a week had a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or lower, within the normal range for their weight and height. However, girls who never ate cereal had an average BMI of 27, a range considered overweight by experts ... The rate of being overweight was even higher for those who skipped breakfast"

Normal Blood Sugar May Belie Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 10/5/05 - "men with the highest normal-range blood sugar, even levels of 90 mg/dL, had a higher risk"

• Normal Fasting Plasma Glucose Levels and Type 2 Diabetes in Young Men - N Engl J Med. 2005 Oct 6;353(14):1454-62 - "A multivariate model, adjusted for age, family history of diabetes, body-mass index, physical-activity level, smoking status, and serum triglyceride levels, revealed a progressively increased risk of type 2 diabetes in men with fasting plasma glucose levels of 87 mg per deciliter (4.83 mmol per liter) or more, as compared with those whose levels were in the bottom quintile (less than 81 mg per deciliter"

Adding Niacin to Lovastatin Therapy Might Improve Efficacy for Dyslipidemia - Doctor's Guide, 10/5/05 - "Niacin has been shown to be one of the most effective drugs for improving levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or good cholesterol ... Combining the best LDL lowering and best HDL raising drugs makes sense" - See iHerb no flush niacin products.

Preserving and Restoring Brain Function - Life Extension Magazine, 10/05 - "Clinical trials using small groups of patients with cognitive decline demonstrated significant improvements with phosphatidylserine supplementation, especially among patients in the early stages"

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

The Relation Between Pulse Pressure and Cardiovascular Mortality in 12 763 Middle-aged Men From Various Parts of the World: A 25-Year Follow-up of the Seven Countries Study - Arch Intern Med, 10/10/05 - "The age-adjusted hazard ratio per 10–mm Hg increase in pulse pressure varied among cohorts from 1.19 in the United States (P = .04) to 1.29 in southern Europe ... pulse pressure measurements were also a significant predictor for coronary heart disease (hazard ratio per 10–mm Hg increase, 1.15; P = .04) as well as stroke death"

Lycopene--a natural antioxidant - Orv Hetil. 2005 Jul 31;146(31):1621-4 - "Lycopene is the most powerful antioxidant amongst carotenoids. Beside the antioxidant effect it influences the expression of various proteins (enzymes of biotransformation, cyclin D1, connexins). According to epidemiologic studies tomato lycopene may reduce the risk of prostate cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Positive effects are also hypothesized in case of other diseases such as osteoporosis, neurodegenerative diseases and hypertension" - See Lyco-Sorb at iHerb.  More on lycopene and hypertension:

• Tomatoes May Help Fight High Blood Pressure - Doctor's Guide, 5/20/01 - "patients were treated with a placebo for four weeks and then tomato extract (Lyc-O-Mato, LycoRed Natural Products Industries, Ltd.), for eight weeks ... Results showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure, from 144 mm Hg to 135 mm Hg, representing a mean 9 mm Hg reduction. Additionally, some favorable effects on diastolic blood pressure, blood lipids, lipoproteins, and oxidative stress markers were noted" - See Jarrow Lyco-Sorb, which contains the Lyco-O-Mato.

Fish Consumption and Cognitive Decline With Age in a Large Community Study - Arch Neurol. 2005;62 - "Compared with a decline rate in score of –0.100 SU/y among persons who consumed fish less than weekly, the rate was 10% slower (–0.090 SU/y) among persons who consumed 1 fish meal per week and 13% slower (–0.088 SU/y) among persons who consumed 2 or more fish meals per week"

Clinical aspects of coenzyme Q10: an update - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2005 Nov;8(6):641-6 - "A 4-year follow-up on 10 Friedreich's Ataxia patients treated with coenzyme Q10 and vitamin E showed a substantial improvement in cardiac and skeletal muscle bioenergetics and heart function" - See iHerb coenzyme Q10 products.

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