Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 10/26/05.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Melatonin to Fight Insomnia: Timing Is Key - WebMD, 10/25/05 - "melatonin was most effective in resetting the body's internal, or circadian, clock when it was timed to the individual's sleep patterns ... If you only want to induce sleep you can take it about two hours before you want to go to sleep"

Glutamine Independently Reduces Hospital Stay - Doctor's Guide, 10/25/05 - "The nutrient glutamine, which is often administered as part of nutritional supplementation, on its own can reduce the length of hospital stay and maintains lean body mass after elective surgery" - See iHerb l-glutamine products.

Testosterone Therapy Improves Sexual Function In Post-menopausal Women - Science Daily, 10/25/05 - "The addition of testosterone to hormone therapy in women after menopause enhances their sexual function. However, it may also reduce HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) in women"

Ginseng for Gesundheit? Latest Study on Colds - WebMD, 10/24/05 - "one in 10 people in the ginseng group reported having two or more colds that winter, compared with about 23% of those taking the placebo ... Colds lasted about 11 days for the ginseng group and 16.5 days for the placebo group"

Dietary Fat Intake Linked To Dry Eye Syndrome In Women - Science Daily, 10/24/05 - "a high intake of omega 3 fatty acids, often referred to as a 'good' fat, commonly found in fish and walnuts, is associated with a protective effect. Conversely, a higher ratio of omega 6, a fat found in many cooking and salad oils and animal meats, compared to omega 3 in the diet, may increase the risk of dry eye syndrome"

Bare-minimum diet: Is long life the payoff? - USA Today, 10/23/05 - "very low-calorie diet seems to shield these animals from type 2 diabetes, a common disease of old age ... The average blood pressure for people on the diet was 100/60 — about what is expected for an average 10-year-old ... mice on the diet, which provides food at near-starvation levels, appear cranky. "If you take the lid off the cage, they immediately bite you,""

Oral Estradiol Therapy May Worsen Insulin Resistance in Obese Menopausal Women with Metabolic Syndrome - Doctor's Guide, 10/21/05 - "After 12 weeks, there was significant worsening of insulin resistance in women taking oral estradiol ... The researchers observed no significant changes in markers of insulin resistance in women receiving transdermal estradiol, except for a decrease in glucose to insulin ratio from 7.13 to 5.77"

Flavonoids May Inhibit Prostate Cancer - Science Daily, 10/21/05 - "Our findings suggest that apigenin could be developed as a promising agent against prostate cancer" - [WebMD]

Can Staying Lean Keep You Mentally Sharp? - ABC News, 10/20/05 - "Obesity at midlife may increase the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease later in life ... while the mechanism is not entirely understood, the vascular problems associated with high blood pressure and cholesterol may affect the brain's ability to function"

Benefits of Fish Outweigh Mercury Risk - WebMD, 10/19/05 - "If you are not going to become pregnant, you should eat fish. Mercury is not an issue for you"

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Recommendations for Therapeutics and Prevention - Medscape, 10/19/05 - "Studies support low DHA as a risk factor for dementia. Low total n-3 fatty acids levels, EPA and DHA associate with greater risk of CVD, dietary intake and/or supplementation is supported as a secondary or tertiary prevention measure. Omega-3 fatty acids also help to prevent type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome, two common precursors to CVD. There is some support for schizophrenia, depressive or aggressive disorders; however, large multi-center clinical trials have yet to be conducted. The anti-inflammatory properties of n-3 fatty acids are helpful in decreasing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and may possibly increase remission length in Crohn's patients" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.

Yearly Prostate Cancer Tests May Save Lives - WebMD, 10/19/05 - "men who have yearly screening are three times less likely to die from prostate cancer than men who don't have the annual tests"

Preparing for the Bird Flu and Other Killer Viruses - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 10/19/05 - "The bottom line is that it is important to do everything you can to strengthen your immune system. Given the potential severity and life-threatening nature of the H5N1 virus, it is clearly important to seek proper medical attention if you begin to experience any flu like symptoms (fever, malaise, joint pain, running nose, sore throat, etc.) appear this year"

Is Trouble in Bed an Indication of Future Heart Disease? - ABC News, 10/12/05 - "We know that up to 90 percent of patients with ED have a vascular cause ... In men with erectile dysfunction, nitric oxide levels are low, so blood vessels cannot expand to allow the additional blood to reach the penis"

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

Relation between dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids and clinically diagnosed dry eye syndrome in women - American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 82, No. 4, 887-893, October 2005 - "These results suggest that a higher dietary intake of n–3 FAs is associated with a decreased incidence of DES in women"

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