Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 1/4/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Less Sexual Desire After the Pill? - WebMD, 1/3/06 - "some birth control pills can lower a woman's free-testosterone level ... Those who had used oral contraceptives had four times higher SHBG levels than those who had never used this birth control method"

Passive Smoking Almost Doubles Risk Of Degenerative Eye Disease - Science Daily, 1/3/06 - "Passive smoking almost doubles the risk of the progressively degenerative eye disease, age related macular degeneration"

Don't Take L-Arginine for Heart Attack - WebMD, 1/3/06 - "All six deaths were among the 78 heart attack patients who added L-arginine to their normal medical treatment regimen. There were no deaths among the 75 heart attack patients who did not receive L-arginine"

Drinking Tea Associated With Lower Risk Of Ovarian Cancer - Science Daily, 1/3/06 - "We observed a 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer in women who drank two or more cups of tea per day compared with non-drinkers" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea products.  My favorite is Jarrow green tea at iHerb.

Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Training - Medscape, 1/3/06

Obesity linked to kidney failure - MSNBC, 1/2/06 - "Even moderately overweight people had a higher risk of kidney failure than people whose weight was in a normal, healthy range ... for the morbidly obese, the risk was more than 700 percent greater"

Theanine - Natural Support for Sleep, Mood, and Weight - Life Extension Magazine, 1/06 - "Preliminary studies show that blocking certain signals in the brain activated by glutamate may be as effective as prescription antidepressants.36,37 L-theanine may act as a glutamate antagonist.38 Researchers believe that glutamate receptor antagonists may offset the harmful effects of high glucocorticoid levels and offer neuroprotective effects against both acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases" - See iHerb or Vitacost theanine products.

Be tenacious about soaking up vitamin D - US News, 12/26/05 - "vitamin D deficiency appears to be fairly common. One study in Boston found that of 307 adolescents tested, 75 were vitamin D deficient ... a shortage could even play a role in cancer, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis"

Drugs aid some depression sufferers - MSNBC, 1/2/06 - "A third of people suffering serious depression recover with the first antidepressant they try ... Patients whose depression symptoms disappeared took higher than typical drug doses, and received close monitoring and frequent dose adjustments in the first three months — a level of care that few U.S. patients today receive" - I've often thought that the reason St. John's wort doesn't work with major depression was because the dose (900 mg) was too low but you need to check with a physician before increasing it as it can interfere with the absorption of other medications. - Ben

Revealed: the pill that prevents cancer - The Independent, 12/28/05 - "What it can do ... Heart disease ... Vitamin D works by lowering insulin resistance, which is one of the major factors leading to heart disease ...  Lung disease ... Cancers (breast, colon, ovary, prostate) ... Diabetes ... High blood pressure ... Schizophrenia ... Multiple sclerosis ... Rickets and osteoporosis" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin D products.

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

Prevalence of Vitamin K Deficiency in Children with Mild to Moderate Chronic Liver Disease - J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2006 Jan;42(1):71-76 - "Vitamin K deficiency was related to degree of cholestasis and severity of liver disease in children. Children without cholestasis did not exhibit vitamin K deficiency"

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