Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 1/11/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Alzheimer Patients Treated With Testosterone In UCLA-led Study Show Improved Quality Of Life - Science Daily, 1/10/06 - "Alzheimer patients treated with testosterone showed significant improvement on a quality-of-life instrument that encompasses memory, interpersonal relationships, physical health, energy, living situation and overall well-being compared with patients who received a placebo"

Fish Oil Reduces Airway Inflammation Caused by Exercise-Induced Asthma - Doctor's Guide, 1/10/06 - "the post-exercise lung function of participants -- adults with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma -- improved by about 64% and their use of emergency inhalers decreased by 31% when they consumed a diet supplemented with fish oil, rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), for three weeks"

Epidemiology of Vitamin D and Colorectal Cancer: Recent Findings - Medscape, 1/9/06 - "In vitro, animal and clinical studies strongly indicate that vitamin D may have anticancer benefits, including against progression (such as metastasis) in colorectal cancer and possibly other cancers. Thus improving vitamin D status could be potentially beneficial against either incidence or mortality, or both ... Current recommended intakes of vitamin D (for example, 400 IU/day) may be too low to provide maximal benefits, though the precise optimal dose remains unestablished"

Soy Diet Worsens Heart Disease In Mice, Says University Of Colorado At Boulder Study - Science Daily, 1/9/06 - "the health of mice carrying a genetic mutation for a disease that is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in people under 30 worsened considerably when the animals were fed a soy-based diet ... The research team hypothesized that heart deterioration in male mice was due at least in part to plant-based estrogens in the soy food diet that triggered a cascade of biochemical reactions and ultimately increased apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in the heart"

Vegetables help lower blood pressure - MSNBC, 1/9/06 - "the more vegetable protein the subjects said they consumed, the lower their blood pressure"

Vitamin D Deficiency Tied to Increased Cancer Risk - Medscape, 1/9/06 - "Correcting vitamin D deficiency could significantly lower the risk of several types of cancer ... The authors recommend supplementing the diet with 800 to 1000 IU vitamin D per day" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin D products.

Tomato Juice Might Protect Lungs - HealthDay, 1/9/06 - "Tomato juice prevented emphysema in mice exposed to cigarette smoke ... They attributed the protective effect to lycopene" - See iHerb or Vitacost lycopene products.

Doctors discourage use of cough medicine - MSNBC, 1/9/06 - "Over-the-counter cough syrups generally contain drugs in too low a dose to be effective, or contain combinations of drugs that have never been proven to treat coughs"

Study questions prostate cancer screening - MSNBC, 1/9/06 - "for some men, detecting prostate cancer early through screening can do more harm than good ... In addition, the PSA tests can yield ambiguous results. Most men who undergo a biopsy because they have elevated PSA levels do not have prostate cancer. And some men with low PSA levels do have cancer"

Biomarker For Age-related Macular Degeneration Found - Science Daily, 1/8/06 - "elevated homocysteine in the blood may be another biomarker for increased risk of AMD"

Treating Gum Disease May Reduce The Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease - Science Daily, 1/6/06 - "inflammation in the mouth has a measurable effect in the bloodstream, and therefore the rest of the body"

Vitamin D could help pregnant women - MSNBC, 1/6/06 - "children whose mothers lacked Vitamin D during pregnancy grow up to have weaker bones. A lack of Vitamin D is common in women of child-bearing age"

Exercise Prevents Arthritis Disability - WebMD, 1/6/06 - "Those who reported getting the recommended amount of physical activity -- at least 30 minutes per day, five days per week -- were least likely to become more disabled by arthritis during the study"

FDA Approves Once-a-Week Osteoporosis Hormone Therapy Patch Climara Pro (Estradiol/Levonorgestrel) - Doctor's Guide, 1/4/06 - "the FDA has approved the hormone therapy patch, Climara Pro® (estradiol/levonorgestrel transdermal system), for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis"

Exercise Helps Speed Wound Healing in Older Adults - Doctor's Guide, 1/4/06 - "a new study in older adults finds that regular exercise may speed up the wound-healing process by as much as 25%"

Coffee may fight breast cancer for some women - MSNBC, 1/4/06 - "The likelihood of developing breast cancer among BRCA mutation carriers who drank 1 to 3 cups of coffee daily, 4 to 5 cups, or 6 or more cups was reduced by 10 percent, 25 percent and 69 percent, respectively, compared to those who drank no coffee"

High-Carbohydrate Diet and Weight Gain in Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 1/4/06 - "In a clinical trial of over 48,000 post-menopausal women, a low-fat diet that includes increased consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains is not associated with weight gain over an average of 7.5 years"

I3C & DIM - Natural, Dual-Action Protection Against Deadly Cancers - Life Extension Magazine, 1/06 - "Mounting preclinical and clinical evidence indicate[s] that indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a key bio-active food component in cruciferous vegetables, has multiple anticarcinogenic and antitumorigenic properties" - See indole-3-carbinol at Amazon.com.

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

Do eicosapentaenoic acid supplements attenuate age-related increases in arterial stiffness in patients with dyslipidemia?: A preliminary study - Hypertens Res. 2005 Aug;28(8):651-5 - "this preliminary study suggested that eicosapentaenoic acid supplements attenuate age-related increases in arterial stiffness in patients with dyslipidemia" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Vitacost.

Mediterranean diet improves erectile function in subjects with the metabolic syndrome - Int J Impot Res. 2006 Jan 5 - "Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole grain, fruits, vegetables, legumes, walnut, and olive oil might be effective per se in reducing the prevalence of ED in men with the metabolic syndrome"

The efficacy of ginger for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting: a meta-analysis - Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Jan;194(1):95-9 - "Use of ginger is an effective means for reducing postoperative nausea and vomiting"

Immune-Enhancing Role of Vitamin C and Zinc and Effect on Clinical Conditions - Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 2006;50:85-94 - "These trials document that adequate intakes of vitamin C and zinc ameliorate symptoms and shorten the duration of respiratory tract infections including the common cold"

Flaxseed Oil Increases the Plasma Concentrations of Cardioprotective (n-3) Fatty Acids in Humans - J Nutr. 2006 Jan;136(1):83-7 - "This study demonstrates the efficacy of the conversion of ALA to EPA and DPA in a minority population with chronic disease"

Consumption of coffee, but not black tea, is associated with decreased risk of premenopausal breast cancer - J Nutr. 2006 Jan;136(1):166-71 - "Among premenopausal women, consumption of regular coffee was associated with linear declines in breast cancer risk (P for trend = 0.03); consumers of >/=4 cups/d experienced a 40% risk reduction"

Amino acids and muscle loss with aging - J Nutr. 2006 Jan;136(1):277S-80S - "Recent data suggest that excess leucine may be able to overcome this age-related resistance of muscle proteins to leucine. For this reason, long-term essential amino acid supplementation may be a useful tool for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia, particularly if excess leucine is provided in the supplement" - See L-leucine products at iHerb.

Carnitine Treatment Improved Quality-of-Life Measure in a Sample of Midwestern Hemodialysis Patients - JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2006 Jan-Feb;30(1):10-5 - "24 weeks of IV carnitine therapy, SF-36 scores were improved and erythropoietin doses were reduced in hemodialysis patients, relative to the control group"

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