Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 1/25/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

White Blood Cell Count, Inflammation Linked to Cancer Deaths - Doctor's Guide, 1/24/06 - "those with a higher white blood cell count, a sign of inflammation, were more likely to die of cancer ... The study also suggests that aspirin may have a greater protective effect against cancer for those with high WBC"

Erectile Dysfunction Common, Linked with Severity of Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 1/24/06 - "Erectile dysfunction (ED) affects approximately one in five American men, appears to be associated with cardiovascular and other chronic diseases and may predict severity and a poor prognosis among those with heart disease"

FDA Joint Advisory Committee Recommends Approval of Orlistat 60 mg Capsules for Over-the-Counter Use - Doctor's Guide, 1/24/06 - "the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) joint Nonprescription Drugs and Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 11 to 3 to recommend approval of orlistat 60 mg capsules for over-the-counter (OTC) use in the United States"

Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load of Popular Diets - Medscape, 1/24/06 - "The impact of GI and GL on efforts to prevent and treat obesity remains to be determined"

Hormone therapy less risky for younger women - MSNBC, 1/23/06 - "Women who started taking the drugs as they began menopause — which typically starts in the mid-40s and lasts through the mid-50s — had a 30 percent lower risk of heart disease than women who did not take them" - [HealthDay]

Study casts doubt on soy's heart benefits - MSNBC, 1/23/06 - "casting doubt on the health claim that soy-based foods and supplements significantly lower cholesterol ... neither soy nor the soy component isoflavone reduced symptoms of menopause, such as “hot flashes,” and that isoflavones don’t help prevent breast, uterine or prostate cancer. Results were mixed on whether soy prevented postmenopausal bone loss"

Fish oils cool anger levels - Nutra USA, 1/23/06 - "The 13 patients who received the fish oil showed a clinically significant and progressive decrease in their POMS anger subscale scores"

Inflammation Markers Tied to Narrow, Blocked Arteries - Doctor's Guide, 1/23/06 - "Hardening of the arteries in the legs is strongly associated with biological markers of inflammation, which may be a warning sign of heart trouble" - Related article:

• Caloric Restriction Appears to Prevent Primary Aging in the Heart - Doctor's Guide, 1/12/06 - "Our hypothesis is that low-grade, chronic inflammation is mediating primary aging"

Stress at Work an Important Risk Factor for Development of Heart Disease and Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 1/20/06 - "Researchers examined the association between work stress and the metabolic syndrome ... men with chronic work stress were nearly twice as likely to develop the syndrome than those with no exposure to work stress"

Oily fish makes 'babies brainier' - BBC News, 1/20/06 - "mothers with the lowest intake of the essential fatty acid had children with a verbal IQ six points lower than the average ... Low intake of the crucial fatty acid also appeared to lead to more problems of social interactions - such as an inability to make friends" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Vitacost.

Heart-healthy Compound In Chocolate Identified - Science Daily, 1/20/06 - "epicatechin, one of a group of chemicals known as flavanols, was directly linked to improved circulation and other hallmarks of cardiovascular health"

Thyroid disorders can cause sex problems for men - Reuters, 1/19/06 - "Among the 14 men with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), 64 percent had low sexual desire, delayed ejaculation, or erectile dysfunction"

Vardenafil May Improve Both ED and Mild Depression - Medscape, 1/18/06 - "Originally, the researchers included patients with a HAM-D score between 13 and 23 ... The mean HAM-D scores in the vardenafil and placebo groups had fallen to 7.9 and 10.1 by the end of the trial, a significant difference favoring vardenafil"

Why Cocoa May Help Heart Health - WebMD, 1/18/06 - "cocoa's antioxidants -- called flavonoids -- coax the body into making more nitric oxide, which relaxes the blood vessels"

Strategies for Preventing Osteoporosis in Men - Life Extension Magazine, 1/06 - "For men, maintaining good bone health starts with regular doctor visits to screen for bone mineral density and prostate cancer. Other essentials are regular, weight-bearing exercise, healthy, moderate-protein diets, and supplements including vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, and isoflavones to help prevent bone mineral losses"

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

Protective effect of fish oil supplementation on exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in asthma - Chest. 2006 Jan;129(1):39-49 - "fish oil capsules containing 3.2 g of eicosapentaenoic acid and 2.0 g of docohexaenoic acid ... Our data suggest that fish oil supplementation may represent a potentially beneficial nonpharmacologic intervention for asthmatic subjects with EIB" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Vitacost.

Currently listed contraindications to the use of metformin - more harmful than beneficial? - Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2006 Jan 20;131(3):105-10 - "As the incidence of lactic acidosis in patients with type 2 diabetes is the same with or without metformin therapy (about 9 per 100000 patient years) there is no evidence that metformin therapy is associated with an increased risk of lactic acidosis ... The two groups did not differ with regard to progression of renal failure, patient-oriented endpoints or overall mortality ... On the basis of the current data, advanced age per se, mild renal impairment and stable heart failure can no longer be upheld as contraindications to the use of metformin" - Note:  Some including me take metformin for anti-aging.

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