Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/22/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Oily fish may fight prostate cancer spread - MSNBC, 3/21/06 - "Omega-6 fats, found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, increased the spread of tumor cells into bone marrow. This invasion was blocked by omega 3 fats -- the ones found in oily fish" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Vitacost.

Erectile Dysfunction and Statin Treatment - Medscape, 3/21/06 - "Simvastatin was found to cause impotency in five men with coronary artery disease, and within 1 week of discontinuing simvastatin, sexual function was restored. The Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Committee reported 42 cases of ED associated with simvastatin.[13] In contrast, in one study in men aged 49.7 years and isolated hypercholesterolaemia [low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-C 4.3 mmol/l] as a risk factor which used penile Doppler ultrasound in a per protocol analysis of 50% of the cohort of 18 patients (n = 9), atorvastatin therapy was associated with improvement in erectile function"

• Use Of Statins Shows Improvement In Erectile Performance Of Some Men Who Previously Did Not Respond Well To Viagra - Science Daily, 2/23/06 - "There did seem to be some improvement for those who received Lipitor versus the placebo ... We theorized that if you could make the edothelium healthier through the use of statins -- so that there is more nitric oxide available -- you would improve the endothelial dysfunction and Viagra would work better for the patient"
• Simvastatin and impotence - BMJ 1997;315:31 (5 July) - "Simvastatin may affect the central nervous system directly by passing through the blood-brain barrier or it may interact with other agents that might cause impotence"

Drug May Fight Women's Hair Loss, Too - WebMD, 3/20/06 - "Propecia, a drug used to treat male hair loss, may help fix women's hair loss when taken with birth control pills" -  See OffshoreRx1.com.

Hormone Offers Promise of Youth, Risks - ABC News, 3/19/06 - "In 2003, a placebo-controlled, randomized study of people 65 and older found that growth hormone increased lean body mass and decreased fat mass, but the study subjects experienced frequent side effects including diabetes and glucose intolerance ... Other studies have linked HGH to raised cholesterol levels, heightened blood pressure, joint problems, swelling and carpal tunnel syndrome"

Researchers Find Ginseng May Improve Breast Cancer Outcomes - Science Daily, 3/16/06 - "They also found significant improvements in both survival and quality of life measures in patients who used ginseng" - See iHerb or Vitacost American, Korean, and Siberian ginseng products.

Eleven patients die in Alzheimer's drug test - MSNBC, 3/16/06 - "Eleven patients have died while taking Alzheimer’s disease drug Aricept during a clinical trial ... There were no deaths among patients who were taking a placebo"

Prescribing Patterns Indicate Failure to Treat Hypertension and High Cholesterol at the Same Time - Doctor's Guide, 3/15/06 - "even though high blood pressure and high cholesterol are almost always linked, they are not being treated simultaneously"

Combination of Simvastatin/Ezetimibe Reduces C-Reactive Protein Better Than Simvastatin Alone - Doctor's Guide, 3/15/06 - "simvastatin was successful in lowering c-reactive protein values 14.3% from baseline ... the same combination that forms the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin -- reduced c-reactive protein levels 31%"

Spicy Spin on Treating Prostate Cancer - WebMD, 3/15/06 - "Capsaicin prompted cancer cells to die and curbed tumor growth ... Capsaicin was also linked to lower levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA)"

'Glycemic index' of little use to dieters - MSNBC, 3/15/06 - "In her team's study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, there was no association between high-GI eating habits and elevated blood sugar among 813 adults who were followed over 5 years" - I find it hard to believe she found 813 adults to follow the diet for 5 years. - Ben

Statin Withdrawal Hard on the Heart - WebMD, 3/14/06 - "people who discontinued taking the drugs experienced rapid rises in both C-reactive protein (CRP) and LDL cholesterol levels"

Lower HDL Cholesterol Increases Risk of Cardiovascular Event - Medscape, 3/14/06 - "Our study, in which half the population achieved LDL levels below 80 mg/dL, clearly shows that even if LDL is low, HDL is still important ... every 1 mg/dL increase in HDL cholesterol concentration was associated with an approximate 2% reduction in the relative risk of a major cardiovascular event ... There's diet, exercise, and, if the patient can tolerate it, niacin" - See iHerb or Vitacost niacin products.

Coenzyme Q10 for Migraine Prophylaxis - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/06 - "150 mg of coenzyme Q10 each day ... The study's primary outcome measure was the percentage of patients who achieved a greater than 50% reduction in the number of days with migraine. A total of 61.3% of patients met that outcome measure by 3 months, and 93.5% had at least a 25% reduction" - See iHerb or Vitacost coenzyme Q10 products.

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

omega-3 Fatty acids (fish oil) as an anti-inflammatory: an alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for discogenic pain - Surg Neurol. 2006 Apr;65(4):326-31 - "were asked to take a total of 1200 mg per day of omega-3 EFAs (eicosapentaenoic acid and decosahexaenoic acid) found in fish oil supplements ... Our results mirror other controlled studies that compared ibuprofen and omega-3 EFAs demonstrating equivalent effect in reducing arthritic pain. omega-3 EFA fish oil supplements appear to be a safer alternative to NSAIDs for treatment of nonsurgical neck or back pain in this selective group" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com or Vitacost.

Does folic acid and zinc sulphate intervention affect endocrine parameters and sperm characteristics in men? - Int J Androl. 2006 Apr;29(2):339-45 - "intervention treatment significantly increased sperm concentration in subfertile males"

Adjunctive use of AndroGel (testosterone gel) with sildenafil to treat erectile dysfunction in men with acquired androgen deficiency syndrome after failure using sildenafil alone - Urology. 2006 Mar;67(3):571-4 - "At week 16, almost all (22 of 24, 92%) of the men reported improved potency with combination therapy. Improvement in erection quality was also observed"

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