Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 4/12/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Vitamin K deficiency linked to osteoarthritis - Reuters, 4/11/06 - "The primary form of vitamin K in the diet is "phylloquinone," ... patients with the lowest phylloquinone plasma levels were also the ones whose x-rays most often revealed the presence of large osteophytes, or "bone spurs" -- small outgrowths of the bone common in arthritis"

Fiber from whole grains may lower diabetes risk - Reuters, 4/11/06 - "After a few days on the fiber-rich bread, the women's measures of insulin sensitivity improved ... since most people fall far short of the recommended fiber intake -- 20 to 35 grams per day -- fiber supplements might be a reasonable "second choice,""

Estrogen HRT: No Breast Cancer Risk - WebMD, 4/11/06 - "After hysterectomy, estrogen-only hormone therapy does not increase a woman's risk of breast cancer"

Vitamin D May Prevent Cancer Risk - Medscape, 4/10/06 - "For each 25-nmol/L increase in predicted level of 25(OH)D, the risk for cancer decreased by 17%. Higher 25(OH)D levels were associated with a significantly decreased risk for colorectal cancer (RR, 0.63), pancreatic cancer (RR, 0.49), esophageal cancer (RR, 0.37), oral and pharyngeal cancer (RR, 0.30), and leukemia (RR, 0.44). There were no significant relationships between other types of cancer and 25(OH)D levels" - See Vitacost or iHerb vitamin D products.

Vitamin D Reduces Breast Cancer Risk in Case-Control Study - Doctor's Guide, 4/10/06 - "Women who took cod liver oil for 10 years or more had a 34% reduced risk, relative to those who did not"

Beyond Women's Health Initiative: When and How to Treat Menopausal Symptoms with Hormone Replacement Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 4/10/06 - "Treat moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes -- night sweats associated with menopause -- with low dose, short-term [HRT], but this comes with risk ... Treat vulvar and vaginal atrophy as well but treat instead with topical estrogens because of lower level of estrogens delivered"

Sustained Blood Pressure Treatment Lowers Dementia Risk In Elderly - Science Daily, 4/10/06 - "each year of treatment reduced the risk of developing dementia during the follow-up period by about 3 percent. Compared with men who were never treated for hypertension, the risk of developing dementia during the follow-up period was: ... 60 percent lower in those treated more than 12 years -- similar to the risk in a control group of 446 men with normal blood pressure"

Vitamins plus ibuprofen may ward off Alzheimer's - Reuters, 4/7/06 - "for people at low risk, taking vitamin C and E alone is sufficient to further reduce their risk ... But for those with (APOE-4), the combination exerts a synergistic benefit"

Food Antioxidants, Vitamin D Fight Breast Cancer - HealthDay, 4/7/06 - "postmenopausal women who consumed high levels of flavonoids, a class of antioxidants found in plants, had a 45 percent lower risk of breast cancer ... Those who had the highest levels of intake of kaempferol had a 38 percent decrease in the incidence of ovarian cancer compared to women with the lowest levels of this flavonoid ... those with the highest blood levels of a vitamin D metabolite known as 25-hydroxyvitamin D had a 50 percent reduced risk of breast cancer"

How much daily fiber do we need? - MSNBC, 4/7/06 - "The current recommended amounts of dietary fiber call for 21 to 25 grams per day for adult women and 30 to 38 grams per day for men"

Vitamin D And Flavonoids Examined For Impact On Breast And Ovarian Cancers - Science Daily, 4/7/06 - "Vitamin D in blood serum equal to 52 nanograms per milliliter was associated with a 50 percent reduced risk of breast cancer. To move closer to a serum concentration of 52 nanograms/milliliter, a typical individual would have to consume no less than 1,000 International Units (IU) of Vitamin D every day, through supplements or vitamin D-fortified foods"

Fish Oil May Help Ease Back Pain - WebMD, 4/6/06 - "88% of patients said they would keep taking fish oil supplements"

Vitamin C could lower body fat levels - Nutra USA, 4/6/06 - "As vitamin C blood concentrations fell, so did the participants' ability to oxidize fat (an 11 per cent reduction)"

Tea May Fight Ovarian, Breast Cancers - WebMD, 4/5/06 - "women who increase their consumption of kaempferol, a type of flavonoid, can lower their risk of ovarian cancer by nearly 40% ... women who consume a diet rich in other types of flavonoids - specifically, flavones, flavan-3-ols, and lignans -- can reduce their chance of developing breast cancer by 26% to 39%"

Ginger an Ovarian Cancer Killer - HealthDay, 4/5/06 - "ginger helps control inflammation, which contributes to the development of ovarian cancer cells. By halting inflammation, ginger may stop cancer cells from growing"

Crunchy Veggies Fight Cancer - WebMD, 4/5/06 - "focused on a substance found in cruciferous vegetables called phenethyl-ITC, or PEITC ... After 31 days of treatment, the size of the tumors in the treated animals was about half that of the untreated animals"

Hormone Replacement Therapy May Prevent Heart Attacks in Women Under 60, Analysis of 23 Studies Concludes - Doctor's Guide, 4/4/06 - "HRT can reduce heart attacks by about one-third in women under age 60 but has mixed results for older women"

Insulin Sensitizers Cut Cognitive Decline in AD - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/06 - "There is a critical relationship between insulin resistance and key aspects of brain function ... patients taking rosiglitazone performed significantly better than those taking placebo on a delayed memory task (the Buschke Selective Reminding Test)" - See OffshoreRx1.com.

Use of Potassium-Sparing Diuretics Cuts AD Risks - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/06 - "The risk of developing AD was significantly smaller in those who took antihypertensive medications than in those who did not (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.64). When the results were broken down by drug class, diuretics showed the greatest protective effect against AD"

What Makes Gamma Tocopherol Superior to Alpha Tocopherol - Life Extension Magazine, 4/06 - "vitamin E supplements should contain a ratio of alpha tocopherol to gamma tocopherol that is closer to what is found in nature ... For optimal supplementation, it would appear logical to consume at least 200 mg of gamma tocopherol each day, in addition to around 400 IU of alpha tocopherol" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family) at iHerb.

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

Oral vitamin B12 versus intramuscular vitamin B12 for vitamin B12 deficiency: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials - Fam Pract. 2006 Apr 3 - "The evidence derived from these limited studies suggests that 2000 microg doses of oral vitamin B12 daily and 1000 microg doses initially daily and thereafter weekly and then monthly may be as effective as intramuscular administration in obtaining short-term haematological and neurological responses in vitamin B12-deficient patients"

Vitamin K treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis in Indonesia - J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2006 Apr;32(2):230-4 - "After 48 weeks of treatment, the mean percentage change of lumbar BMD in the vitamin K(2) group was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the control group"

Effect of 6-month calorie restriction on biomarkers of longevity, metabolic adaptation, and oxidative stress in overweight individuals: a randomized controlled trial - JAMA. 2006 Apr 5;295(13):1539-48 - "At 6 months, fasting insulin levels were significantly reduced from baseline in the intervention groups"

Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment - Med Hypotheses. 2006 Mar 14 - "Case histories are presented showing rapid recovery (less than 7 days) from major depression using 125-300mg of magnesium (as glycinate and taurinate) with each meal and at bedtime. Magnesium was found usually effective for treatment of depression in general use"

Effects of pistachio nuts consumption on plasma lipid profile and oxidative status in healthy volunteers - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2006 Apr;16(3):202-9 - "These results indicated that consumption of pistachio nuts decreased oxidative stress, and improved total cholesterol and HDL levels in healthy volunteers"

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