Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/17/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Testosterone Patch Helpful for Women With Androgen Deficiency and Hypopituitarism - Medscape, 5/15/06 - "Bone density increased in the hip and radius in the testosterone group by 0.9% and 0.8% at 1 year, respectively ... Fat-free mass increased by 3.4% and 0.6% in the testosterone vs placebo groups ... Testosterone increased muscle area in the thigh ... Mood and sexual function were improved"

Does Inflammation Cause Heart Disease? - Dr. Weil, 5/18/06 - "To help lower CRP levels I recommend an anti-inflammatory diet, plus fish oil supplements if you are not eating two to three servings of fish - including oily species such as salmon or sardines - per week. You also could take anti-inflammatory herbs including ginger and turmeric"

Painkillers tied to risk of erectile dysfunction - Reuters, 5/12/06 - "NSAIDs roughly doubled the risk of erectile dysfunction compared with non-use. The presence of arthritis without NSAID use increased the risk of erection difficulty by only 30 percent, the researchers explain, and they therefore conclude that NSAIDs were largely to blame for the link between arthritis and erectile dysfunction"

How to fight inflammation - MSNBC, 5/12/06 - "The intensity of this general inflammation can be measured by blood tests for markers like C-reactive protein (CRP), which is produced by the liver during periods of inflammation ... People with increased levels of CRP seem to have a greater risk of heart disease from damage to their blood vessels ... Chronic inflammation may also be connected to cancers of the esophagus, stomach, colon and liver"

Healthy Antioxidants: How Much a Day? - WebMD, 5/11/06 - "They found the overall daily intake of anthocyanins was 12.5 milligrams per day, much less than estimates published in the 1970s that put average daily anthocyanin intake at 215 milligrams in summer and 180 milligrams in winter ... Incorporating frozen berries into the diet during the winter months or using nutritional supplements rich in anthocyanins may also help boost Americans' intake of these nutrients"

White Whole-Wheat Becoming Popular - ABC News, 5/10/06 - "white wheat contains less tannic acid. That means it can be milled with the bran and germ (making it nutritionally equivalent to conventional whole wheat) and still produce a flour with a texture, taste and appearance similar to all-purpose"

CLA’s body-shaping action clarified in new trial - Nutra USA, 5/10/06 - "at the end of the six months the effect on fat mass was seen to be around 2kg compared to the placebo ... Lean body mass was seen to increase by an average of 0.4kg in the CLA group"

Dairy Products May Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Men - Medscape, 5/10/06 - "An increase of 1 serving of dairy product per day was associated with a 9% reduced risk of developing DM"

Statins May Improve Circulation In The Retina - Science Daily, 5/9/06 - "Among patients taking statins, intraocular pressure was reduced 90 minutes after taking the medication and at the seven-day mark. Blood velocity (speed) and blood flow were significantly increased in patients who had taken statins for seven days"

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

Antiglucocoticoid treatments for depression - Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2006 May;40(5):402-5 - "Both preclinical and clinical studies report encouraging results which suggest that lowering circulating cortisol levels or blocking the effects of elevated cortisol with antagonists, which may up-regulate glucocorticoid receptors, has therapeutic benefits in terms of improvements in depressive symptoms and some domains of neurocognitive function"

Effect of pioglitazone on insulin sensitivity, vascular function and cardiovascular inflammatory markers in insulin-resistant non-diabetic Asian Indians - Diabet Med. 2006 May;23(5):537-43 - "These agents may have a role in decreasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in this high-risk population"

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