Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/16/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Sun Exposure Cuts Cancer Risk at 16 Sites, Study Says - Medscape, 8/15/06 - "solar ultraviolet B irradiance is associated with reduced risk at 16 sites of cancer through production of vitamin D. These cancers include 6 sites of gastrointestinal cancers, 3 cancers of female sites, 3 urogenital cancers, 2 types of lymphomas, and 2 upper aerodigestive tract cancers ... previous studies have shown that 1000 to 1500 international units per day reduce the risk of cancer" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin D products.

Reactions to Stress May Affect Brain Aging - Medscape, 8/14/06 - "the adrenal stress hormone cortisol appears to play an important role in mediating the effects of stress on the brain ... Although acute stress seems to enhance immune function and improve memory, chronic stress has the opposite effect and may even lead to disorders that become more prevalent with aging, such as depression, diabetes, and cognitive impairment" - See my cortisol page for ways to reduce it.

Hormone 'connected to death risk' - BBC News, 8/14/06 - "men with low [testosterone] hormone levels had an 88% increased risk of death compared with men with normal levels"

Diet high in copper, fat speed mental decline - MSNBC, 8/14/06 - "Elderly people whose diets were rich in copper and heavy in saturated fats and trans fats risked faster mental decline that could be related to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease"

Chronic Stress May Make You Age Faster - WebMD, 8/11/06 - "Chronic stress -- the type that drags on, rather than being just a momentary crisis -- can affect hormone levels and shift the body's delicate hormone balance ... In this way, there may be synergistic effects of aging and chronic stress"

ACE Inhibitors Help All Heart Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/10/06 - "the addition of an ACE inhibitor reduced the risk of death from any cause -- heart failure, heart attack, or stroke -- even among very low-risk patients and those taking other heart-protecting drugs like low-dose aspirin, cholesterol-lowering statins, and beta- blockers"

Supplementation With Chromium Picolinate Improves Glycemic Control, Attenuates Weight Gain - Doctor's Guide, 8/9/06 - "daily supplementation with 1000 mcg of chromium as chromium picolinate ... Blood sugar levels of study participants taking chromium picolinate in combination with the antidiabetic medication dropped significantly compared to the group taking the medication plus placebo ... Study participants taking chromium picolinate also experienced significantly lower abdominal body fat accumulation than the group taking medication and placebo, and experienced less overall weight gain" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.

Flavonoids linked to colorectal cancer protection - Nutra USA, 8/9/06 - "A diet rich in certain flavonoids, from eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by over 40 per cent, says a large observational study from Italy"

Chronically High Blood Sugar Linked To Risk Of Cognitive Impairment - Science Daily, 8/9/06 - "Women with a glycosylated hemoglobin of seven percent or higher at baseline were four times more likely to develop MCI or dementia than women who tested at less than seven percent"

Good News for Salt Lovers - New Hope Natural Media Online, 8/3/06 - "The men who ate from the kitchens using potassium-enriched salt were about 40% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than the men who ate from the kitchens using regular salt"

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

Low Serum Testosterone and Mortality in Male Veterans - Arch Intern Med, 8/14/06 - "Mortality in men with normal testosterone levels was 20.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.2%-24.1%) vs 24.6% (95% CI, 19.2%-30.0%) in men with equivocal testosterone levels and 34.9% (95% CI, 28.5%-41.4%) in men with low testosterone levels"

Admission Blood Glucose Level and Mortality Among Hospitalized Nondiabetic Patients With Heart Failure - Arch Intern Med, 8/14/06 - "In-hospital mortality was twice as high in patients with admission blood glucose levels in the third tertile (7.2%) compared with the first (3%) and second (4%) tertiles ... each 18-mg/dL (1-mmol/L) increase in glucose level was associated with a 31% increased risk of in-hospital mortality"

Escitalopram versus venlafaxine XR in the treatment of depression - Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2006 Sep;21(5):297-309 - "treatment with 20 mg/day escitalopram resulted in a statistically significantly (P<0.05) higher remission rate at week 8 (47%) than treatment with venlafaxine XR (29%) ... The relative benefit of escitalopram versus venlafaxine XR was 1.46, indicating that a patient was more likely to benefit from treatment with escitalopram. The proportions of patients who withdrew owing to adverse events were 7.5% in the escitalopram group and 11.2% in the venlafaxine XR group" - See Escitalopram 20mg (Generic Equivalent of Lexapro 20mg) - OffshoreRx1.com.

A comparative study of the efficacy of long-term treatment with escitalopram and paroxetine in severely depressed patients - Curr Med Res Opin. 2006 Jul;22(7):1331-41 - "Escitalopram is significantly more effective than paroxetine in the long-term treatment of severely depressed patients"

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