Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 11/8/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Newer Prostate Treatment Has Advantage - WebMD, 11/7/06 - "A computerized program allows doctors to adjust both the strength and the intensity of the beams, so that more radiation is blasted at the tumor and less at critical surrounding organs such as the bladder and rectum"

Exercise May Help Protect Against Age-Related Macular Degeneration - Medscape, 11/7/06 - "An active lifestyle reduced the risk for incident exudative AMD by 70% ... Increased walking of more than 12 blocks daily decreased the incidence of exudative AMD by 30% over 15 years"

High Cholesterol Linked to Increased AD Risk - Medscape, 11/6/06 - "With a 3- to 4-fold increase in the number of memory errors, normal mice on the high-fat diet had significantly poorer memory performance than controls ... This finding indicates it may not be increased cholesterol levels per se that adversely affect memory but the associated inflammation"

Can caffeine protect against Alzheimer's? - USA Today, 11/5/06 - "Lesko and others are betting on research suggesting that caffeine will offer protection not just against Alzheimer's, but also against Parkinson's ... Alzheimer-stricken mice that had guzzled caffeine could easily find their way through a maze. Mice that got just water had more signs of brain disease and got confused in the maze"

Healthy Life Prolonged in Mice - Medscape, 11/3/06 - "In addition to extending their lives, resveratrol also kept the mice fit and healthy in their old age" - See iHerb or Vitacost resveratrol products.

Elevated ALT Levels Predict Risk of Death From Liver Cancer - Medscape, 11/2/06 - "Upper limits of normal range from 30 IU/L to 60 IU/L, depending on the laboratory. "We want to reset it southward of 30 IU/L," ... ALT levels are a reflection of the general vascular condition ... If the level is above 30, then that person probably has a problem — fatty liver or some vascular disease, including occlusive coronary artery disease"

ACE Inhibitors Reduce Kidney Disease Risk in Diabetics with High Blood Pressure - Doctor's Guide, 11/2/06 - "Taking an ACE inhibitor, alone or as part of the combination treatment, provided further protection against diabetic kidney disease"

Deficiency In Exposure To Sunlight Linked To Ovarian Cancer - Science Daily, 11/2/06 - "This new global study shows a link between deficiency of vitamin D and increased incidence of ovarian cancer, suggesting that vitamin D supplementation may reduce the incidence of this aggressive cancer"

Cool Mice Live Longer - WebMD, 11/2/06 - "the cool mice live significantly longer than normal mice. Females lived about 20% longer than normal. Males lived about 12% longer"

Wine Ingredient May Nix Fat's Effects - WebMD, 11/1/06 - "A new study shows obese, middle-aged mice fed a fatty diet supplemented with resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, seemed to be spared most of the unhealthy effects of their extra weight and lived longer than those fed the same fat-laden diet without resveratrol" - See iHerb or Vitacost resveratrol products.

Sugar intake may hurt liver - Reuters, 10/31/06 - "fatty liver disease was more common in the group given sugar water, especially when exposed to a type of sugar called fructose ... These data support the hypothesis that high fructose consumption may not only (damage) the liver through over-feeding, but may be directly" toxic"

• Obesity and Fatty Liver disease - MedicineNet.com - "Doctors also are using medications to treat non alcoholic fatty liver disease. For example, insulin-sensitizing agents, such as the thiazolidinediones, pioglitazone (Actos) and rosiglitazone (Avandia), and metformin (Glucophage) not only help to control blood glucose in patients with diabetes, but they also improve enzyme levels in patients with non alcoholic fatty liver disease" - See pioglitazone or rosiglitazone at OffshoreRx1.com, XlPharmacy or SuperSaverMeds.com.
• Avandia Positively Impacts On Factors Linked With Insulin Resistance - Doctor's Guide, 9/18/00 - "Increased deposits of fat around the internal organs and in the liver are commonly associated with insulin resistance and are found in many type 2 diabetes patients ... Avandia helps prevent accumulation of fat around the internal organs and significantly reduces hepatic fat"

Report: Why Dhea May Be The Best-Validated Anti-Aging Supplement - Life Extension Magazine, 11/06 - "The DHEA-treated subjects required significantly higher amounts of glucose to raise their blood sugar levels, demonstrating markedly improved insulin sensitivity ... DHEA is not for everyone—people with hormone-dependent cancers such as breast, uterine, and prostate cancers should avoid its use. However, an abundance of new studies suggests that ensuring optimal levels of this vital “prohormone” can help aging adults guard against endothelial dysfunction, vascular disease, metabolic syndrome, bone loss, and other debilitating conditions once thought to be the “inevitable” consequences of aging" - See iHerb or Vitacost DHEA products.

Selenium - Important Health Benefits from an Overlooked Trace Mineral - Life Extension Magazine, 11/06 - "As scientists continue to discover the many ways in which oxidative stress is related to inflammation and its destructive consequences—from atherosclerosis to prostate, lung, colon, and other cancers—the disease-preventive powers of selenium are likely to receive even greater scrutiny"

I noticed that  Vitacost just emailed a promotional code (WE21A9) for a 5% discount which expires 11/30/06.  If you access Vitacost through my web site you can still used the 5% code and I still get credit for the sale.  Someone emailed back and said that code is only good on certain brands.

I just purchased the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker and 16 extra jars.  I’m very happy with the purchase. I use Milkman® instant lowfat dry milk.  It contains 5% milk fat before adding water or 1/2% milk fat when mixed with 4 cups of water.  I use 2 envelopes to 4 cups of or reverse osmosis water so it comes out to 1% milk fat, the same as the Dannon® I was buying.  The 4 cups will fill each of the 8 individual containers about 80% full, which is convenient.  I don’t heat or boil it as it says to do with regular milk.  I add two heaping tablespoons of previously made yogurt.  I set the timer for 11 hours.  It comes out tasting just like the Dannon® at a fraction of the cost.
Sometimes I eat it plain and sometimes I mix in a couple heaping tablespoons of Smucker's Simply 100% Fruit Strawberry Spread.  It contains no added sugar.

Apple just came out with the Apple Shuffle.  It's about the size of a match book and holds up to 240 songs.  Amazon.com has it for $79.99 with no tax and free shipping.

Macy's has the Levi's 505 jeans on sale for $29.99 (normally $40) until 11/11/06 and the Tasmanian Wool Dockers on sale for $52.99 (normally $90) until 1/4/07.  I just bought the Dockers Premium Never-Iron Pleated version which was on sale for $49.99 but now it's back to $70.  They have an everyday price of $29.98 on the Dockers® Pleated Classic Fit Original but Macy's doesn't have them in odd sizes but Amazon.com does.  The Dockers Premium were "relaxed fit" and I felt they were too baggy.

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

The role of telmisartan in the treatment of metabolic syndrome - Ter Arkh. 2006;78(8):63-6 - "Telmisartan reduced all the study parameters of blood pressure, body mass, fasting and post-prandial hyperglycemia, postprandial hyperinsulinemia. Telmisartan raised peripheral tissue sensitivity to insulin, normalized phases of insulin secretion. Total cholesterol, LDLP cholesterol diminished while HDLP went up" - See the top of my hypertension page for my argument for telmisartan.  I'm not a doctor but telmisartan looks by far the best on paper.  See telmisartan at OffshoreRx1.com.

Supplementation of n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and lactation reduces maternal plasma lipid levels and provides DHA to the infants - J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2006 Jul;19(7):397-406 - "Maternal supplementation with n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and lactation provides more DHA to the infant and reduces maternal plasma lipid levels compared to supplementation with n-6 fatty acids"

Flavonoid-rich grapeseed extracts: a new approach in high cardiovascular risk patients? - Int J Clin Pract. 2006 Nov;60(11):1484-92 - "Flavonoids have been a major focus of attention since the days of the French paradox and the presence of high quantity of flavonoids in grapeseed extracts has prompted research looking at its effects on novel markers of vascular risk"

Insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction: the road map to cardiovascular diseases - Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2006 Nov-Dec;22(6):423-36 - "Much evidence supports the presence of insulin resistance as the fundamental pathophysiologic disturbance responsible for the cluster of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, known collectively as the metabolic syndrome"

Select abstracts from 11/06 Life Extension Magazine:

Treatment of ADHD with French maritime pine bark extract, Pycnogenol - Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;15(6):329-35 - "1-month Pycnogenol administration caused a significant reduction of hyperactivity, improves attention and visual-motoric coordination and concentration of children with ADHD. In the placebo group no positive effects were found. One month after termination of Pycnogenol administration a relapse of symptoms was noted. Our results point to an option to use Pycnogenol as a natural supplement to relieve ADHD symptoms of children" - See iHerb or Vitacost Pycnogenol products.

Dehydroepiandrosterone increases beta-cell mass and improves the glucose-induced insulin secretion by pancreatic islets from aged rats - FEBS Lett. 2006 Jan 9;580(1):285-90 - "DHEA may be a promising drug to prevent diabetes during aging"

Effects of dehydroepiandrosterone on gluconeogenic enzymes and glucose uptake in human hepatoma cell line, HepG2 - Endocr J. 2005 Dec;52(6):727-33 - "DHEA may act at multiple steps in the regulation of glucose metabolism in the liver"

Relationship between serum sex steroids and Aging Male Symptoms score and International Index of Erectile Function - Urology. 2005 Sep;66(3):597-601 - "Although DHEA-S levels were significantly lower and E2 levels were greater in the men with aging male symptoms according to the AMS, the DHEA-S and FT levels were significantly lower in the men with sexual dysfunction, as determined by the IIEF score. Serum DHEA-S and FT levels and age correlated significantly with the IIEF scores"

Endogenous sex hormones and metabolic syndrome in aging men - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 May;90(5):2618-23 - "Higher testosterone and SHBG levels in aging males are independently associated with a higher insulin sensitivity and a reduced risk of the metabolic syndrome, independent of insulin levels and body composition measurements, suggesting that these hormones may protect against the development of metabolic syndrome"

Effect of DHEA on Abdominal Fat and Insulin Action in Elderly Women and Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial - JAMA. 2004 Nov 10;292(18):2243-8 - "DHEA replacement could play a role in prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome associated with abdominal obesity"

Affiliates (I could sure use some sales.  You can drag the links onto your desktop and use them so that I get credit for the sale.  Click here for more stores):