Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 2/14/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Olive Oil May Prevent Ulcers - WebMD, 2/13/07 - "A new Spanish study suggests virgin olive oil may help prevent and treat H. pylori infections, which are responsible for millions of cases of gastritis and ulcers each year"

Take a Nap, Protect Your Heart? - WebMD, 2/12/07 - "A total of 23,681 residents of Greece with no history of heart disease, stroke, or cancer at enrollment were followed an average of 6.3 years ... people who took naps at least three times a week for an average of at least 30 minutes were 37% less likely to die of heart disease than people who did not take regular naps"

Many Seniors Are Still Not Meeting The Recommended Intake Of Vitamin K - Science Daily, 2/12/07 - "Although older adults seem to consume more vitamin K than younger adults, many seniors are still not meeting the recommended intake of vitamin K ... Research has shown poor vitamin K intake may be associated with conditions such as bone fractures, bone loss, hardening of the arteries, and osteoarthritis" - See Vitamin K products at iHerb.

Vitamin D3 Provides Skin With Protection From Harmful Microbes - Science Daily, 2/12/07 - "fluctuations in Vitamin D3 levels control the body's innate immune response, affecting a skin wound's ability to heal"

Vitamin D Appears to Cut Breast and Colorectal Cancer Risk - Medscape, 2/12/07 - "Compared with a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level less than 10 ng/mL, a level of 50 ng/mL reduced the risk for breast cancer by 50%. This level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D would require an average intake of 4000 IU of vitamin D per day, although the authors note that intake of 2000 IU per day combined with sun exposure of approximately 12 minutes per day with 50% of the skin exposed could also help patients achieve a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 50 ng/mL" - See Vitamin D products at iHerb.

Folate And B12 May Influence Cognition In Seniors - Science Daily, 2/12/07 - "People with normal vitamin B12 status performed better if their serum folate was high ... But for people with low vitamin B12 status, high serum folate was associated with poor performance on the cognitive test ... For seniors, low vitamin B12 status and high serum folate was the worst combination" - See iHerb folic acid products and vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.

Vasectomy May Put Men at Risk for Type of Dementia - Doctor's Guide, 2/12/07 - "The dementia is Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), a neurological disease in which people have trouble recalling and understanding words. In PPA, people lose the ability to express themselves and understand speech. It differs from typical Alzheimer's disease in which a person's memory becomes impaired ... Of the non-impaired men, 16% had undergone a vasectomy. In contrast, 40% of the men with PPA had had the surgery"

Vitamin D may cut risk of colorectal cancer - Reuters, 2/9/07 - "Risk was reduced by 54 percent in groups with the highest vitamin D levels relative to those with the lowest levels ... the target blood levels could be achieved with intake of 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day" - See Vitamin D products at iHerb.

Exercise Pivotal In Preventing And Fighting Type II Diabetes - Science Daily, 2/9/07 - "A new study at the University of Missouri-Columbia says that acute exercise - as little as 15 minutes a day - can have a profound influence on preventing and fighting the disease"

Caffeinated drinks may protect elderly against heart disease - Nutra USA, 2/9/07 - "Over-65s who drink four or more caffeinated beverages every day may reduce their risk of heart disease by a whopping 53 per cent" - [Abstract]

Pine bark extract shows promise for slowing sugar uptake - Nutra USA, 2/9/07 - "Extracts from French maritime pine bark may inhibit an enzyme linked to glucose absorption 190 times more than a synthetic medication, says new research from Germany that could offer significant benefits for diabetics if the results can be translated from the lab to humans"

Vitamin D Backed For Cancer Prevention In Two New Studies - Science Daily, 2/8/07 - "Two new vitamin D studies using a sophisticated form of analysis called meta-analysis, in which data from multiple reports is combined, have revealed new prescriptions for possibly preventing up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States ... The serum level associated with a 50 percent reduction in risk could be maintained by taking 2,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily plus, when the weather permits, spending 10 to 15 minutes a day in the sun" - See Vitamin D products at iHerb.

Beware of Bone Boosters? - Dr. Weil, 2/8/07 - "I also worry about using bisphosphonates on a long-term basis because of new evidence showing that they can lead to very serious problems. Dentists have been observing that some patients on these drugs are at risk of developing an untreatable condition called osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ). Osteonecrosis means death of bone tissue. ONJ can cause chronic pain and disfigurement. Symptoms include toothache, jaw pain, loosening of teeth, recurrent infection of the soft tissue of the jaw, and exposed bone"

Over-the-Counter Weight Loss Pill OK'd - WebMD, 2/7/07 - "FDA approved orlistat capsules -- called "alli" -- as an over-the-counter weight loss aid for overweight adults ... the pill will be available in U.S. stores by this summer ... In studies, most people lost 5-10 pounds over six months"

DHA alone can lower triglycerides, says study - Nutra USA, 2/7/07 - "Subjects were randomized to either 1000mg of DHA or 1252 mg of DHA + EPA for eight weeks ... triglycerides were lowered an average of 21.8 per cent in the DHA group and 18.3 per cent in the DHA + EPA group" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Study: HDL, or 'good' cholesterol looks better - USA Today, 2/6/07 - "patients' clogged arteries began to clear when statins drove their LDL levels down to 87.5 milligrams per deciliter of blood and their HDL up by 7.5%"

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

Rosiglitazone treatment increases plasma levels of adiponectin and decreases levels of resistin in overweight women with PCOS: a randomized placebo-controlled study -- Majuri et al. 156 (2): 263 -- European Journal of Endocrinology - European Journal of Endocrinology, Vol 156, Issue 2, 263-269 - "Rosiglitazone had beneficial effects on serum levels of adiponectin and resistin, suggesting that these adipocytokines may contribute to the improvement in insulin sensitivity observed during the treatment"

Vitamin K(2) supplementation improves hip bone geometry and bone strength indices in postmenopausal women - Osteoporos Int. 2007 Feb 8 - "Vitamin K(2) helps maintaining bone strength at the site of the femoral neck in postmenopausal women by improving BMC and FNW, whereas it has little effect on DXA-BMD" - See Vitamin K products at iHerb.

Isoflavone treatment for acute menopausal symptoms - Menopause. 2007 Feb 6 - "In women receiving 60 mg isoflavones daily, hot flashes and night sweats were reduced by 57% and 43%, respectively" - See Isoflavone products at iHerb.

Effect of 6 months of exercise and isoflavone supplementation on clinical cardiovascular risk factors in obese postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind study - Menopause. 2007 Feb 6 - "Compared to an aerobic exercise program alone, 70 mg/day of isoflavones combined with exercise may promote significant improvements in body composition parameters that are known to influence cardiovascular disease risk in postmenopausal women" - See Isoflavone products at iHerb.

Coenzyme Q(10) in the treatment of hypertension: a meta-analysis of the clinical trials - J Hum Hypertens. 2007 Feb 8 - "We conclude that coenzyme Q(10) has the potential in hypertensive patients to lower systolic blood pressure by up to 17 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by up to 10 mm Hg without significant side effects" - See Coenzyme Q10 products at iHerb.

Effects of Pioglitazone in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes With or Without Previous Stroke. Results From PROactive (PROspective pioglitAzone Clinical Trial In macroVascular Events 04) - Stroke. 2007 Feb 8 - "In a subgroup analysis from PROactive, pioglitazone reduced the risk of recurrent stroke significantly in high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes"

Caffeinated beverage intake and the risk of heart disease mortality in the elderly: a prospective analysis - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Feb;85(2):392-8 - "Participants aged >/=65 y with higher caffeinated beverage intake exhibited lower relative risk of CVD and heart disease mortality than did participants with lower caffeinated beverage intake. It was a dose-response protective effect: the relative risk (95% CI) for heart disease mortality was 1.00 (referent), 0.77 (0.54, 1.10), 0.68 (0.49, 0.94), and 0.47 (0.32, 0.69) for <0.5, 0.5-2, 2-4, and >/=4 servings/d, respectively"

Magnesium intake and colorectal cancer risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study - Br J Cancer. 2007 Feb 12;96(3):510-3 - "Statistically significant inverse trends in risk were observed in overweight subjects for colon and proximal colon cancer across increasing quintiles of magnesium uptake"

Fruit and vegetable consumption, intake of micronutrients, and benign prostatic hyperplasia in US men - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Feb;85(2):523-9 - "Vegetable consumption was inversely associated with BPH (fifth compared with first quintile-OR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.99; P for trend = 0.03), whereas fruit intake was not. Consumption of fruit and vegetables rich in beta-carotene (P for trend = 0.004), lutein (P for trend = 0.0004), or vitamin C (P for trend = 0.05) was inversely related to BPH. With increasing vitamin C intake from foods, men were less likely to have BPH (P for trend = 0.0009). Neither alpha- nor gamma-tocopherol intake from foods was associated with BPH"

Vitamin A, retinol, and carotenoids and the risk of gastric cancer: a prospective cohort study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Feb;85(2):497-503 - "During a mean 7.2-y follow-up, 139 incident cases of gastric cancer were diagnosed. High intakes of vitamin A and retinol from foods only (dietary intake) and from foods and supplements combined (total intake) and of dietary alpha-carotene and beta-carotene were associated with a lower risk of gastric cancer. The multivariate relative risks for the highest versus lowest quartiles of intake were 0.53 (95% CI: 0.32, 0.89; P for trend = 0.02) for total vitamin A, 0.56 (95% CI: 0.33, 0.95; P for trend = 0.05) for total retinol, 0.50 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.83; P for trend = 0.03) for alpha-carotene, and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.32, 0.94; P for trend = 0.07) for beta-carotene"

Effect of rosiglitazone on factors related to endothelial dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus - Atherosclerosis. 2007 Feb 2 - "These data support the hypothesis that, in patients with T2DM, rosiglitazone has beneficial effects on biological markers of endothelial dysfunction. Improvements in insulin sensitivity and decreases in FFAs may play a role in these effects"

The Effects of Calcium and Vitamin D Supplementation on Blood Glucose and Markers of Inflammation in Non-diabetic Adults - Diabetes Care. 2007 Feb 2 - "Among participants with IFG at baseline those who took combined calcium-vitamin D supplements had a lower rise in FPG at 3 years compared to those on placebo"

Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Association with Erectile Dysfunction Among Urologic Patients: Metabolic Backgrounds of Erectile Dysfunction - Urology. 2007 Jan 30 - "waist circumference (WC) and triglyceride (TG) ... MS was strongly associated with ED. Fasting blood glucose levels, hypertension, and WC are the most significant risk factors predicting the risk of ED. A more pronounced increase in ED risk in the presence of abdominal obesity, together with altered TG and HDL cholesterol levels, may indicate a special metabolic background of ED regarding lipid metabolism"

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