Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/7/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Tekturna Is First in a New Class of Blood Pressure Drugs - WebMD, 3/6/07 - "Tekturna is the first FDA-approved drug in a new class of high blood pressure drugs called renin inhibitors. The kidneys make renin, an enzyme, to help regulate blood pressure"

Salivary Cortisol Levels May Be a Biomarker for Late-Life GAD - Medscape, 3/6/07 - "The GAD group showed elevated basal levels compared with the control group. There was also a positive correlation between cortisol levels and severity of GAD"

Should Everyone Be on a Statin? - Medscape, 3/6/07 - "Patients without contraindications should be considered for treatment with statins if their risk for cardiovascular events exceeds 20% over a 10-year period.[3] Patients with a 10-year risk for cardiovascular events under 10% probably will not benefit from statin treatment. The art of medicine applies to the large group of patients who fall between a 10% and 20% risk for events over 10 years. The current study suggests that a significant reduction in morbidity may be achieved in these patients, but if a reduction in mortality associated with statin therapy in this population exists, many patients will require statin therapy over significant time periods to achieve a benefit"

Atkins Diet Tops Others in Study - washingtonpost.com, 3/6/07 - "The study by Stanford University researchers compared the Atkins approach to three others: the standard low-fat, reduced calorie regimen long recommended by physicians and weight loss experts; the Zone, a reduced carbohydrate approach developed by author Barry Sears; and the very low-fat, high-carbohydrate regimen created by physician Dean Ornish ... For all practical purposes the programs all worked about the same ... The extra four pounds lost by the Atkins group are not very meaningful" - Another consideration is that you don't know how much of that four pounds is water loss caused by high protein diets. - Ben

High Blood Pressure: Drugs to Avoid When You Have Hypertension - WebMD, 3/6/07 - "Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) ... Migraine Headache Medications ... Weight Loss Medications"

Dietary Copper May Ease Heart Disease - Science Daily, 3/5/07 - "Insufficient copper intake is associated with increases in cholesterol levels, clot formation, and heart disease. The new study found that feeding mice copper relieved heart disease and restored proper heart function, even when the animals' hearts were continually stressed ... The human equivalent of the beneficial dose of copper used in this study is about 3.0 mg/day. The current recommended daily intake for humans, however, is only 0.9 mg/day"

How Eating Less Might Make You Live Longer - Science Daily, 3/5/07 - "even short-term caloric restriction can produce beneficial physiological changes leading to improved health. Whether caloric restriction and the associated health benefits can be sustained over longer term remains to be established in humans"

Whole-Grain Cereals Cut Heart Failure - WebMD, 3/2/07 - "were followed for about 18 years, on average ... Those who reported eating at least seven weekly servings of whole-grain breakfast cereals were 21% less likely to develop heart failure during the study, compared with those who ate no whole-grain breakfast cereals"

What Makes Good Cholesterol So 'Good' For Us? - Science Daily, 3/2/07 - "High levels of good cholesterol (high density lipoprotein (HDL)) are associated with protection from cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death in the United States"

Higher Dose of Vitamin D May Reduce Risk for Falls in Nursing Home Residents - Medscape, 3/2/07 - "Compared with residents taking placebo, those taking 800 IU had a 72% lower adjusted-incidence rate ratio of falls during the 5-month study" - See Vitamin D products at iHerb.

Vitamin D Deficiency Widespread During Pregnancy - Doctor's Guide, 3/1/07 - "Our study shows that current vitamin D dietary intake recommendations are not enough to meet the demands of pregnancy" - See Vitamin D products at iHerb.

Sweat May Pass On Hepatitis B In Contact Sports - Science Daily, 3/1/07 - "Sweat may be another way to pass on hepatitis B infection during contact sports"

Nutritional Supplement Given After Birth Improves Learning And Behavior In Rats Exposed To Alcohol During Development - Science Daily, 3/1/07 - "Choline plays a number of roles in brain development. It is also a precursor to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in learning and cognition, among other functions ... giving choline to rat pups exposed to alcohol during the equivalent of the third trimester, when there's a spurt in brain growth, significantly reduced the severity of alcohol-related over-activity and spatial learning deficits. The benefits lasted months after choline treatment, suggesting that choline's effects are long-lasting"

Green Tea And COX-2 Inhibitors Combine To Slow Growth Of Prostate Cancer - Science Daily, 3/1/07 - "In mice that were not treated with either substance, the tumor volume averaged 1,300 cubic millimeters, whereas mice given either the tea or celecoxib had tumors averaging 835 cubic millimeters and 650 cubic millimeters, respectively. Tumors taken from mice given both agents, however, measured on average a volume of 350 cubic millimeters" - See Jarrow green tea at iHerb.

Treat Gum Disease, Help Heart? - WebMD, 2/28/07 - "One group got standard gum disease treatment -- having a dentist scrape and polish their teeth ... The other group got more aggressive treatment, including a shot of anesthesia to let dentists remove plaque below the gum line and extract teeth, if necessary ... two months later, the intensive treatment group had better endothelial function than the standard treatment group. That advantage was still seen at the end of the six-month study"

Wine Drinkers May Live Longer - WebMD, 2/28/07 - "Men who drink about half a glass of wine a day over decades may outlive teetotalers by four years on average ... Light alcohol intake may boost HDL ("good") cholesterol and help prevent blood clots"

Use of Some Antioxidant Supplements May Increase Mortality Risk - Doctor's Guide, 2/28/07 - "In an analysis that pooled all low-bias risk and high bias risk trials, there was no significant association between antioxidant use and mortality. In 47 low-bias trials involving 180,938 participants, the antioxidant supplements were associated with a 5% increased risk of mortality. Among low-bias trials, use of beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E was associated with 7%, 16% and 4%, respectively, increased risk of mortality, whereas there was no increased mortality risk associated with vitamin C or selenium use" - Note:  Beta-carotene is just one of over 600 carotenoids and taking just one may cause a deficiency of the others.  I had a couple articles on that but the links went dead.  Same with taking just the alpha tocopherol form (most common form) of vitamin E.  I've been saying for years that taking alpha tocopherol or beta-carotene alone causes more harm than good.  I get my beta-carotene from Dunaliella Salina Algae (Body Wise Brand), which contains the broad spectrum and vitamin E from Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family) at iHerb.  See:

• Effect of oral supplementation with D-alpha-tocopherol on the vitamin E content of human low density lipoproteins and resistance to oxidation - J Lipid Res. 1991 Aug;32(8):1325-32 - "gamma-Tocopherol significantly decreased in plasma and LDL during vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) supplementation"

High Blood Sugar Linked to Cancer Risk - WebMD, 2/27/07 - "women with the highest blood sugar levels upon joining the study were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer before its end, compared with women with the lowest blood sugar levels" - Related articles:

• High Blood Sugar Raises Cancer Risk - WebMD, 1/11/05 - "the men in the study with the highest fasting blood sugar levels (those greater than 140 mg/dl) were 29% more likely to die of cancer than men with the lowest levels (those less than 90 mg/dl). The difference among women with the highest and lowest blood sugar levels was 23%"
• Pancreatic Cancer Tied to Insulin Woes - WebMD, 12/13/05 - "Some of the men's blood samples showed higher levels of blood glucose, insulin resistance, and high insulin levels. Those men were more likely to later develop pancreatic cancer than those without insulin problems"
• Diabetics Face Increased Risk of Colorectal Cancer - Doctor's Guide, 11/2/05 - "hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia promote the growth of colorectal cancer"

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

Effects of metformin or rosiglitazone on serum concentrations of homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B(12) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus - J Diabetes Complications. 2007 Mar-Apr;21(2):118-23 - "In patients with type 2 diabetes, metformin reduces levels of folate and vitamin B(12) and increases Hcy. Conversely, rosiglitazone decreases Hcy levels in this time period"

Angiotensin type-1 receptor blockade with losartan increases insulin sensitivity and improves glucose homeostasis in subjects with type 2 diabetes and nephropathy - Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2007 Feb 17 - "Fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, AUC glucose, and urinary protein values were significantly decreased in the losartan group as compared with the amlodipine group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, C-peptide concentrations, the insulin sensitivity index, and the insulin-to-glucose ratio were significantly increased after 3 months of therapy with losartan as compared to amlodipine" - Yeah but telmisartan might be better.  See:

• Metabolic Effect of Telmisartan [Micardis] and Losartan [Cozaar] in Hypertensive Patients with Metabolic Syndrome - Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2005 May 15;4(1):6 - "Telmisartan, but not losartan, significantly (p < 0.05) reduced free plasma glucose, free plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and HbAic. Following treatment, plasma glucose and insulin were reduced during the oral glucose tolerance test by telmisartan, but not by losartan. Telmisartan also significantly reduced 24-hour mean systolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) compared with losartan"

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