Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/14/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Belly Fat May Drive Inflammatory Processes Associated With Disease - Science Daily, 3/13/07 - "fat cells inside the abdomen are secreting molecules that increase inflammation ... Too much abdominal fat is associated with a defect in the body's response to insulin"

Zinc Supplementation May Decrease Incidence of Infections in the Elderly - Medscape, 3/13/07 - "After zinc supplementation, the incidence of infections was significantly lower, plasma zinc was significantly higher, and generation of tumor necrosis factor alpha and oxidative stress markers was significantly lower in the zinc-supplemented than in the placebo group" - See Zinc products at iHerb.

Soft drinks associated with diabetes, report finds - CNN , 3/12/07 - "women who drank one or more sodas per day -- an amount less than the US national average -- were twice as likely as those who drank less than one soda per month to develop diabetes over the course of the study ... When diet soda replaced regular soda in the analysis, there was no increased risk" - Contradicts the following study:

• Calories Seen Outweighing Sugar as Diabetes Risk - Vital Choices Newsletter, 1/1/07 - "they found no link between consumption of sweetened beverages and the risk of developing diabetes ... men who drank four or more cups of coffee a day cut their risk of developing type-2 diabetes by more than 23 percent ... while a high sugar intake may not by itself cause diabetes, it can certainly be a major contributing factor to weight gain and obesity: factors that clearly do promote diabetes" - [Abstract / Abstract]

Maternal Fish Consumption, Mercury Levels, and Risk of Preterm Delivery - Medscape, 3/12/07 - "fish consumption is a major source of mercury exposure for pregnant women ... The greatest fish source for mercury exposure appeared to be canned fish, both because it was consumed more and, per meal, it was among the fish categories associated with the highest levels of mercury in maternal hair. The observed relationship between elevated mercury levels and increased risk of very preterm delivery is a new finding and requires caution in interpretation"

Supplement 'boosts' brain power - BBC News, 3/12/07 - "they were given two capsules a day of the VegEPA supplement, which contains an omega-3 fatty acid called EPA ... Tests done at the end of the three-month study found the children showed an increase in reading age of well over a year, their handwriting became neater and more accurate and they paid more attention in class ... In three months you might expect to see a small NAA increase ... But we saw as much growth as you would normally see in three years" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Actos (Pioglitazone) Tablets - Evaluation of Safety Data Showed Increased Incidence of Fractures in Female Patients - Doctor's Guide, 3/9/07 - "Healthcare professionals should consider the risk of fracture when initiating or treating female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with pioglitazone-containing products"

Cholesterol Busting Statins Also Reduce Blood Pressure - Science Daily, 3/8/07 - "the use of statins did produce a drop in blood pressure. The overall effect of the use of statins was a 1.9 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure and 0.9 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure. The effect was even more pronounced in patients with high blood pressure (systolic over 130 mmHg) who showed an average drop of 4.0 mmHg if treated with statins"

Mercury Contamination Of Fish Warrants Worldwide Public Warning - Science Daily, 3/8/07 - "The health risks posed by mercury contaminated fish is sufficient to warrant issuing a worldwide general warning to the public"

Omega-3s boost bone mass in young men - study - Nutra USA, 3/8/07 - "After a mean follow-up of seven years 11 months Högström and co-workers report that concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids were positively linked to total BMD, spine BMD, with DHA specifically mentioned to have significant positive associations with these two measures, at age 22" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Soy isoflavones linked to lower prostate cancer risk - Nutra USA, 3/8/07 - "The highest intake of soy isoflavones (at least 32.8 milligrams of genistein per day) had a 40 per cent reduced risk compared to those with the lowest intake (less than 13.2 mg/d)"

Even 'High Normal' Glucose May Increase Risk of Hospitalization for Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 3/7/07 - "even small increases in fasting glucose raised the risk of congestive heart failure in both diabetes patients and those whose blood sugar fell within the normal range" - See my syndrome X and diabetes pages for alternative ways to lower your blood sugar.  Also see Insulin and Aging.

The Benefits of Yogurt - WebMD, 3/7/07 - "your body needs to have a healthy amount of ''good'' bacteria in the digestive tract ... Yogurt May Help Prevent Osteoporosis ... Yogurt May Reduce the Risk of High Blood Pressure ... Yogurt With Active Cultures Helps the Gut ... Yogurt With Active Cultures May Discourage Vaginal Infections ... Yogurt May Help You Feel Fuller"

Omega-3 in fish oils might ease depression - USA Today, 3/6/07 - "The more DHA a person consumed, the more gray matter there was in three areas of the brain linked to mood: the amygdala, the hippocampus and the cingulate, Conklin says. Seriously depressed people tend to have less gray matter in these areas" [WebMD] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

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

Iron treatment normalizes cognitive functioning in young women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):778-87 - "Severity of anemia primarily affects processing speed, and severity of iron deficiency affects accuracy of cognitive function over a broad range of tasks. Thus, the effects of iron deficiency on cognition are not limited to the developing brain"

Zinc supplementation decreases incidence of infections in the elderly: effect of zinc on generation of cytokines and oxidative stress - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):837-44 - "After zinc supplementation, the incidence of infections was significantly lower, plasma zinc was significantly higher, and generation of tumor necrosis factor alpha and oxidative stress markers was significantly lower in the zinc-supplemented than in the placebo group"

n-3 Fatty acids are positively associated with peak bone mineral density and bone accrual in healthy men: the NO2 Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):803-7 - "The results showed that n-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, are positively associated with bone mineral accrual and, thus, with peak BMD in young men" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb or Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.

Telmisartan and irbesartan therapy in type 2 diabetic patients treated with rosiglitazone: effects on insulin-resistance, leptin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha - Hypertens Res. 2006 Nov;29(11):849-56 - "The decrease in HbA1c and FPG at 12 months was statistically significant only in the telmisartan group" - Click here for research on why I feel that Micardis (telmisartan) should be the first line treatment for hypertension if alternative measures don't work.  See telmisartan at OffshoreRx1.com.

Soy inclusion in the diet improves features of the metabolic syndrome: a randomized crossover study in postmenopausal women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):735-41 - "Short-term soy-nut consumption improved glycemic control and lipid profiles in postmenopausal women with the metabolic syndrome"

Coffee intake and incidence of hypertension - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):718-23 - "Women who drank >6 cups/d had a lower risk than did women who drank >0-3 cups/d ... Coffee abstinence is associated with a lower hypertension risk than is low coffee consumption. An inverse U-shaped relation between coffee intake and risk of hypertension was observed in the women"

Continuous intake of polyphenolic compounds containing cocoa powder reduces LDL oxidative susceptibility and has beneficial effects on plasma HDL-cholesterol concentrations in humans - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):709-17 - "A significantly greater increase in plasma HDL cholesterol (24%) was observed in the cocoa group than in the control group (5%)"

Angiotensin receptor blockade in diabetic renal disease-Focus on candesartan - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2007 Mar 3 - "In patients with type 2 diabetes and varying degrees of albuminuria, treatment with candesartan 8-32mg daily was shown to reduce urinary albumin excretion (UAE) by up to 60%. When given in addition to an ACE inhibitor (dual blockade), reductions in UAE of 25-35% relative to ACE inhibitor monotherapy have been found"

A meta-analysis of the analgesic effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for inflammatory joint pain - Pain. 2007 Feb 28 - "The results suggest that omega-3 PUFAs are an attractive adjunctive treatment for joint pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and dysmenorrhea" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Impact of Telmisartan Versus Ramipril on Renal Endothelial Function in Patients with Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes - Diabetes Care. 2007 Mar 2 - "In patients with type 2 diabetes telmisartan and ramipril both increased NO activity of the renal endothelium significantly that in turn may support the preservation of cardiovascular and renal function" - Click here for why I feel that telmisartan (an ARB) and ramipril (an ACE inhibitor) should be first line treatments for hypertension is supplements (see hypertension alternative treatments) such as coenzyme Q10 don't work.

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