Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 4/25/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Fish oil may preserve thinking ability in elderly - Reuters, 4/24/07 - "Subjects who ate fish had a slower decline in cognitive function than subjects who did not eat fish" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Depression May Trigger Diabetes In Older Adults - Science Daily, 4/23/07 - "Carnethon theorizes that the culprit responsible for diabetes in persons who are depressed is a high level of a stress hormone, cortisol"

Low Vitamin D Levels Linked To Poor Physical Performance In Older Adults - Science Daily, 4/23/07 - "physical performance and grip strength were about five to 10 percent lower in those who had low levels of vitamin D ... Current recommendations call for people from age 50 to 69 to get 400 international units (IUs) of vitamin D per day and for those over age 70 ... Higher amounts of vitamin D may be needed for the preservation of muscle strength and physical function as well as other conditions such as cancer prevention" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.

Antioxidant Found In Many Foods And Red Wine Is Potent And Selective Killer Of Leukemia Cells - Science Daily, 4/23/07 - "anthocyanidins, a group of naturally occurring compounds widely available in fruits and vegetables as well as red wine, have chemopreventive properties ... the most common type of a naturally modified anthocyanidin, known as cyanidin-3-rutinoside, or C-3-R ... C-3-R caused about 50 percent of a human leukemia cell line known as HL-60 to undergo programmed cell death"

ACE Inhibitors Provide Greater Heart Protection - Science Daily, 4/22/07 - "Our research evaluated the effects of both drugs, and found that they both provided comparable blood pressure reduction. However, ACE inhibitors reduced the risk of coronary heart disease in patients by a further 9%. This so-called blood pressure-independent effect was not seen for ARBs"

Alcohol 'makes fruit healthier' - BBC News, 4/20/07 - "having them with alcohol, such as in a daiquiri, boosts these antioxidant properties"

Green Tea And EGCG May Help Prevent Autoimmune Diseases - Science Daily, 4/19/07 - "The group treated with green tea had significantly fewer lymphocytes, Dr. Hsu says. Their blood also showed lower levels of autoantibodies, protein weapons produced when the immune system attacks itself, he says" - See Jarrow green tea at iHerb.

Tea 'could cut skin cancer risk' - BBC News, 4/19/07 - "Those who drank two or more cups a day had a 65% lower risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma" - See Jarrow green tea at iHerb.

Cut Heart Risk by Eating Less Salt - WebMD, 4/19/07 - "people who reduced their dietary sodium while participating in the studies saw 25% reductions in heart disease and stroke risk 10 to 15 years later, compared with people who ate their usual diets"

Skim milk best for pumping up muscle mass - CNN, 4/19/07 - "eight men who regularly lifted weights were given a soy beverage or skim milk after performing a series of exercises with one leg ... For three hours after the workout, the researchers found, muscle uptake of amino acids was significantly greater when the men drank milk than when they consumed soy"

"Glycemic load" of diet has no effect on weight loss - Reuters, 4/19/07 - "Study participants who followed a low-glycemic-load diet ended up losing roughly 8 percent of their initial weight, as did those who followed a high-glycemic-load diet"

FDA Panel Favors First-Line Use of Irbesartan/HCTZ Combo - Medscape, 4/19/07 - "The US FDA Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee recommended extended use of the combination product irbesartan plus hydrochlorothiazide (Avalide, Bristol-Myers Squibb) for the first-line treatment of hypertension" - Yeah, if you can get by the side effects of hydrochlorothiazide plus the increased chance of diabetes.  Irbesartan is a ARB and hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic.  I'm not a doctor and here I am criticizing those who are but I still feel that telmisartan (a ARB)/ramipril (a ACE inhibitor) should be the first time treatment.  Click here for the research.   Some doctors claim you can't mix a ARB with an ACE inhibitor but I couldn't find any evidence of that.

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Slows Alzheimer’s - WebMD, 4/18/07 - "One received supplemental DHA only, and the other two groups received DHA plus additional omega-6 fatty acids ... After three months, all of the mice on the DHA diets had lower levels of beta-amyloid and tau proteins than those in the control group. But at nine months, only those on the DHA-only diet had lower levels of both proteins" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Whole-Grain Oats Cut Cholesterol - WebMD, 4/18/07 - "people who ate whole-grain oatmeal had lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels compared with those who ate refined grain foods. The average reduction in total cholesterol levels was 7.7 mg/dL and the average reduction in LDL cholesterol levels was 7 mg/dL"

HRT linked to ovarian cancer risk - BBC News, 4/18/07 - "The new analysis of 948,576 postmenopausal women showed a 20% increased risk of developing and dying from ovarian cancer in HRT users, compared with those who had never used the treatment"

Strong Link Between Breast Cancer And Hormone Replacement Therapy Found - Science Daily, 4/18/07 - "At best, based on this analysis, an individual woman could reduce her individual risk of developing breast cancer by one in 60, or about 1.7 percent, if she stopped using hormones"

"Instant face lift" chemical DMAE damages skin cells - Reuters, 4/18/07 - "applying the product caused a massive and rapid swelling of the cells as they filled with DMAE and water, leading to a thickening of the epidermal layer. They also found that DMAE was toxic to the skin cells, halting cell division, inhibiting secretion, and killing some cells after 24 hours of exposure ... This "facelift in a jar" chemical is certainly safer than a real facelift"

Nutrients In Certain Vegetables May Provide Cancer-fighting Benefit - Science Daily, 4/17/07 - "Dr. Singh's study is based on phytochemicals, called isothiocyanates (ITCs), found in several cruciferous vegetables and generated when vegetables are either cut or chewed. His laboratory has found that phenethyl-ITC, or PEITC, is highly effective in suppressing the growth of human prostate cancer cells at concentrations achievable through dietary intake"

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

The effects of telmisartan and amlodipine on metabolic parameters and blood pressure in type 2 diabetic, hypertensive patients - J Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone Syst. 2006 Dec;7(4):243-6 - "Group A: rosiglitazone (RSG) 4 mg + Telm 80 mg; Group B: RSG 4 mg + Aml 10 mg ... Lower values of glucose, HbA1C, HOMA index and higher adiponectin levels were observed in Group A compared to Group B ... insulin sensitivity may confer make Telm particularly suitable in the treatment of the metabolic syndrome" - Click here for research on why I feel that telmisartan should be the first line treatment for hypertension.

Telmisartan: The ACE of ARBs?  - Sharma 47 (5): 822 -- Hypertension, 3/27/06 - "telmisartan also reduced weight gain, increased total energy expenditure, and increased expression of key mitochondrial enzymes (cyclooxygenase-1 and mitochondrial transcription factor A) in skeletal muscle"

Obesity and benign prostatic enlargement: a large observational study in China - Urology. 2007 Apr;69(4):680-4 - "Obese Chinese men are at increased risk of an enlarged prostate compared with nonobese Chinese men"

Thiazolidinediones and the risk of lung, prostate, and colon cancer in patients with diabetes - J Clin Oncol. 2007 Apr 20;25(12):1476-81 - "We observed a 33% reduction in lung cancer risk among TZD users compared with nonusers after adjusting for confounder interactions ... The risk reduction for colorectal and prostate cancers did not reach statistical significance"

l-thyroxine augmentation of serotonergic antidepressants in female patients with refractory depression - J Affect Disord. 2007 Feb 6 - "The study included 17 female patients ... After four weeks of l-thyroxine augmentation, the remission, assessed as 7 or less points on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) was obtained in eleven patients (64.7%). Five other patients (29.5%) had responded (reduction>50% on HDRS) and one patient did not show an improvement"

Not just calcium and vitamin d: other nutritional considerations in osteoporosis - Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2007 Feb;9(1):85-92 - "Other nutritional considerations include nutrients such as vitamin B-12 and vitamin K that may reduce fracture risk by increasing bone mineral density as well as the improvement of bone microarchitecture. Diets high in fruits and vegetables contribute nutrients such as magnesium associated with bone health and may also produce an alkaline environment, reducing calcium excretion and thus improving bone density"

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):