Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/2/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

How Does Soy Promote Weight Loss? - Science Daily, 5/1/07 - "when soy consumption goes up, weight goes down"

Green Tea Extract Protects Against Brain Damage In New Mouse Model Of HIV-related Dementia - Science Daily, 5/1/07 - "epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major antioxidant derived from green tea ... The green tea compound inhibited the ability of the cytokine to act with the HIV proteins to cause death and damage of the neurons"

Ginseng, Ginko Biloba Do Not Interfere With Drug Absorption If Taken At Recommended Doses - Science Daily, 5/1/07 - "found daily use of ginseng or ginkgo biloba supplements at the recommended doses, or the combination of both supplements, are unlikely to alter the pharmacokinetics - by which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body - of the majority of prescription or over-the counter drugs"

Pistachios Lower Cholesterol, Provide Antioxidants - Science Daily, 4/30/07 - "Pistachio amounts of 1.5 ounces and 3 ounces -- one to two handfuls -- reduced risk for cardiovascular disease by significantly reducing LDL cholesterol levels and the higher dose significantly reduced lipoprotein ratios"

Moderate Coffee Drinking Reduces Many Risks, Panel Says - Science Daily, 4/30/07 - "Some research in neuropharamacology suggests that one cup of coffee can halve the risk of Parkinson's disease. Other studies have found it reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, kidney stones, gallstones, depression and even suicide ... persons who were heavy coffee consumers had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes" - [WebMD]

Statin Treatment Improves Spatial Memory In Mouse Models Of Alzheimer's - Science Daily, 4/30/07 - "Treatment with Simvastatin, one of the statin drugs widely used for lowering cholesterol in humans, significantly improved spatial memory - how to navigate a water maze - in mice genetically bred to have an Alzheimer's like disease" - See simvastatin at OffshoreRx1.com.

Effects of Statin Use on Muscle Strength, Cognition, and Depression - Medscape, 4/30/07 - "Statin nonusers tended to perform worse on each outcome measure"

Fish Oil May Help Kidney Disease Sufferers - Science Daily, 4/30/07 - "daily doses of fish oil in the form of a tablet or liquid had been shown to decrease inflammation - a common problem in people with kidney disease" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Green Tea Compound, EGCG, May Be A Therapy For People With Rheumatoid Arthritis - Science Daily, 4/29/07 - "the compound -- called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) -- inhibited the production of several molecules in the immune system that contribute to inflammation and joint damage in people with rheumatoid arthritis" - See Jarrow green tea at iHerb.

Drugs to Prevent Diabetes Questioned - WebMD, 4/26/07 - "the long-term benefits of such treatments are not known ... Avandia was found to lower type 2 diabetes risk by 62% among people at high risk for developing the disease in a large, international trial reported last fall"

Diets With High Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratios Enhance Risk for Depression, Inflammatory Disease - Medscape, 4/26/07 - "Whereas the early hunter-gatherers had a dietary omega-6:omega-3 ratio of 2:1 to 3:1, this ratio is now 15:1 to 17:1 in North America today ... compared with the study participants who did not have syndromal depression, the 6 participants who had depression had significantly higher omega-6:omega-3 ratios and higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines"

Herb may cut breast cancer risk - MSNBC, 4/26/07 - "Women who reported taking black cohosh (5 percent of blacks and 2 percent of whites) were at 61 percent lower risk of breast cancer" - See black cohosh products at iHerb.

Omega-3 may fight Alzheimer brain changes - Reuters, 4/26/07 - "After 9 months, the study found, mice on the diet supplemented with DHA alone had lower levels of beta-amyloid and tau in their brain tissue than the animals in the other three groups" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Flavonols may help ward off pancreatic cancer - Reuters, 4/25/07 - "People who had the largest amount of flavonols in their diet -- measured with a "food frequency" questionnaire -- had a 23-percent lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with people with the lowest levels"

High Insulin Levels Impair Intestinal Metabolic Function - Science Daily, 4/24/07 - "excessive insulin appears to slow the removal of chylomicrons from the blood stream following a fatty meal. Chylomicrons transport dietary fat from the intestine to the rest of the body ... excessive insulin appears to alter the mechanics of blood vessel walls, allowing chylomicrons and cholesterol to build up in them, which, over time, creates blockages in the blood stream, leading to heart problems"

High Melatonin Content Can Help Delay Aging, Mouse Study Suggests - Science Daily, 4/24/07 - "Therefore, the researcher asserts, daily melatonin intake in humans from the age of 30 or 40 could prevent – or, at least, delay – illnesses related to aging, free radicals and inflammatory processes, such as many neurodegenerative disorders (e.g. Parkinson's disease) and complications linked to other illnesses, like diabetes" - See melatonin products at iHerb.

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

Role of prescription omega-3 Fatty acids in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia - Pharmacotherapy. 2007 May;27(5):715-28 - "In patients with triglyceride levels above 500 mg/dl, approximately 4 g/day of EPA and DHA reduces triglyceride levels 45% and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels by more than 50%" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb or Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Effect of omega-3 Fatty Acid supplementation on the arachidonic Acid:eicosapentaenoic Acid ratio - Pharmacotherapy. 2007 May;27(5):633-8 - "Triglyceride levels were not reduced in patients with CAD but were significantly decreased in healthy subjects (by 20% decrease with omega-3 fatty acids 1.5 g/day and by 32% decrease with 3 g/day)"

Insulin resistance is associated with arterial stiffness independent of obesity in male adolescents - Hypertens Res. 2007 Jan;30(1):5-11 - "insulin resistance (IR) ... IR is a risk factor for the development of early atherosclerosis. Interventions that decrease IR in addition to weight reduction may be necessary to alter the early development of cardiovascular risk"

Comparison of the effects of pioglitazone and metformin on insulin resistance and hormonal markers in patients with impaired glucose tolerance and early diabetes - Hypertens Res. 2007 Jan;30(1):23-30 - "pioglitazone was superior to metformin for the improvement of insulin resistance and adiponectin ... Early intervention with pioglitazone or metformin therapy may reduce the incidence of future cardiovascular disease in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance or early diabetes"

Telmisartan shows an equivalent effect of vitamin C in further improving endothelial dysfunction after glycemia normalization in type 1 diabetes - Diabetes Care. 2007 Apr 24 - "Combining insulin and vitamin C normalized endothelial dysfunction and decreased oxidative stress to normal level. Telmisartan significantly improved basal endothelial function and decreased nitrotyrosine plasma levels. In patients treated with Telmisartan a near normalization of both flow mediated vasodilation and oxidative stress was achieved when glycemia was normalized, while adding vitamin C infusion did not show further effect on endothelial function or nitrotyrosine plasma levels" - Click here for why I feel that telmisartan should be the first line treatment for hypertension.

A randomized, double-blind comparison of duloxetine and venlafaxine in the treatment of patients with major depressive disorder - J Psychiatr Res. 2007 Apr 17 - "were no significant differences between duloxetine 60mg/day and venlafaxine 150mg/day as measured by GBR assessment at the end of 6 weeks (-1.418 vs. -1.079, P=0.217) or 12 weeks ... Nausea was the most common treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) for both drugs, and was significantly higher with duloxetine 60mg/day compared to venlafaxine 150mg/day during the first 6 weeks of treatment"

Long term effects of dietary sodium reduction on cardiovascular disease outcomes: observational follow-up of the trials of hypertension prevention (TOHP) - BMJ. 2007 Apr 20 - "Risk of a cardiovascular event was 25% lower among those in the intervention group (relative risk 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.57 to 0.99, P=0.04), adjusted for trial, clinic, age, race, and sex, and 30% lower after further adjustment for baseline sodium excretion and weight (0.70, 0.53 to 0.94)"

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):