Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/9/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Low-Glycemic-Index Diet Slows AMD Progression - Medscape, 5/8/07 - "consumption of highly refined carbohydrates can lead to up to a 17% increased risk of AMD progression"

Thiazide and Beta-Blocker Use Linked With Increased Risk for Incident Diabetes - Medscape, 5/8/07 - "the relative risk of incident diabetes for those taking a thiazide diuretic compared with those not taking a thiazide was 1.20 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08 - 1.33) in older women; 1.45 (95% CI, 1.17 - 1.79) in younger women; and 1.36 (95% CI, 1.17 - 1.58) in men ... the risk for incident diabetes was also increased in patients taking beta-blockers relative to those who were not: 1.32 (95% CI, 1.20 - 1.46) in older women and 1.20 (95% CI, 1.05 -1.38) in men. In younger women, a category of "other antihypertensives" was used that included beta-blockers, and their use was associated with an increased risk for 1.46"

Cholesterol Drugs May Fight Lung Cancer - WebMD, 5/7/07 - "People who take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs for more than six months -- even smokers -- cut their lung cancer risk by 55% ... Taking the drugs for four or more years cut lung cancer risk by 77%"

Hyperglycemia Linked to Cancer Risk - Physician's Weekly, 5/7/07 - "Risk of cancer of the pancreas, endometrium, urinary tract, and of malignant melanoma was statistically significantly associated with high fasting glucose with [relative risk ratios] of 2.49, 1.86, 1.69, and 2.16, respectively" - See my page on Insulin and Aging.

Elevated Serum Estradiol Ups Stroke Risks - Physician's Weekly, 5/7/07 - "High levels of serum estradiol may increase the risk of stroke in elderly men"

Combining Agents Leads to Safe Treatment of Lipid Abnormalities - Physician's Weekly, 5/7/07 - "Combining the use of statins and niacin should be encouraged because it appears to safely treat multiple lipid abnormalities in appropriate high-risk patients" - See niacin at Amazon.com.

Some Hypertension Drugs May Help Reduce Dementia Risk - Science Daily, 5/5/07 - "Centrally acting drugs include captropril (Capoten®), fosinopril (Monopril®), lisinopril (Prinivil® or Zestri®), perindopril (Aceon®), ramipril (Altace®) and trandolapril (Mavik®) ... The study found a link between taking centrally active ACE inhibitors and lower rates of mental decline as measured by the Modified Mini-Mental State Exam, a test that evaluates memory, language, abstract reasoning and other cognitive functions" - Click here for why I feel that the telmisartan/ramipril combo should be the first line treatment for people that require two hypertension medications.

Fish, Seafood Better Than Olive Oil, Nuts Against Heart Disease - Science Daily, 5/4/07 - "mice fed diets high in saturated and monounsaturated fat showed an increase in acyl-coenzyme A compared to mice fed a diet enriched in polyunsaturated fat. These results suggest that polyunsaturated fat is a more suitable replacement than monounsaturated fat for dietary saturated fat"

Relation of Cortisol Levels and Bone Mineral Density Among Premenopausal Women With Major Depression - Medscape, 5/4/07 - "a lower BMD and increased bone resorption were found in women with mild depression. Major depression had important effects on BMD and bone turnover markers. Depression should be considered among risk factors for osteoporosis in premenopausal women, therefore it may be useful to assess BMD values of MDD patients, and to treat them in cases of lower BMD values" - See my cortisol page.

Statins may cut risk of cataracts by half - Reuters, 5/4/07 - "people who took statins had a 48 percent reduced risk of developing any type of cataract ... it is plausible that treatment with statins, which are thought to have antioxidant as well as cholesterol-lowering properties, could protect against this common age-related eye problem"

Vitamin Extends Life In Yeast, Scientists Find - Science Daily, 5/3/07 - "providing a newly discovered vitamin activates the yeast anti-aging gene product Sir2, which resembles sirtuins found in humans. The new work builds on Brenner's prior discovery of the vitamin, termed NR (nicotinamide riboside), a natural product found in milk. Like the B3 vitamin, niacin, NR is a precursor to a versatile cellular factor that is vital for all life"

Tea drinkers may have lower skin cancer risk - Reuters, 5/4/07 - "Men and women who had ever been regular tea drinkers -- having one or more cups a day -- were 20 percent to 30 percent less likely to develop the cancers than those who didn't drink tea"

Nitric Oxide: Key To Cardiovascular And Pulmonary Function And Drug Effectiveness - Science Daily, 5/3/07 - "Nitric oxide is a molecule produced by the body that controls many functions, including the contraction or dilation of blood vessels ... Almost half of all drugs on the market today, as well as many hormone and neurotransmitters, target a specific family of cell surface receptors known as G-protein coupled receptors. The researchers believe that the presence or absence of nitric oxide or SNOs determines whether these receptors continue to function properly" - Related articles:

• Vitamins enhance benefits of exercise for heart - Nutra USA, 5/25/04 - "Exercise alone has been shown to increase nitric oxide in the body ... But adding the amino acid L-arginine and the antioxidants vitamins C and E to the mix significantly magnified the effect" [WebMD]
• Nitric Oxide Now -- Ask Me How -  WashingtonPost.com, 10/6/03 - "In the arteries, the innermost layer of cells releases nitric oxide to signal smooth muscle cells to dilate (increase the diameter of) the arteries. This allows blood to flow more freely, particularly during exercise ... By the 1990s, many scientists saw nitric oxide as the next great weapon for treating heart disease, impotence and even bacterial infections ... Niteworks has L-arginine and also L-citrulline, which recycles spent L-arginine by resupplying it with atoms it lost producing nitric oxide ... "Ninety dollars a month? That's obscene," Murad said. "You can probably get [vitamin] C and E for pennies a day. You can probably get arginine for about a dollar a day"" - See L-citrulline at Amazon.com.
• Impotence: A Red Flag for Heart Disease - HealthDay, 9/27/04 - "Nitric oxide is very important for normal erectile function ... We do know that statins improve the function of the enzyme, nitric oxide synthase, that produces nitric oxide inside the blood vessels"
• See my nitric oxide page for more ways to increase it.

Preventing Breast Cancer? - Dr. Weil, 5/3/07 - "Take 2 grams of fish oil a day. High omega-3 fatty acid intake significantly reduces your risk of breast cancer" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb or Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Diabetes drugs may lower risk of lung cancer - Reuters, 5/3/07 - "patients who were prescribed thiazolidinediones had a 33 percent lower risk of lung cancer than patients who were not prescribed thiazolidinediones, the researchers report. These drugs may also reduce the risk of prostate and colon cancer, but the findings were not statistically significant"

FDA Warns About Fake Internet Drugs - WebMD, 5/2/07 - "The FDA today strongly cautioned consumers about purchasing drugs from 24 web sites that may be involved in the distribution of counterfeit drugs"

Estrogen Use Before 65 Linked To Reduced Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 5/2/07 - "women who used any form of estrogen hormone therapy before the age of 65 were nearly 50 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or dementia"

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

Rosiglitazone prevents free fatty acid-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 May 1 - "Rosiglitazone mitigates the increase in FFA after infusion of triglyceride/heparin and prevents FFA-induced endothelial dysfunction"

The effect of pioglitazone on recurrent myocardial infarction in 2,445 patients with type 2 diabetes and previous myocardial infarction: results from the PROactive (PROactive 05) Study - J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007 May 1;49(17):1772-80 - "In high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes and previous MI, pioglitazone significantly reduced the occurrence of fatal and nonfatal MI and ACS"

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