Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 5/16/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Boiling Broccoli Ruins Its Anti-cancer Properties, According To Study - Science Daily, 5/15/07 - "Boiling appeared to have a serious impact on the retention of those important glucosinolate within the vegetables. The loss of total glucosinolate content after boiling for 30 minutes was: broccoli 77%, Brussel sprouts 58%, cauliflower 75% and green cabbage 65%"

Study: Vitamins tied to prostate cancer - USA Today, 5/15/07 - "Overall, the researchers found no link between multivitamin use and early-stage prostate cancer ... perhaps high-dose vitamins had little effect until a tumor appeared, and then could spur its growth"

Vitamin D Supplements May Offer Cheap And Effective Immune System Boost Against TB - Science Daily, 5/14/07 - "a single 2.5mg dose of vitamin D may be enough to boost the immune system to fight against tuberculosis (TB) and similar bacteria for at least 6 weeks"

Grain Fiber And Magnesium Intake Associated With Lower Risk For Diabetes - Science Daily, 5/14/07 - "those who consumed the most cereal fiber had a 33 percent lower risk of developing diabetes than those who took in the least, while those who consumed the most magnesium had a 23 percent lower risk than those who consumed the least. There was no association between fruit or vegetable fiber and diabetes risk"

Calcium/Vitamin D Slows Weight Gain - WebMD, 5/14/07 - "Half the women took 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day ... Women not taking enough calcium were getting the greatest benefit. They were 11% less likely to gain weight and more likely to remain weight-stable or lose weight"

Higher Intake Of Fish And Vitamin D Levels Linked To Lower Risk Of Age-related Macular Disease - Science Daily, 5/14/07 - "Individuals who have higher dietary intake of foods with omega-3 fatty acids and higher fish consumption have a reduced risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration, while those with higher serum levels of vitamin D may have a reduced risk of the early stages of the disease" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com and Vitamin D products at iHerb.

Nutrients may cut macular degeneration risk - CNN, 5/14/07 - "One type of omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid or DHA -- commonly found in fatty fish such as salmon and tuna -- is believed to play an important role in the normal function of the retina"

One Pill May Be Better Than Two For Treating Patients With High Blood Pressure - Science Daily, 5/11/07 - "Adults with high blood pressure and additional risk factors for heart disease may benefit more from taking one tablet rather than two, if their current treatment combines the lipid-lowering medication atorvastatin with the blood pressure-lowering medication amlodipine" - See http://www.caduet.com but I'd be concerned about the side effects and increased chance of diabetes with amlodipine (a calcium channel blocker).  See:

• Fasting Glucose Increases in Older Adults With Hypertension Regardless of Treatment Type - Medscape, 11/16/06 - "During the first 2 years, the mean increase is serum glucose levels was 8.5, 5.5, and 3.5 mg/dL among the chlorthalidone, amlodipine, and lisinopril groups, respectively" - Whereas:
  • The effect of telmisartan on glucose and lipid metabolism in nondiabetic, insulin-resistant subjects - Metabolism. 2006 Sep;55(9):1149-54 - "in insulin-resistant persons 12 weeks of telmisartan result in a significant improvement in glucose metabolism with a predominant improvement in beta-cell function"
  • 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"
  • 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"
  • Blood Pressure Drugs May Help People Avoid 'Type 2' Disease, but Healthy Habits Still Best - WebMD, 10/16/01 - "people at high risk for developing diabetes who take the drug Altace [ramipril] were 34% less likely to develop diabetes than those who did not get the drug"
• Angiotensin II Antagonist Telmisartan Fights Stiffening Arteries In Hypertensive Diabetics - Doctor's Guide, 4/6/01 - "not only effectively lowered blood pressure compared with placebo, but also significantly decreased arterial stiffness"
• Not All ACE Inhibitors Have the Same Effect on Mortality - Medscape, 7/28/04 - "enalapril, fosinopril, captopril, quinapril, and lisinopril were associated with higher mortality than was ramipril"
• Ramipril Reduces Advanced Glycation End Products In Non-Diabetic Nephropathy - Doctor's Guide, 4/21/03 - "Ramipril also mildly decreased levels of advanced glycation end products"
• Potential Use of Statins and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors to Treat Cardiac Syndrome X - Doctor's Guide, 1/20/04 - "Exercise duration was 23.5% greater after atorvastatin plus ramipril treatment"
• Do we use an ACE, an ARB, or both? What clinical trials tell us - Patient Care, 4/1/05 - "Combining ACEs and ARBs can improve outcomes, particularly for patients with heart failure and those who have hypertension with diabetes"
• 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/or ramipril (an ACE inhibitor) might be a better choice.

Could Carrots Be The Secret To A Long-life And Sex Appeal? - Science Daily, 5/10/07 - "males eating more carotenoids were better able to protect their cells from damage and so lived longer - and that females found these long-lived males particularly attractive"

Aspirin May Stop Colon Cancer - WebMD, 5/10/07 - "people who took a full-dose aspirin tablet every day for at least five years had as much as a 74% lower risk of colon cancer 10 to 14 years later. In the U.S."

Estrogen Is Important For Bone Health In Men As Well As Women - Science Daily, 5/10/07 - "As for men - new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that low amounts of active estrogen metabolites also can increase their osteoporosis risk"

Health Benefits Of Whole Grains Confirmed - Science Daily, 5/9/07 - "Consuming an average of 2.5 servings of whole grains each day is associated with a 21 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to consuming only 0.2 servings"

Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acids Have Positive Effect On Muscle Mass, Study Shows - Science Daily, 5/9/07 - "In mammals, the ability to use nutrients from food and convert them into muscle proteins decreases with age. Though the exact cause of this phenomenon is still unclear, insulin resistance of aging muscle cells has been suggested as a possible answer ... omega-3 fatty acids are known to improve glucose metabolism in people and animals showing insulin resistance ... After five weeks, animals with the marine omega-3 diet showed increased sensitivity to insulin which, in turn, improved protein metabolism" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

FDA Approvals: Veramyst, Niaspan, and HepaGam B - Medscape, 5/9/07 - "Film-Coated Niacin Extended-Release Caplets (Niaspan) May Reduce Flushing ... use of the new orange-coated formulation significantly reduced the incidence of flushing by 9%"

Baby Aspirin May Be Best for Heart - WebMD, 5/8/07 - "The review shows that aspirin doses greater than 81 milligrams per day haven't been proven better than baby aspirin for the heart and may increase the chances of stomach bleeding"

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

The effect of alpha-lipoic acid on symptoms and skin blood flow in diabetic neuropathy - Diabet Med. 2007 May 8 - "study suggests that alpha-lipoic acid, a potent antioxidant, improves symptoms of diabetic neuropathy"

Metabolic effects of telmisartan and irbesartan in type 2 diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome treated with rosiglitazone - J Clin Pharm Ther. 2007 Jun;32(3):261-8 - "Telmisartan seemed to improve glycaemic and lipid control and metabolic parameters of the metabolic syndrome better than irbesartan. These differences could be relevant in the choice of therapy for this condition and diabetes" - Click here for more reasons telmisartan might be a better first line treatment for hypertension.

Relation of increased hemoglobin a(1c) levels to severity of peripheral arterial disease in patients with diabetes mellitus - Am J Cardiol. 2007 May 15;99(10):1468-9 - "the higher the hemoglobin A(1c) levels in patients with diabetes with PAD, the higher the prevalence of severe PAD"

The effects of a high-fruit and -vegetable, high-fiber, low-fat dietary intervention on serum concentrations of insulin, glucose, IGF-I and IGFBP-3 - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 May 9 - "A low-fat, high-fiber, high-fruit and -vegetable dietary intervention had minimal impact on serum concentrations of insulin, glucose, IGF-I and IGFBP-3 overall, but in lean subjects the intervention resulted in a significant reduction in serum glucose concentration"

The effect of testosterone replacement therapy on adipocytokines and C-reactive protein in hypogonadal men with type 2 diabetes - Eur J Endocrinol. 2007 May;156(5):595-602 - "There was a significant inverse correlation between baseline IL-6 and total testosterone (r=-0.68; P=0.002) and bioavailable testosterone levels (r=-0.73; P=0.007). CRP levels also correlated significantly with total testosterone levels (r=-0.59; P=0.01). Testosterone treatment reduced leptin (-7141.9 +/- 1461.8 pg/ml; P=0.0001) and adiponectin levels (-2075.8 +/- 852.3 ng/ml; P=0.02). There was a significant reduction in waist circumference"

• Adiponectin definition - Medterms.com - "Low levels of adiponectin are found in people who are obese (and who are at increased risk of a heart attack)"

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):