Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 9/26/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Sex Boost From Late Hormone Therapy - WebMD, 9/24/07 - "Hormone therapy did not help the women's memory ... The level of sexual interest reported by women on hormone therapy increased 44%"

Tocotrienol may protect against DNA damage, says study - Nutra USA, 9/24/07 - "There are eight forms of vitamin E: four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta). Alpha-tocopherol (alpha-Toc) is the main source found in supplements and in the European diet, while gamma-tocopherol (gamma-Toc) is the most common form in the American diet ... While the majority of research on vitamin E has focused on alpha-Toc, studies into tocotrienols account for less than one per cent of all research into vitamin E ... blood cells from patients receiving the tocotrienol-rich supplement had significantly less DNA damage after three and six months of supplementation than those in the placebo group" - [Abstract] - See my favorite Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.

CLA isomers show promise against colon cancer - study - Nutra USA, 9/24/07 - "We have demonstrated that diets containing 0.1 per cent c9,t11 and t10,c12 CLA were equally effective in inhibiting colon cancer cell metastasis in vivo" - [Abstract] - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.

Lack Of Sleep Doubles Risk Of Death... But So Can Too Much Sleep - Science Daily, 9/24/07 - "Those who had cut their sleeping from 7h to 5 hours or less faced a 1.7 fold increased risk in mortality from all causes, and twice the increased risk of death from a cardiovascular problem in particular ... those individuals who showed an increase in sleep duration to 8 hours or more a night were more than twice as likely to die as those who had not changed their habit, however, predominantly from non-cardiovascular diseases"

Diet And Medications May Assist Prevention Of Prostate Cancer - Science Daily, 9/24/07 - "dutasteride, has reduced by 50 percent the number of cancerous biopsies among men with benign prostatic hypertrophy ... In one study of selenium, the incidence of prostate cancer was reduced by 49 percent over ten years ... Data already suggests novel uses of statins, commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering agents, and insulin modulating drugs, such as metformin or the glitazones" - See dutasteride at OffshoreRx1.com.

• Treatment Found To Reverse Hair Loss - Science Daily, 6/11/07 - "one of each pair of twins was given 0.5 mg/day of the medication, the other receiving a placebo ... After both 6 and 12-month intervals, hair loss was found to not only have been halted in twins using dutasteride, but hair growth was actively improved"
• The importance of dual 5alpha-reductase inhibition in the treatment of male pattern hair loss: results of a randomized placebo-controlled study of dutasteride versus finasteride - J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006 Dec;55(6):1014-23 - "Dutasteride increased target area hair count versus placebo in a dose-dependent fashion and dutasteride 2.5 mg was superior to finasteride at 12 and 24 weeks" - Note:  Dutasteride is Avodart®.  See dutasteride at OffshoreRx1.com.

Glucose Benefits of Wine in Diabetics - Medscape, 9/21/07 - "At the end of three months, 91 subjects remained in the study; those in the alcohol-intervention group experienced a statistically significant drop in fasting plasma glucose, from a mean of 139.6 mg/dL to 118 mg/dL"

Omega-3 may boost blood vessel elasticity - study - Nutra USA, 9/21/07 - "fish oil supplementation improved large artery elasticity, compared to placebo (15.51.5 versus 12.83.7 ml.mm.Hg-1 x 10, respectively)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Quick-burning Carbs May Cause Fatty Liver: Low-glycemic Diet Protected Mice - Science Daily, 9/21/07 - "After six months, the mice weighed the same. However, mice on the low-glycemic index diet were lean, with normal amounts of fat in throughout their bodies. Mice on the high-glycemic index diet had twice the normal amount of fat in their bodies, blood and livers"

Starchy diet 'may damage liver' - BBC News, 9/21/07 - ""High-glycaemic" foods - rapidly digested by the body - could be causing "fatty liver", increasing the risk of serious illness ... After six months on the diet, the mice weighed the same, but those on the high GI diet had twice the normal amount of fat in their bodies, blood and livers"

Stimulants Help Students With ADHD - WebMD, 9/20/07 - "Kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who take Ritalin or other prescription stimulants are more likely to achieve long-term academic success than children with ADHD who don’t take drugs"

Pomegranate Juice vs. Prostate Cancer? - WebMD, 9/20/07 - "The prostate tumors grew more slowly in the mice that got the pomegranate juice orally or by injection, compared with mice that got the placebo"

Low Vitamin D Linked To Higher Risk Of Hip Fracture - Science Daily, 9/20/07 - "The risk of hip fractures was 77 percent higher among women whose 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels were at the lowest concentrations ... most experts think that people need at least 800 to 1,000 international units a day" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Exceeds Expectations - WebMD, 9/19/07 - "Gardasil came on the market last year for preventing infection with two strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), 16 and 18, that are responsible for up to 70% of all cervical cancers, and HPV 6 and 11, which account for 90% of genital warts"

Male Breast Enlargement May Be Common - WebMD, 9/19/07 - "Underlying the condition is an imbalance of estrogen and testosterone. When estrogen levels get too high, the breasts can begin to grow" - See my aromatization page for ways to prevent it.  I take a quarter tablet of letrozole per day (OffshoreRx1.com) to prevent it.

Cell Phones May Cause Hearing Loss - WebMD, 9/19/07 - "One- to two-year users had a 16.48 decibel loss in the high-frequency range, he says, while those who used the phones more than four years had a 24.54 decibel loss ... That decrease in hearing over a relatively brief period may not be noticeable to mobile phone users but would be of concern to a hearing expert"

Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health - Medscape, 9/10/07 - "The cumulative scientific evidence demonstrates concordant J-shaped associations between alcohol intake and a variety of adverse health outcomes. These data suggest that alcohol consumption, like exercise, is most cardioprotective when done daily and in moderation.[29] It is tempting, based on the current wealth of evidence, to recommend small daily doses of alcohol (e.g., 1 drink per day) to nondrinkers with or at high risk for CV disease. Guidelines for sensible drinking developed in the United Kingdom state, "Middle-aged or elderly men and postmenopausal women who drink infrequently or not at all may wish to consider the possibility that light drinking may benefit their health".[42] We occasionally make this recommendation to patients well known to us who have no personal or family history of substance abuse, have no history of depression or bipolar disorder, and are nonsmokers. However, light to moderate drinking cannot be universally recommended to the general public or even patients with CV disease"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds:

Is the metabolic syndrome a risk factor for female sexual dysfunction in sexually active women? - Int J Impot Res. 2007 Sep 20 - "In premenopausal women, the MS was an independent risk factor for impaired sexual desire (P=0.03) with an age-adjusted odds ratio of 3.3 (95% confidence interval: 1.5-7.3). In premenopausal female sexual life, the MS represents an independent role via its correlation to impaired desire"

Higher serum free testosterone is associated with better cognitive function in older men, while total testosterone is not. The Health In Men Study - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2007 Sep 20 - "In community-dwelling older men, serum free testosterone >/= 210 pmol/l is associated with better cognitive performance"

Prevalence of and risk factors for vitamin B(12) deficiency in patients with Crohn's disease - Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2007 Sep 20 - "Vitamin B(12) abnormalities are common in patients with CD and patients with a prior ileal or ileocolonic resection are at particular risk" - See iHerb or Vitacost Vitamin B12 products.

Reduction of DNA damage in older healthy adults by Tri E((R)) Tocotrienol supplementation - Nutrition. 2007 Sep 19 - "Tri E((R)) Tocotrienol supplementation may be beneficial by reducing DNA damage as indicated by a reduction in DNA damage, SCE frequency, and urinary 8-OHdG" - See my favorite Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.

Influence of conjugated linoleic acid isomers on the metastasis of colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo - J Nutr Biochem. 2007 Oct;18(10):650-7 - "diets containing 0.1% c9,t11 and t10,c12 CLA were equally effective in inhibiting colon cancer cell metastasis in vivo. However, in vitro, only c9,t11 but not t10,c12 inhibited colon cancer cell migration and MMP-9 activity" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.

Pioglitazone Exerts Protective Effects Against Stroke in Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats, Independently of Blood Pressure - Stroke. 2007 Sep 20 - "Our work provides the first evidence that pioglitazone significantly protects against hypertension-induced cerebrovascular injury and stroke by improving vascular endothelial dysfunction, inhibiting brain inflammation, and reducing oxidative stress. These beneficial effects of pioglitazone were independent of blood pressure or blood sugar values. Thus, pioglitazone appears to be a potential therapeutic agent for stroke in type 2 diabetes with hypertension"

Alpha-tocopherol supplementation prevents the exercise-induced reduction of serum paraoxonase 1/arylesterase activities in healthy individuals - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep 19 - "Alpha-T supplementation may result in protection of the enzyme PON 1/Aryl activities from free radical production"

Comparative effects of quercetin and its predominant human metabolites on adhesion molecule expression in activated human vascular endothelial cells - Atherosclerosis. 2007 Sep 17 - "both quercetin and its metabolites, at physiological concentrations, can inhibit the expression of key molecules involved in monocyte recruitment during the early stages of atherosclerosis" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

A randomised placebo-controlled interventional trial of omega-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids on endothelial function and disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus - Ann Rheum Dis. 2007 Sep 17 - "Low dose dietary supplementation with omega-3 fish oils in SLE not only has a therapeutic effect on disease activity but also improves endothelial function and reduces oxidative stress and may therefore confer cardiovascular benefits"

Beyond lipids: the role of omega-3 Fatty acids from fish oil in the prevention of coronary heart disease - Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2007 Aug;9(2):145-53 - "Results of the recent JELIS trial in a Japanese population already consuming a high intake of omega-3 fatty acids showed a 19% risk reduction in major coronary events" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus and worsening glycaemic variables for established diabetes in men undergoing androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer - BJU Int. 2007 Sep 14 - "new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) ... Receipt of vitamin D had a protective effect (odds ratio 5.75 ... Patients receiving ADT for prostate cancer with or with no history of DM should have routine surveillance of glycaemic control, particularly when their BMI is >/= 30 kg/m(2), with appropriate preventive and treatment measures"

Efficacy of prolonged release melatonin in insomnia patients aged 55-80 years: quality of sleep and next-day alertness outcomes - Curr Med Res Opin. 2007 Sep 14 - "PR-melatonin results in significant and clinically meaningful improvements in sleep quality, morning alertness, sleep onset latency and quality of life in primary insomnia patients aged 55 years and over" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.

EPA and DHA in blood cell membranes from acute coronary syndrome patients and controls - Atherosclerosis. 2007 Sep 15 - "acute coronary syndromes (ACS) ... Compared with the lowest EPA+DHA group, the odds ratio for an ACS event was 0.58 (95% CI 0.42-0.80), in the intermediate EPA+DHA group and was 0.31 (95% CI 0.14-0.67; p for trend <0.0001) in the highest EPA+DHA group ... Odds for ACS case status increased incrementally as the EPA+DHA content decreased suggesting that low EPA+DHA may be associated with increased risk for ACS"

Health Focus (Interleukin 6 (IL-6)):

• Gamma-tocopherol and docosahexaenoic acid decrease inflammation in dialysis patients - J Ren Nutr. 2007 Sep;17(5):296-304 - "gamma tocopherol (308 mg) and DHA (800 mg) ... In the treatment group, but not in the placebo group, there were significant decreases in IL-6 (21.4 +/- 3.5 to 16.8 +/- 3.7 pg/mL), white blood cell (WBC) count (7.4 +/- 0.3 to 6.9 +/- 0.4 10(3)/microL), and neutrophil fraction of WBCs (4.8 +/- 0.3 to 4.4 +/- 0.3 10(3)/microL), at P < .05 for all"
• Clinical Update on Benefits of DHEA - A4M, 4/6/04 - "Recently, researchers discovered important anti-inflammatory properties of DHEA. It was known that DHEA can lower the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)" - See iHerb or Vitacost DHEA products.
• Effects of combined administration of vitamins C and E on reactive hyperemia and inflammatory process in chronic smokers - Atherosclerosis. 2003 Oct;170(2):261-7 - "short term administration of vitamins C (2 g/day) and E (800 IU/day) reduces serum levels of IL-1b, IL-6, sVCAM-1 and sICAM-1, and improves forearm vasodilatory response to reactive hyperemia in healthy young smokers, while monotherapy with vitamin C alone is ineffective" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin E products.
• Mediterranean Diet Lowers C-reactive Protein Levels - Medscape, 11/11/03 - "For each 10-point increase in diet score, there was a corresponding 0.22 mg/dL reduction in C-reactive protein levels, a 0.21 pg/ml reduction in interleukin-6, a 12.5 mg/dL decrease in fibrinogen, and a 0.87 mmol/L decrease in homocysteine levels (P < .05), he said. Also, white blood cell count decreased significantly"
• Omega-3 Fatty Acid Reduces Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines In Heart Transplant Patients - Doctor's Guide, 4/11/02 - "gave 25 stable heart transplant patients two capsules of omega-3 fatty acid daily - each capsule contained 500 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) ... The results suggest that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation increased concentrations of the anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-10, from 119 to 268 pg/mL (p=0.00008). There were reductions in systemic levels of pro-inflammatory IL-12, from 473 to 376 pg/mL (p=0.001), and IL-6, from 695 to 569 pg/mL (p<0.0001)"

Other IL-6 News:

• Human C-reactive Protein Regulates Myeloma Tumor Cell Growth And Survival - Science Daily, 9/15/07 - "CRP protects myeloma cells from apoptosis induced by chemotherapy drugs and stimulates myeloma cells to secrets more IL-6, which in turn provides additional protection to myeloma from apoptosis and stimulates liver cells to secrete more CRP. Thus, CRP could be a therapeutic target for breaking the vicious circle of myeloma to improve the therapeutic efficacy of currently available treatments"
• Why Liver Cancer Is More Prevalent In Males Than In Females - Science Daily, 7/5/07 - "By eliminating IL-6, we reduced the incidence of liver cancer in the males by close to 90%"
• The Role of IL-6 in Inflammatory Diseases - Medscape, 6/4/07
• Two Markers Strongly Linked To Prostate Cancer Incidence And Mortality Almost A Decade Prior To Diagnosis - Science Daily, 11/14/06 - "Increased levels of two markers of inflammation, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), are significantly associated with prostate cancer incidence and mortality almost a decade prior to diagnosis"
• Cytokines Play Role in Sleep Disorders, Obesity - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/06 - "Interventions to reduce or neutralize proinflammatory cytokines may be novel treatments in patients with sleep disorders and obesity ... Three inflammation-associated cytokines—tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α, interleukin-1 (IL-1), and IL-6—are elevated in obese and sleep-deprived patients, and may mediate excessive daytime sleepiness and fatigue"
• Researchers Find Added Benefit of Statins in Those at High Risk for Heart Disease, Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 9/13/06 - "found marked reductions in two pivotal biomarkers of inflammation: C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6. While these markers are typically elevated in insulin resistance, a condition that precedes the development of diabetes, statin therapy reduced these levels by 36% and 44%, respectively"
• Chemical can slow memory - USA Today, 3/1/06 - "The team discovered that people with the highest IL-6 levels had the worst scores. These low performers didn't have scores that signaled Alzheimer's, but they had a less-than-stellar ability to multi-task or to remember new information"
• Low-dose Periostat (Doxycycline) Shows Benefits in Patients with Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 11/20/02 - "At six-month follow-up, sub-antimicrobial dose doxycyline significantly reduced CRP levels by 45.8 percent compared to baseline values (p<0.05). The drug was also associated with a 33.5 percent reduction in interleukin-6 and a 50 percent reduction in metalloproteinase ... The findings are exciting, since research is now showing that CRP is both a key marker of inflammation leading to future acute coronary events, but also that CRP itself may contribute to the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis"
• C-Reactive Protein, IL-6 Levels Tied to Heart Disease in Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 8/28/02 - "Baseline levels of the inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are independently associated with a two-fold increase in risk of healthy postmenopausal women developing coronary heart disease (CHD)"
• Another Study Suggests Inflammation May Trigger Diabetes - WebMD, 7/17/01 - "The immune system and inflammation may be factors causing type 2 diabetes ... women who had high levels of immune system substances called C-reactive protein or interleukin-6, or both, in their blood were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes ... Both C-reactive protein, called CRP, and interleukin-6, or IL-6, are considered indicators for inflammation"

IL-6 Abstracts:

• Interleukin-6 stimulates lipolysis and fat oxidation in humans - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Jul;88(7):3005-10
• Plasma interleukin-6 is associated with psychological coronary risk factors: Moderation by use of multivitamin supplements - Brain Behav Immun. 2003 Aug;17(4):296-303 - "Plasma IL-6 was independently associated with anger, hostility, and severity of depressive symptoms ... Multivitamin use was associated with lower plasma IL-6 levels, but only among men with high composite factor scores ... These data suggest that plasma IL-6 is elevated among healthy men characterized by a propensity for anger, a hostile disposition, and greater severity of depressive symptoms and that multivitamin supplements could ameliorate plasma IL-6 levels among these men"

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