Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/13/08.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Low Vitamin D Levels Pose Large Threat To Health; Overall 26 Percent Increased Risk Of Death - Science Daily, 8/12/08 - "This translates overall to an estimated 26 percent increased risk of any death, though the number of deaths from heart disease alone was not large enough to meet scientific criteria to resolve that it was due to low vitamin D levels ... Previous results from the same nationwide survey showed that 41 percent of men and 53 percent of women are technically deficient in the nutrient, with vitamin D levels below 28 nanograms per milliliter" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Proton Pump Inhibitors Increase Risk Of Bone Fractures, Study Finds - Science Daily, 8/12/08 - "Patients who use proton pump inhibitors for 7 or more years to treat reflux, peptic ulcers and other conditions are at greater risk of osteoporosis-related fractures"

Running Slows the Effects of Aging - WebMD, 8/11/08 - "Older runners have fewer disabilities, remain more active as they get into their 70s and 80s, and are half as likely as non-runners to die early deaths, the study shows ... If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise ... The researchers used national death records to learn which participants died and why. Nineteen years into the study, 34% of the non-runners had died, compared with only 15% of the runners" - [Science Daily]

Low Level of Vitamin D Ups Death Risk - WebMD, 8/11/08 - "Over an average follow-up period of about nine years, 1,806 participants died. The researchers found a 26% increased risk of death from any cause for the quartile of participants with the lowest vitamin D levels compared to those with the highest levels" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Pain 'linked with low vitamin D' - BBC News, 8/11/08 - "Low levels of the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D, may contribute to chronic pain among women ... If I had chronic pain I would certainly check I was getting enough vitamin D" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Eat Oily Fish At Least Once A Week To Protect Your Eyesight In Old Age - Science Daily, 8/8/08 - "people who habitually consume oily fish at least once a week compared with less than once a week are 50% less likely to have wet AMD. There was no benefit from consumption of non oily white fish. There was a strong inverse association between levels of DHA and EPA and wet AMD. People in the top 25% of DHA and EPA levels (300 mg per day and above) were 70% less likely to have wet AMD" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Broccoli can reverse diabetic heart damage, say researchers - Nutra USA, 8/8/08 - "Our study suggests that compounds such as Sulforaphane from broccoli may help counter processes linked to the development of vascular disease in diabetes ... Published in the journal Diabetes Care, the epidemiological study of 71,346 female nurses found for every additional serving of green leafy vegetables, the risk of developing diabetes may be reduced by almost 10 per cent" - [Abstract]

Vitamin C may help lower diabetes risk - MSNBC, 8/7/08 - "the likelihood of developing diabetes was 62 percent lower in men and women with the highest circulating vitamin C levels, relative to men and women with the lowest vitamin C levels" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com.

Periodontal Disease May Independently Predict New-Onset Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 8/7/08 - "Individuals with elevated levels of periodontal disease were nearly twice as likely to become diabetic in that 20-year timeframe"

Eating Fish May Reduce the Risk for Subclinical Brain Abnormalities - Medscape, 8/7/08 - "Dietary intake of tuna and other fish appear to lower the prevalence of subclinical infarcts and white-matter abnormalities ... We also found that broiled and baked fish appeared to be beneficial, while fried fish was not ... The findings add to prior evidence suggesting fish with higher eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid content appear to have clinically important health benefits" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Stress Hormone Found To Regulate Brain Neurotransmission - Science Daily, 8/7/08 - "When we are subjected to a stress, our adrenal glands secrete hormones that affect our entire body. One of these hormones, cortisol, enables us to adapt physically and mentally to the stimulus. Following a major or repeated stress that the individual has no control over, however, cortisol is secreted in great quantities over a long period of time. This hypersecretion has damaging effects on the individual, to the point of accelerating aging and facilitating the onset of illnesses such as depression"

Dietary Supplement Use in Cancer Care: Help or Harm (.pdf) - Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2008 Aug 1;22(4):581-617 - "Immune Modulation ..."

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Green tea reduces LDL oxidability and improves vascular function - J Am Coll Nutr. 2008 Apr;27(2):209-13 - "The mean diameter of the brachial artery following the post-compression hyperaemia phase rose significantly (p < 0.0001) after treatment with green tea extract. Flow-mediated brachial artery vasodilation ranged from 5.68% for the placebo phase to 11.98% after the green tea extract (p = 0.02). The consumption of green tea extract was associated with a significant 37.4% reduction in the concentration of oxidized LDL (TBARS) (p = 0.017). The levels of anti-oxidized LDL IgM antibodies fell significantly after treatment (p = 0.002) ... This study found that consumption of green tea extract by women for five weeks produced modifications in vascular function and an important decrease in serum oxidizability" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Protective Effects of Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Extract on Restraint Stress-Induced Liver Damage in Mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Aug 9 - "Bilberry extract (containing 42.04% anthocyanins) was oral administrated to mice at 50, 100, and 200 mg/(kg.day) for five days, which remarkably decreased plasma ALT level to 17.23 +/- 2.49 U/L at the dose of 200 mg/(kg.day) and thus alleviated stress-induced liver damage. In addition, bilberry extracts increased glutathione (GSH) and vitamin C levels and significantly decreased MDA and nitric oxide (NO) levels in the liver tissues. These results suggest that bilberry extract plays an important role in protecting against restraint stress-induced liver damage by both scavenging free radicals activity and lipid peroxidation inhibitory effect. This study showed the beneficial health effects of bilberry extract through its antioxidative action" - See bilberry at Amazon.com.

The angiotensin II receptor blocker telmisartan improves insulin resistance and has beneficial effects in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes and poor glycemic control - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2008 Aug 8 - "The telmisartan significantly improved HOMA-IR in hypertensive patients and also significantly decreased HbA1c in type 2 diabetic patients especially in the patients with poor glycemic control (HbA1c>==8.0%). These results indicate that telmisartan improves insulin resistance and gives beneficial effects in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes and a poor glycemic control" - Just another reason I feel that telmisartan should be the first line treatment for hypertension.  Click here for other reasons.  See telmisartan at OffshoreRx1.com.

Association of WBC count and glucose metabolism among Chinese population aged 40 years and over - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2008 Aug 6 - "We concluded that an increase in WBC count was associated with the deterioration of glucose tolerance"

Oily fish consumption, dietary docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid intakes, and associations with neovascular age-related macular degeneration - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):398-406 - "neovascular AMD (NV-AMD) ... Eating oily fish at least once per week compared with less than once per week was associated with a halving of the OR for NV-AMD" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Serum selenium and serum lipids in US adults - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):416-23 - "Elevated serum selenium was associated with elevated serum concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triacylglycerols, apo B, and apo A-I among US adults, a selenium-replete population"

Healthier lifestyle predicts higher circulating testosterone in older men. The Health In Men Study - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2008 Aug 7 - "In men >65 years old, higher lifestyle score reflecting greater engagement in healthy behaviours predicts higher subsequent total testosterone and SHBG levels. This relationship appears cumulative and may reflect interaction between lifestyle and insulin sensitivity. Successfully promoting healthy behaviours in older men could ameliorate the age-related decline in circulating testosterone"

Prevalence of low male testosterone levels in primary care in Germany: cross-sectional results from the DETECT study - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2008 Aug 7 - "Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that obesity, metabolic syndrome, cancer, intake of six or more drugs, acute inflammation, and non-smoking were associated with hypogonadal testosterone levels. Higher age, liver diseases, and cancer were associated with very low testosterone levels (<1.0 ng/ml) ... Hypogonadal testosterone levels are common in primary care, particularly in patients with the above conditions"

Relation of dietary and other lifestyle traits to difference in serum adiponectin concentration of Japanese in Japan and Hawaii: the INTERLIPID Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):424-30 - "The significantly higher mean serum adiponectin concentration in Japan than in Hawaii may be attributable largely to differences in BMI"

Activation of NF-E2-related factor-2 reverses biochemical dysfunction of endothelial cells induced by hyperglycemia linked to vascular disease - Diabetes. 2008 Aug 4 - "Sulforaphane (SFN) is an activator of transcription factor NF-E2-related factor-2 (nrf2) that regulates gene expression through the promoter antioxidant response element (ARE). Nrf2 regulates the transcription of a battery of protective and metabolic enzymes ... We conclude that activation of nrf2 may prevent biochemical dysfunction and related functional responses of endothelial cells induced by hyperglycemia in which increased expression of transketolase has a pivotal role" - [Nutra USA]

Association of vitamin D deficiency with heart failure and sudden cardiac death in a large cross-sectional study of patients referred for coronary angiography - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Aug 5 - "sudden cardiac death (SCD) ... Low levels of 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D are associated with prevalent myocardial dysfunction, deaths due to heart failure and SCD" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

High adiponectin concentrations are associated with the metabolically healthy obese phenotype - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Aug 5 - "Certain obese individuals have adiponectin levels similar to those found in normal BMI subjects; this is associated with the metabolically healthy obese phenotype" - See my adiponectin page for ways to increase it.

Salivary cortisol is related to atherosclerosis of carotid arteries - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Aug 5 - "area under the curve (AUC), which is a measure of total cortisol exposure while awake, and the slope, which is a measure of diurnal cortisol decline. Results: Total cortisol exposure while awake (AUC) was associated with higher plaque scores (beta = 0.08 per SD of AUC, 95% CI; 0.00 - 0.17, p-value = 0.04) in a fully adjusted linear regression model. Persons with an AUC in the highest tertile had a higher number of plaques of carotid arteries compared to those in the lowest tertile (3.08 versus 2.80 ... Our results support the hypothesis that increased total cortisol exposure is independently associated with atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries" - See my cortisol page for ways to reduce it.  I was really big on reducing cortisol when I first started my newsletter but there hasn't been much news on it lately.

Supplement Focus (Vitamin C):

Vitamin C News & Research:

• vitamin C products at Amazon.com
• Vitamin C may help lower diabetes risk - MSNBC, 8/7/08 - "the likelihood of developing diabetes was 62 percent lower in men and women with the highest circulating vitamin C levels, relative to men and women with the lowest vitamin C levels" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin C Injections Slow Tumor Growth In Mice - Science Daily, 8/4/08 - "high concentrations of ascorbate had anticancer effects in 75 percent of cancer cell lines tested, while sparing normal cells. In their paper, the researchers also showed that these high ascorbate concentrations could be achieved in people" - Note:  I was taking about 8 grams of vitamin C per day when I had neck cancer.  Maybe that's what saved me.
• Vitamin C-rich diet may slash diabetes risk - Nutra USA, 7/29/08 - "Increased blood levels of vitamin C may reduce the risk of developing diabetes by 62 per cent ... Correlating blood levels of vitamin C and diabetes, the researchers found that men and women with the highest blood levels (at least 1.10 and 1.29 mg/dL, respectively) had a 62 per cent reduction in their risk of developing type-2 diabetes, compared to men and women with the lowest blood levels (less than 0.56 and 0.77 mg/dL, respectively)"
• How Humans Make Up For An 'Inborn' Vitamin C Deficiency - Science Daily, 3/20/08
• Vitamin C can keep you healthy, looking younger - CNN.com, 2/27/08 - "people who ate foods rich in vitamin C had fewer wrinkles and less age-related dry skin than those whose diets contained only small amounts of the vitamin. C helps form collagen, which smooths fine lines and wrinkles ... Farris recommends La Roche-Posay Active C facial moisturizer or SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic topical antioxidant treatment ... taking more than 700 milligrams of C supplements daily reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 25 percent. And a recent study from Harvard University researchers hints that women who take a combo of 500 milligrams of vitamin C daily and 600 IU of vitamin E (another antioxidant) can cut their risk of stroke by 30 percent ... Pairing vitamins C and E is smart for another reason: It may lessen your Alzheimer's risks by as much as 64 percent ..." - See La Roche-Posay Active C facial moisturizer or SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic at Amazon.com and vitamin C products at Amazon.com.
• Fruit, Vegetable Eaters Have Fewer Strokes - WebMD, 1/9/08 - "Specifically, vitamin C levels may prove to be a good predictive indicator of stroke risk, independent of known risk factors such as age, smoking history, blood pressure, and cholesterol, they write"
• Vitamin C, Surgery, Arnica Montana - Dr. Weil, 1/4/08
• Vitamin C linked to lower stroke risk: study - WebMD, 1/7/08 - "The highest average blood levels of vitamin C (greater than 66 micromoles per litre) were associated with a 42 per cent lower risk of stroke, compared to the lowest average blood levels (less than 41 micromoles per litre)"
• Vitamin C and dairy linked to less abdominal weight - Nutra USA, 11/16/07 - "low vitamin C intake was associated with a 131 per cent increase in probability of central fat accumulation, while low calcium increased the probability by 30 per cent" - [Abstract]
• Vitamin C May Slow Skin Wrinkling - WebMD, 10/8/07 - "After adjusting for other factors likely to influence skin aging, such as sun exposure and smoking, vitamin C and linoleic acid were independently associated with skin aging ... After digestion, linoleic acid is converted to DHA and EPA -- two fatty acids" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com and Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com. - Note:  I'm not sure that is correct.  Linoleic acid is an omega-6, which is not converted to DHA and EPA.  Most Americans get about ten time too much omega-6 already.
• How Vitamin C Stops Cancer - Science Daily, 9/10/07 - "Both of these cancers produce high levels of free radicals that can be suppressed by feeding the mice supplements of antioxidants, either vitamin C or N-acetylcysteine (NAC) ... Some rapidly growing tumors consume enough energy to easily suck out the available oxygen in their vicinity, making HIF-1 absolutely critical for their continued survival. But HIF-1 can only operate if it has a supply of free radicals. Antioxidants remove these free radicals and stop HIF-1, and the tumor, in its tracks"
• Fat Transforms Vitamin C From 'Good Cop' Into 'Bad Cop' - Science Daily, 9/4/07 - "Nitrites, which are present in human saliva, and in certain preserved foodstuffs, may be converted to cancer causing compounds called nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are formed in acidic conditions, such as those afforded by stomach acid, but vitamin C inhibits their formation, by converting nitrite to nitric oxide ... Without fat, vitamin C curbed the levels of two nitrosamines by a factor of between five and 1000. And it completely eliminated the production of the other two ... But when 10% fat was added, vitamin C actually boosted the production of nitrosamines between 8 and 140-fold"
• Is there anything that I can do to aid recovery and reduce soreness [from exercise]? - Dr. Murray - "Take 3,000-8,000 mg of vitamin C and 400-800 IU of vitamin E in divided doses daily"
• Vitamin C 'benefits diabetics' - BBC News, 6/28/07 - "Vitamin C neutralises free radicals, while Telmisarten stimulates the natural removal of the molecules by cells"
• An Antioxidant Update? - Dr. Weil, 10/9/06
• Ester-C gets tolerability boost - Nutra USA, 5/5/06
• Vitamin C could lower body fat levels - Nutra USA, 4/6/06 - "As vitamin C blood concentrations fell, so did the participants' ability to oxidize fat (an 11 per cent reduction)"
• Vitamin C could reduce inflammation - Nutra USA, 3/8/06 - "High blood levels of vitamin C were associated with a 45 per cent reduced risk of inflammation (with respect to CRP levels)"
• Cortisol, Stress, and Health - Life Extension Magazine, 12/05 - "Supplements to reduce high cortisol levels secondary to stress ... Vitamin C: 1000-3000 mg/day ... Fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids):1-4 gm/day ... Phosphatidylserine: 300-800 mg/day ... Rhodiola rosea: 100-200 mg/day, standardized extract ... Ginseng: 100-300 mg/day, standardized extract ... Ginkgo biloba: 100-200 mg/day, standardized extract ... DHEA: 25-50 mg/day (any hormone supplementation should be monitored by your physician)"
• Study: Vitamin C May Fight Cancer - WebMD, 9/12/05 - "Vitamin C appeared to boost production of hydrogen peroxide, which killed cancer cells and left healthy cells unharmed ... The levels of vitamin C were so high that they could only be achieved through IV infusions"
• Vitamins E and C Confirmed Safe At High Doses - NPI Center, 4/29/05
• Discovery Shows New Vitamin C Health Benefits - Science Daily, 1/12/05 - "the new discovery indicates it has a complex protective role against toxic compounds formed from oxidized lipids, preventing the genetic damage or inflammation they can cause"
• Alternative Medicine: Vitamin C - The Epoch Times, 11/28/04 - "Guinea pigs and primates are the only mammals known that do not manufacture vitamin C in their gut. Other mammals not only manufacture vitamin C (ascorbic acid), but do it on an as-needed basis. For daily maintenance they manufacture what would be equivalent to a 150-pound man taking 5 to 50 grams a day"
• Study Shows Vitamins C And E Can Prevent Metabolic Damaage In Extreme Exercise - Science Daily, 7/15/04 - "ultramarathon runners who used supplements of vitamins C and E for six weeks prior to their races totally prevented the increase in lipid oxidation that is otherwise associated with extreme exercise"
• Vitamin C May Fight Rheumatoid Arthritis - WebMD, 6/9/04 - "people who ate the least amount of fruits and vegetables had double the risk of developing inflammatory arthritis ... People who got the least vitamin C in their diet had three times the risk of developing inflammatory arthritis than those who got the most"
• Excess Vitamin C May Worsen Osteoarthritis - WebMD, 6/3/04
• Vitamin C supplement to beat diabetes and heart disease - Nutra USA, 4/14/04 - "Researchers at the University of California say that participants who took about 500 milligrams of vitamin C supplements per day saw a 24 per cent drop in plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels after two months"
• A Preferred Source of Vitamin C? - Dr. Weil, 3/9/04
• Vitamins C and E May Lower Alzheimer's Risk - WebMD, 1/20/04
• Vitamin Supplement Use May Reduce Effects Of Alzheimer's Disease - Doctor's Guide, 1/20/04
• Ulcer Agent Lowered in Vitamin C Study - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 11/03
• Diet Rich in Vitamin C Decreases Stroke Risk - Medscape, 11/10/03
• Low Blood Levels of Vitamin C Linked to Mortality - Medscape, 11/6/03 - "Individuals in the lowest quintile for ascorbate concentration (<17 µmol/L) had the highest mortality, whereas those in the highest quintile (>66 µmol/L) had the lowest mortality ... After excluding subjects with cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline, mortality for those in the highest quintile was still about half of that in the lowest quintile"
• Vitamin C Cream Reverses Skin Damage from Sun Exposure - Healthwell Exchange Daily News, 10/16/03
• The Chromium Connection - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 9/03 - "The body requires certain nutrients to control glucose metabolism, especially chromium, zinc and vitamins B and C" - See Vitacost chromium products.
• Vitamin Supplements Improve Blood Vessel Function - Physician's Weekly, 9/8/03 - "In a study where children with hyperlipidemia were given doses of the antioxidants vitamins C and E, researchers have found that the supplements can significantly improve blood vessel function ... the test group received 500 mg of vitamin C and 400 IU of vitamin E daily. Both groups saw an 8% decline in LDL cholesterol and the test group had significant improvement in endothelial function comparable to the levels of normal healthy children"
• Vitamins E and C Lower Kids' Heart Risks - WebMD, 8/11/03
• E and C May Give Older Women a Mental Edge - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 8/03 - "The women who had taken vitamin C and E supplements for more than 10 years scored an average of 1.5 years younger in cognitive function than those not taking vitamins. The results were even more marked for those with low dietary vitamin E intake: Women with the lowest 30 percent of dietary vitamin E intake who did not take supplements tested two years older in mental function than women who compensated for low dietary intake with antioxidant supplements"
• Low Vitamin C Tied to Ulcer Bug - WebMD, 8/4/03
• Vitamin C May Protect Against Ulcer-Causing Bacteria - Doctor's Guide, 8/1/03 - "the lower the level of vitamin C in the blood the more likely a person will become infected by Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that can cause peptic ulcers and stomach cancer ... The bottom line is that higher levels of vitamin C may have the potential to prevent peptic ulcers and stomach cancer"
• Vitamin C Lowers Heart Disease Risk - WebMD, 7/15/03
• Vitamin C Reduces Oxidant Stress In Renal Failure - Doctor's Guide, 3/26/03 - "The acute administration of vitamin C reduces oxidant stress in renal failure, and improves nitric oxide-mediated resistance-vessel dilatation ... In addition, vitamin C was found to increase the dilator response to acetylcholine in resistance vessels"
• Vitamin C May Fight Colds After All - WebMD, 3/12/03 - "12 healthy subjects who took one gram of vitamin C a day for two weeks showed a boosted immune system response during that time ... in two of them, the response to vitamin C took place within five hours ... this might mean that taking a vitamin C tablet at the first sign of a cold could achieve an effect quickly enough to ward off that cold"
• Vitamin C May Aid People with Diabetes - New Hope Natural Media, 2/13/03 - "randomly assigned to receive 500 mg of vitamin C per day or a placebo. After four weeks of treatment, the average blood pressure decreased significantly in the group taking vitamin C, whereas no change was seen in the placebo group. The systolic blood pressure (the higher number) decreased by an average of 9.8 mm Hg, while the diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) decreased by 4.4 mm Hg. These changes in blood pressure are nearly as great as one might expect from taking a prescription blood pressure-lowering medication. In addition, the stiffness of the arteries decreased significantly in the vitamin C group ... Vitamin C inhibits all three of the biochemical reactions that are believed to contribute to the development of these complications: (1) the production of oxygen-derived free radicals, (2) the accumulation of sorbitol within cells, and (3) a tissue-damaging reaction called glycosylation"
• Vitamins C and E may enhance effectiveness of insulin for diabetes - University of California at Irvine, 1/29/03 - "Boosting insulin with vitamins C and E may improve the drug's effectiveness for treating diabetes ... the popular antioxidant supplements not only enhance insulin's ability to reduce blood sugar, but also lower the risks of organ damage that can occur despite insulin treatments"
• Vitamins C and E Improve Outcome in Critically Ill Surgical Patients - New Hope Natural Media, 1/9/03 - "The incidence of multiple organ failure was significantly lower (by 57%) in the group receiving antioxidants than in the control group (2.7% vs. 6.1%). In addition, the average length of stay in the ICU was significantly lower (by 17%) in the antioxidant group.  After 28 days, the mortality rate was 44% lower in the antioxidant group than in the control group (1.3% vs. 2.4%), but this difference was not statistically significant"
• Vitamin C, Fish, And A Gout Drug Target Artery Damage From Smoking - Intelihealth, 1/7/03 - "vitamin C and taurine, an amino acid in fish, reversed abnormal blood vessel response associated with cigarette smoking - a discovery that may provide insight into how smoking contributes to "hardening of the arteries,""
• Antioxidant Vitamins Improve Surgical Outcomes - Medscape, 12/20/02 - "Compared with patients receiving standard care, those who received antioxidant supplementation with alpha-tocopherol and ascorbate had a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation and length of ICU stay, and lower relative risk (RR) of pulmonary morbidity (RR, 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60 - 1.1) and of multiple organ failure (RR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.19 - 0.96)"
• Antioxidants May Reduce Alzheimer's Disease Risk - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/02 - "Use of vitamins E and C together—which is what most subjects did—was associated with an eightfold reduction in prevalence and a fivefold lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease"
• Vitamins C And E Support Breathing Following An Operation - Intelihealth, 9/12/02 - "Patients who have recently undergone an operation experience less breathing problems after being given a cocktail of vitamins C and E"
• Vitamins C, E May Prevent Artery Damage - Vitacost, 9/11/02
• Low Vitamin C Increases Stroke Risk - WebMD, 6/7/02
• Vitamin C May Prevent Platelet Aggregation - Doctor's Guide, 5/28/02 - "Vitamin C may inhibit collagen-induced platelet aggregation. This may add to the protection that vitamin C is already known to give against coronary heart disease ... In smokers who received vitamin C, there were significant decreases in platelet aggregation after six hours with both collagen concentrations compared to placebo. In non-smokers, there were significant decreases of platelet aggregation after three and six hours for both collagen concentrations"
• Vitamin C Beneficial In Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 5/27/02 - "These two groups were split into subgroups: those who received 2 g of vitamin C and those who did not after eating high-fat meal ... Although the postprandial flow-mediated dilatation was significantly aggravated in people not taking vitamin C (both with and without heart disease), this parameter in patients and subjects taking vitamin C showed no significant change"
• Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy Reduces Bioavailability of Dietary Vitamin C - Doctor's Guide, 5/20/02 - "The mean pre-treatment plasma vitamin C concentration in H. pylori -negative subjects was 25.1 mg/mL (range 16.1-33) and 17.4 mg/mL (6.7-29) in H. pylori-positive subjects (p<0.001). Mean daily dietary intake of vitamin C was 44 mg/day (range 10-130) in H. pylori positive subjects compared to 141 mg/day (range 23-282) negative subjects (p<0.001) ... Four week of omeprazole [Prilosec - the purple pill] treatment achieved reductions in mean plasma vitamin C concentrations of 15 percent (p=0.005) in H. pylori-positive and -negative subjects"
• Vitamins Help After Heart Transplant - WebMD, 3/28/02 - "The plaque-fighting benefits of the antioxidant supplements were even greater than those found using statin medications, which have already been shown to slow hardening of the arteries after transplants. Previous research has shown that antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E, can promote heart health by reducing blood clots and keeping the blood vessels flexible"
• Few Vitamins Effectively Prevent or Reverse Skin Damage - Medscape, 3/02 - "Even minimal UV exposure can decrease the vitamin C levels in the skin by 30%, while exposure from the ozone of city pollution can decrease the level by 55%"
• Vitamin C Reduces The Odds Of Developing Early-Onset Cataract - Doctor's Guide, 2/22/02 - "A significant interaction was observed between age, vitamin C intake, and the prevalence of cataracts. For women younger than 60 years, the consumption of vitamin C >/= 362 mg/day was associated with a 57 percent lower risk of developing cortical opacities, and the use of vitamin C supplements for at least 10 years was associated with a 60 percent reduction in the risk of cataracts, when compared to no supplement use ... the incidence of posterior subcapsulary cataracts was considerably lower in women who had never smoked and who had high intakes of folate and carotenoids"
• Vitamin C May Improve Alzheimer's Treatments - WebMD, 1/14/02 - "When ascorbic acid -- better known as vitamin C -- is chemically attached to certain drugs, it allows them to penetrate the [blood brain] barrier, reaching more of its target cells within the brain ... they tested one of the modified drugs in mice with induced convulsions. They injected some of the animals with the normal version of the drug and others with the modified version. Only animals that received the drug with attached vitamin C had delayed convulsions -- indicating that the drug was more effective"
• Antioxidants, At Certain Levels, May Reduce Blood Pressure - Doctor's Guide, 11/14/01 - "increasing levels of serum beta- carotene were associated with significant reductions in systolic blood pressure, while increasing levels of serum vitamin C were associated with significant reductions in diastolic pressure ... In contrast, serum levels of vitamin E were associated with significant increases in diastolic blood pressure"
• Vitamin C Inhibits Cell Death In Congestive Heart Failure Patients - Intelihealth, 10/30/01
• Zinc, Antioxidants Prevent Some Forms of Vision Loss - WebMD, 10/12/01 - "people at risk of losing more sight due to a condition called "age-related macular degeneration" (AMD) could prevent further vision loss by taking a combination of zinc and antioxidants, including vitamins C and E and beta-carotene ... The antioxidants were taken once a day at a dose of 500 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, and 15 mg of beta-carotene. Zinc was given as 80 mg of zinc oxide along with 2 mg of copper in the form of cupric oxide to prevent anemia, which can occur from too much zinc ... the high levels of dietary supplements that were taken in this study are very difficult to achieve from diet alone"
• Antioxidants Resolve Radiation Side Effects - Nutrition Science News, 9/01
• Parkinson's Defense - Nutrition Science News, 5/01
• Arterial Disease Depletes Body of Vitamin C - WebMD, 4/9/01 - "In atherosclerosis, arteries and other blood vessels are lined with fat deposits and buildup of cellular materials, including inflammatory cells, which release unstable molecules called free radicals. The free radicals do additional damage to the delicate vessels, says Langlois. Antioxidants such as vitamin C seek out and destroy free radicals, but in the process the antioxidants are themselves destroyed ... PAD appears to kick the body's inflammatory process into high gear, which then releases a free radical bombardment, that can "deplete the supply of vitamin C""
• The Prediabetic Epidemic - Nutrition Science News, 3/01 - "Supplements to Regulate Glucose and Insulin ... Alpha-Lipoic Acid ... Vitamin E ... Vitamin C ... Some research has found that 2,000 mg/day vitamin C daily lowers both glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels, the latter a standard marker of diabetic control ... Chromium ... Silymarin"
• Vitamin C May Help Ward Off Osteoporosis - WebMD, 2/8/01 - "Researchers have found that postmenopausal women who took vitamin C supplements had a higher bone density than those who didn't. The highest bone densities were also found in the women who were taking more than 1,000 mg/d."
• Antioxidant Vitamins Block Homocysteine's Acute Toxic Effects - Nutrition Science News, 12/00
• Vitamins and Vision, Lots of "C" May Help You See Later in Life - WebMD, 12/11/00 - "Risk of cataracts was 60% lower among people who took multivitamins or any supplement containing vitamin C or E for more than 10 years."
• Ulcer Therapy, Vitamins May Team Up to Prevent Stomach Cancer, Drugs Halted, Healed Abnormalities With Cancer Potential - WebMD, 12/8/00 - "people who took the three-drug combination alone or in combination with vitamin C and/or beta carotene were three to five times more likely than people who received no treatment to have a reduction in the size of precancerous stomach abnormalities."
• Vitamins C and E May Reduce Risk, Complications of Diabetes - WebMD, 11/15/00
• Study Says Vitamin C Helps Prevent Strokes - Intelihealth, 10/27/00
• Low Stroke Rates Associated With Vitamin C Level In Bloodstream - Doctor's Guide, 10/6/00
• Vitamin C May Help a Smoker's Heart, Study Shows - WebMD, 9/11/00
• The Vitamin C Controversy - Life Extension Magazine, 5/5/00
• Lower Vitamin C Means Higher Cancer Risk for Men - WebMD, 7/18/00
• Some Drugs May Protect Against Alzheimer's, Others Might Increase Risk - Doctor's Guide, 4/12/00
• Low Vitamin C Levels Linked to Increase in Gallbladder Disease - Doctor's Guide, 4/10/00
• Study: Vitamin C Pills Linked To Artery Clogging - Intelihealth, 3/2/00 - Note: There is a big problem with taking vitamin C without bioflavonoids but if this is true, my suggestion is to ad statins or red yeast rice as I do.  I'm 50 years old and my blood pressure is 118/68 and I've been taking about 4 grams/day of vitamin C for decades.  Linus Pauling took 18 grams/day of vitamin C for 30 years and died at 93 1/2 of prostate cancer, not heart disease.  I feel that you are not going to slow aging without large doses of vitamin C combined with bioflavonoids.  If we had not lost our ability to produce our own vitamin C as other mammals do, we would be producing 2 to 12 grams/day.
• Bad studies may be more dangerous than vitamins... Does Vitamin C Really Damage DNA? - Jack Challem
• Vitamin C: A possible treatment for high blood pressure - CNN, 12/20/99
• Stressed out? Vitamin C is possibly the perfect chill pill - CNN, 8/23/99
• Cancer Prevention Diet - Nutrition Science News, 8/99
• Oxidation-Resistant Version of Vitamin C Slows Age-Dependent Telomere Shortening - Life Enhancement Magazine, 7/99
• Second Sight - Nutrition Science News, 4/99
• Breathe Easy with Vitamin C - Nutrition Science News, 3/99
• High C Linked to Fewer Gallstones - Nutrition Science News, 1/99
• High blood pressure: Newest research explores prevention, treatment - CNN, 9/21/98
• Low Dietary Calcium, Low Vitamin C Linked To Increased Risk Of Gum Disease - Doctor's Guide, 6/29/98
• Paleolithic Nutrition: Your Future Is In Your Dietary Past - The Nutrition Reporter - "This theory regarding how our evolutionary ancestors lost their ability to produce vitamin C is generally accepted by scientists, Stone's other theory is more controversial. He contended that people never lost the need for large amounts of vitamin C, even though they lost the ability to make it. Based on animal data, he estimated that people might require 1.8-13 grams of vitamin C daily."
• Antioxidants May Reduce Harmful Complications Of Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 4/20/98
• Vitamin C Removes Lead From Blood Stream In Men - Doctor's Guide, 4/3/98
• Vitamin C Shown To Cross The Blood Brain Barrier - Doctor's Guide, 12/1/97
• Vitamins C And E Temporarily Block Some Harmful Effects Of High-Fat Meal - Doctor's Guide, 11/25/97
• Long-Term Vitamin C Use Cuts Cataract Risk In Older Women - Doctor's Guide, 10/9/97 - "taking vitamin C supplements for more than 10 years lowers the risk of lens opacities that can lead to cataract surgery in older women"
• Vitamin C Deficit Linked To Skin Disease - Doctor's Guide, 8/14/97
• Vitamin C May Play Role In Protecting Heart, Lungs From Disease - Doctor's Guide, 6/13/97
• Vitamin Supplements May Help Asthmatics Cope With Air Pollution - Doctor's Guide, 5/20/97

Vitamin C Abstracts:

• Vitamin C consumption is associated with less progression in carotid intima media thickness in elderly men: A 3-year intervention study - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2008 May 7 - "Vitamin C containing foods may protect against the progression of carotid atherosclerosis in elderly men"
• Vitamin C Intake and Serum Uric Acid Concentration in Men - J Rheumatol. 2008 May 1 - "An inverse dose-response association was observed through vitamin C intake of 400-500 mg/day, and then reached a plateau ... Greater vitamin C intake was associated with lower prevalence of hyperuricemia (serum uric acid > 6 mg/dl). Multivariate odds ratios for hyperuricemia across total vitamin C intake categories were 1 (reference), 0.58, 0.57, 0.38, and 0.34 (95% CI 0.20-0.58; P for trend < 0.001). When we used dietary data, which were assessed 4-8 years before blood collection, as predictors, we observed similar inverse associations between vitamin C intake and uric acid ... These population-based data indicate that vitamin C intake in men is inversely associated with serum uric acid concentrations. These findings support a potential role of vitamin C in the prevention of hyperuricemia and gout"
• A 12 week, open label, phase I/IIa study using apatone for the treatment of prostate cancer patients who have failed standard therapy - Int J Med Sci. 2008 Mar 24;5(2):62-7 - "oral Apatone (Vitamin C and Vitamin K3) administration in the treatment of prostate cancer ... 5,000 mg of VC and 50 mg of VK3 each day ... At the conclusion of the 12 week treatment period, PSAV decreased and PSADT increased in 13 of 17 patients (p < or = 0.05). There were no dose-limiting adverse effects. Of the 15 patients who continued on Apatone after 12 weeks, only 1 death occurred after 14 months of treatment"
• Dehydroascorbic acid as an anti-cancer agent - Cancer Lett. 2008 Mar 28 - "dehydroascorbic acid has the remarkable ability to eliminate the aggressive mouse tumours, L1210, P388, Krebs sarcoma, and Ehrlich carcinoma"
  • Dehydroascorbic acid - Wikipedia - "Dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) is an oxidized form of ascorbic acid"
• Plasma vitamin C concentrations predict risk of incident stroke over 10 y in 20 649 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer Norfolk prospective population study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan;87(1):64-9 - "persons in the top quartiles of baseline plasma vitamin C concentrations had a 42% lower risk (relative risk: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.78) than did those in the bottom quartile"
• Oral administration of vitamin C decreases muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and hampers training-induced adaptations in endurance performance - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan;87(1):142-9 - "The administration of vitamin C significantly (P = 0.014) hampered endurance capacity"
• Ascorbic Acid Decreases the Binding Affinity of the AT(1) Receptor for Angiotensin II - Am J Hypertens. 2008 Jan;21(1):67-71 - "Ascorbic acid decreases the binding affinity of the AT(1) receptor. These results offer a mechanistic explanation for the reported blood pressure lowering effect of ascorbic acid"
• Dietary and non-dietary determinants of central adiposity among Tehrani women - Public Health Nutr. 2007 Sep 3;:1-7 - "Marriage (1.31; 1.10-1.82), menopause (1.22; 1.02-1.61), low vitamin C intake (2.31; 1.25-4.25) and low calcium intake (1.30; 1.07-3.78) were associated with central fat accumulation"
• Dietary nutrient intakes and skin-aging appearance among middle-aged American women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Oct;86(4):1225-1231 - "Higher intakes of vitamin C and linoleic acid and lower intakes of fats and carbohydrates are associated with better skin-aging appearance. Promoting healthy dietary behaviors may have additional benefit for skin appearance in addition to other health outcomes in the population"
• Supplementation with vitamins C and e improves arterial stiffness and endothelial function in essential hypertensive patients - Am J Hypertens. 2007 Apr;20(4):392-7 - "Combined treatment with vitamins C and E has beneficial effects on endothelium-dependent vasodilation and arterial stiffness in untreated, essential hypertensive patients"
• Intravenously administered vitamin C as cancer therapy: three cases - CMAJ. 2006 Mar 28;174(7):937-942 - "We found 3 well-documented cases of advanced cancers, confirmed by histopathologic review, where patients had unexpectedly long survival times after receiving high-dose intravenous vitamin C therapy"
• Associations of vitamin C status, fruit and vegetable intakes, and markers of inflammation and hemostasis - Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Mar;83(3):567-574 - "The findings suggest that vitamin C has antiinflammatory effects and is associated with lower endothelial dysfunction in men with no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes"
• Immune-Enhancing Role of Vitamin C and Zinc and Effect on Clinical Conditions - Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 2006;50:85-94 - "These trials document that adequate intakes of vitamin C and zinc ameliorate symptoms and shorten the duration of respiratory tract infections including the common cold"
• Effects of vitamin C on intracoronary L-arginine dependent coronary vasodilatation in patients with stable angina - Heart. 2005 Oct;91(10):1319-23 - "L-arginine dependent coronary segment vasodilatation was augmented by the antioxidant vitamin C in patients with coronary artery disease. Thus, vitamin C may have beneficial effects on nitric oxide bioavailability induced by L-arginine"
• Vitamins E and C are safe across a broad range of intakes - Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Apr;81(4):736-45 - "vitamin E supplements appear safe for most adults in amounts </=1600 IU (1073 mg RRR-alpha-tocopherol or the molar equivalent of its esters) and that vitamin C supplements of </=2000 mg/d are safe for most adults"
• Antioxidant vitamins and mortality in older persons - Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):999-1010 - "We found strong inverse trends for blood ascorbate concentrations with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality ... Low blood vitamin C concentrations in the older British population are strongly predictive of mortality"
• Vitamin C Inhibits Lipid Oxidation in Human HDL - J Nutr. 2003 Oct;133(10):3047-51 - "In the absence of vitamin C, lipid oxidation in HDL began immediately and proceeded rapidly ... Vitamin C (50-200 micro mol/L) retarded initiation of lipid oxidation for at least 4 h under the same conditions ... Our results demonstrate that vitamin C inhibits lipid oxidation in HDL and preserves the antioxidant activity associated with this lipoprotein fraction"
• Antioxidant vitamins C and E improve endothelial function in children with hyperlipidemia: Endothelial Assessment of Risk from Lipids in Youth (EARLY) Trial - Circulation. 2003 Sep 2;108(9):1059-63. Epub 2003 Aug 11
• Oral Antioxidant Therapy Improves Endothelial Function in Type 1 but not Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2003 Dec;285(6):H2392-8 - "subjects were randomized to oral vitamin C 1000 mg and vitamin E 800 IU daily or matching placebo for six months ... Oral antioxidant therapy improves EDV in T1 but not T2 diabetes" - The measurement of Vitamin E in IUs shows that they are still using d-alpha-tocopherol or worse, the dl-alpha-tocopherol instead of mixed tocopherols including the tocotrienols in studies.  Just for starters, the d-alpha lowers gamma.
• Effect of Ascorbic Acid Consumption On Urinary Stone Risk Factors - J Urol. 2003 Aug;170(2):397-401
• Influence of Vitamin C on Baroreflex Sensitivity in Chronic Heart Failure - Hypertension 2003 May 12 - "Chronic heart failure (CHF) reduces baroreflex sensitivity. Low baroreflex sensitivity, a risk factor for sudden death, could arise partly from CHF-dependent endothelial dysfunction. Vitamin C at high doses has a protective role against CHF-related endothelial damage ... In subjects with CHF, baroreflex sensitivity was significantly higher after vitamin C than after placebo infusion ... Acute administration of vitamin C at high doses improves baroreflex sensitivity and vagal sinus modulation in patients with CHF"
• Plasma vitamin C, cholesterol and homocysteine are associated with grey matter volume determined by MRI in non-demented old people - Neurosci Lett 2003 May 8;341(3):173-6 - "We found that lower grey matter volume was associated with lower plasma vitamin C and higher homocysteine, cholesterol and LDL. Lower blood cell folate was also associated with lower grey matter volume ... These data are consistent with the putative benefits of dietary vitamin C and folate intake and the role of cholesterol in age related neurodegeneration"
• High-dose antioxidant supplements and cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly women - Am. J. of Clin. Nutr., 4/03 - "Long-term, current users of vitamin E with vitamin C had significantly better mean performance, as judged by a global score that combined individual test scores, than did women who had never used vitamin E or C (P = 0.03); there was a trend for increasingly higher mean scores with increasing durations of use (P = 0.04). These associations were strongest among women with low dietary intakes of alpha-tocopherol. Benefits were less consistent for women taking vitamin E alone, with no evidence of higher scores with longer durations of use. Use of specific vitamin C supplements alone had little relation to performance on our cognitive tests"
• No contribution of ascorbic acid to renal calcium oxalate stones - Ann Nutr Metab 1997;41(5):269-82