Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 12/31/08.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Blood Sugar Linked To Normal Cognitive Aging - Science Daily, 12/30/08 - "Beyond the obvious conclusion that preventing late-life disease would benefit the aging hippocampus, our findings suggest that maintaining blood sugar levels, even in the absence of diabetes, could help maintain aspects of cognitive health. More specifically, our findings predict that any intervention that causes a decrease in blood glucose should increase dentate gyrus function and would therefore be cognitively beneficial" - [WebMD] - See my comment on pioglitazone in the abstract section of this newsletter.

Both Major Theories About Human Cellular Aging Supported By New Research - Science Daily, 12/30/08 - "old age is the final stage of a developmental program AND the result of a lifelong accumulation of unrepaired cellular and molecular damage ... When fatty acids build up, yeast cells explode from within, scattering their contents and spreading inflammation to neighboring cells ... In addition to cell death, the accumulation of fatty acids sets off chemical reactions that ultimately produce a lipid called diacylglycerol, which impairs many of the yeast's stress response-related defenses ... Low-calorie diets, which have been shown to increase lifespan and delay age-related disorders in nonhuman primates and other organisms, altered the way fats were processed in the yeast cells"

Breast Cancer: Diet High In Vegetables, Fruit And Fiber May Cut Risk Of Cancer Recurrence In Women Without Hot Flashes - Science Daily, 12/30/08 - "A secondary analysis of a large, multicenter clinical trial has shown that a diet loaded with fruits, vegetables and fiber and somewhat lower in fat compared to standard federal dietary recommendations cuts the risk of recurrence in a subgroup of early-stage breast cancer survivors – women who didn't have hot flashes – by approximately 31 percent. These patients typically have higher recurrence and lower survival rates than breast cancer patients who have hot flashes"

Moderate Drinking Can Reduce Risks Of Alzheimer's Dementia And Cognitive Decline - Science Daily, 12/29/08 - "Alcohol is a two-edged sword ... Too much is bad. But a little might actually be helpful"

Common Food Additive Found To Increase Risk And Speed Spread Of Lung Cancer - Science Daily, 12/29/08 - "a diet high in inorganic phosphates, which are found in a variety of processed foods including meats, cheeses, beverages, and bakery products, might speed growth of lung cancer tumors and may even contribute to the development of those tumors in individuals predisposed to the disease" - [WebMD]

Vitamin D Deficiency In Infants And Nursing Mothers Carries Long-term Disease Risks - Science Daily, 12/28/08 - "vitamin D is now viewed not simply as a vitamin with a role in promoting bone health, but as a complex hormone that helps to regulate immune system function. Long-term vitamin D deficiency has been linked to immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type I diabetes, and cancer" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Berry Compound Reduces Aging Effect - Science Daily, 12/28/08 - "in aging rats, pterostilbene was effective in reversing cognitive decline and that improved working memory was linked to pterostilbene levels in the hippocampus region of the brain"

Protein Sports Drinks Proven To Give Best Performance - Science Daily, 12/23/08 - "Both formulas had the same energy content ... Both formulas had the same energy content. After their six-hour rest, the athletes did another virtual cycle race. According to Berardi, "Both groups showed a reduction in performance in the afternoon session. However, the reduction in distance traveled and power output during the afternoon exercise was significantly less among those who had the protein and carbs drink, relative those who just had the carbs ... The subjects' self-reported fatigue levels were lower in the protein group and increases in fat oxidation were also seen"

Treating Gum Disease Linked To Lower Medical Costs For Patients With Diabetes - Science Daily, 12/23/08 - "treating gum disease in patients who have diabetes with procedures such as cleanings and periodontal scaling is linked to 10 to 12 percent lower medical costs per month"

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):

Rosiglitazone reverses memory decline and hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor down-regulation in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Dec 22 - "An early down-regulation of GR, not related to elevated plasma corticosterone levels, was found in different hippocampal subfields of the transgenic mice and this decrease was prevented by rosiglitazone. In parallel with behavioural studies, rosiglitazone also normalized GR levels in older animals. This effect may contribute to explain the attenuation of memory decline by PPARgamma activation in an AD mouse model" - Note:  That's another reason I take rosiglitazone's competitor, pioglitazone (even though I don't have diabetes) which has less chance of causing heart problems.

• 'Diabetes' Treatment Stops Alzheimer's - WebMD, 9/25/06 - "Alzheimer's disease is really "type 3 diabetes" -- that is, a kind of brain diabetes ... The drug de la Monte and colleagues found so useful for rats is very similar to two drugs currently used to treat diabetes: Actos and Avandia. Known as "TZDs" or "glitazones," the drugs make the body's cells more sensitive to insulin"
• Diabetes Drug Shows Promise in Treating Alzheimer's - Doctor's Guide, 7/17/06 - "Treatment of high blood sugar may have a scientific connection to memory loss that could, one day, benefit millions of people with Alzheimer's Disease ... The drug, called pioglitazone HCl"

Resveratrol inhibits the mTOR mitogenic signaling evoked by oxidized LDL in smooth muscle cells - Atherosclerosis. 2008 Nov 24 - "Smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation is a major feature in atherosclerosis, since it contributes to the formation of the fibrous cap, thus to plaque stability, but also to arterial stenosis and post-angioplasty restenosis ... These data indicate that the mTOR pathway is activated by oxLDL via PI3K/PDK1/Akt, and is required for SMC proliferation. Resveratrol blocks specifically this pathway, thereby inhibiting oxLDL-induced SMC proliferation. These data highlight a new property for resveratrol that could contribute to the general anti-atherogenic properties of this polyphenol" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Dietary trans-10, cis-12 Conjugated Linoleic Acid Reduces Early Glomerular Enlargement and Elevated Renal Cyclooxygenase-2 Levels in Young Obese fa/fa Zucker Rats - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) slows the progression of disease in models of chronic kidney disease ... To examine specific isomer effects, study 2 used the same model with the following diets: 0.4% (g/g) cis-9, trans-11 (c9,t11) CLA; 0.4% trans-10, cis-12 (t10,c12) CLA; a combination of these 2 isomers (0.4% each); or CTL diets with no CLA. In study 1, fa/fa rats given the CLA mixture had 11% smaller kidney weights and 28% smaller glomeruli, and feed intake and body weight did not differ from the CTL rats. In study 2, diet also did not affect body weights, but fa/fa rats given a diet containing t10,c12 CLA had 7% lower kidney weights, 20% smaller glomeruli, and 39% lower COX-2 protein levels than CTL rats. In conclusion, dietary t10,c12 CLA reduces the enlargement of glomeruli in young obesity-associated nephropathy and is associated with lower protein levels of renal COX-2" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.

Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Is Associated with Markers of the Insulin Resistant Phenotype in Nondiabetic Adults - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "Among adults without diabetes, vitamin D status was inversely associated with surrogate fasting measures of insulin resistance. These results suggest that vitamin D status may be an important determinant for type 2 diabetes mellitus" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Plasma Adiponectin Concentrations Are Associated with Body Composition and Plant-Based Dietary Factors in Female Twins - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "A significant relationship between adiponectin and 3 derived dietary patterns (F&V, dieting, traditional English), carbohydrate, protein, trans fat, and alcohol intake was also observed. Strong inverse associations with adiponectin were observed for BMI (-10.72%; 95% CI: -13.78, -7.55), total (-6.89%: 95% CI: -10.34, -3.30; P < 0.05), and central fat mass (-12.50%; 95% CI: -15.82, -9.05; P < 0.05); these relationships were significant both when twins were analyzed as individuals and when characteristics were contrasted within-twin pairs, suggesting a direct effect. We observed modest associations between dietary factors and adiponectin in female twins, independent of adiposity, and report strong inverse associations with body composition. These data reinforce the importance of weight maintenance and increasing consumption of diets rich in plant-based foods to prevent CVD and type 2 diabetes"

Severe Iron Deficiency Decreases Both Bone Formation and Bone Resorption in Rats - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "These results suggest that severe iron deficiency decreases not only bone formation but also bone resorption"

Dietary L-Arginine Supplementation Reduces White Fat Gain and Enhances Skeletal Muscle and Brown Fat Masses in Diet-Induced Obese Rats - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "l-arginine-HCl ... Despite similar energy intake, absolute weights of white fat pads increased by 98% in control rats over a 12-wk period but only by 35% in arginine-supplemented rats. The arginine treatment reduced the relative weights of white fat pads by 30% and enhanced those of soleus muscle by 13%, extensor digitorum longus muscle by 11%, and brown fat by 34% compared with control rats ... arginine treatment resulted in lower serum concentrations of leptin, glucose, triglycerides, urea, glutamine, and branched-chain amino acids, higher serum concentrations of nitric-oxide metabolites, and improvement in glucose tolerance. Thus, dietary arginine supplementation shifts nutrient partitioning to promote muscle over fat gain and may provide a useful treatment for improving the metabolic profile and reducing body white fat in diet-induced obese rats" - See Jarrow Formulas, Arginine 1000, 1000 mg, 100 Easy-Solv Tablets at iHerb.  That's something else I've been taking for years along with equal amounts of citrulline.

Higher regular coffee and tea consumption is associated with reduced endometrial cancer risk - Int J Cancer. 2008 Oct 30 - "Compared to nondrinkers, we observed a nonsignificant negative association with endometrial cancer risk among women who reported >2 cups/d regular coffee (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.49-1.03), a significant inverse association with >2 cups/d black tea (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.35-0.90) and a significant inverse association with >4 cups/d combined coffee and tea consumption (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.28-0.80). These findings suggest coffee and tea may be important in reducing endometrial cancer risk"

High-dose oral vitamin D(3) supplementation in the elderly - Osteoporos Int. 2008 Dec 20 - "Sixty-three elderly participants were randomized to three regimens of vitamin D supplementation: a 500,000-IU loading dose; the loading dose plus 50,000 IU/month; or 50,000 IU/month ... Large loading doses of vitamin D(3) rapidly and safely normalize 25OHD levels in the frail elderly. Monthly dosing is similarly effective and safe, but takes 3-5 months for plateau 25OHD levels to be reached" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff :

• LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling.  Also see:
  • Samsung 20x DVD+/-RW DL USB 2.0 External Drive w/LightScribe
  • LightScribe products at Amazon.com

Health Focus (Getting enough sleep):

Sleep News & Research:

• Sleep & Aging - Physician's Weekly, 3/22/04
• Go ahead, sleep in — it’s good for the heart - msnbc.com, 12/23/08 - "About 12 percent of the people in the study developed artery calcification during the five-year study period. Among those who had slept less than five hours a night, 27 percent had developed artery calcification ... That dropped to 11 percent among those who slept five to seven hours, and to 6 percent among those who slept more than seven hours a night"
• Poor Sleep Quality Linked To Postpartum Depression - Science Daily, 12/10/08
• Physical Activity, Sleep May Cut Cancer Risk - WebMD, 11/17/08 - "Among the most physically active women younger than 65 -- women who reported getting about an hour a day of moderate physical activity -- cancer was 47% rarer for those who got at least seven hours of nightly sleep. Those findings held regardless of other cancer risk factors"
• Loss Of Sleep, Even For A Single Night, Increases Inflammation In The Body - Science Daily, 9/2/08 - "losing sleep for even part of one night can trigger the key cellular pathway that produces tissue-damaging inflammation. The findings suggest a good night’s sleep can ease the risk of both heart disease and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis"
• Less REM Sleep Associated With Being Overweight Among Children And Teens - Science Daily, 8/4/08
• Extra Sleep Improves Athletic Performance - Science Daily, 6/9/08 - "Getting extra sleep over an extended period of time improves athletic performance, mood and alertness ... The athletes then extended their sleep to 10 hours per day for six to seven weeks ... After obtaining extra sleep, athletes swam a 15-meter meter sprint 0.51 seconds faster, reacted 0.15 seconds quicker off the blocks, improved turn time by 0.10 seconds and increased kick strokes by 5.0 kicks"
• Smoking May Wreak Havoc on Sleep - WebMD, 2/4/08
• Lack Of Deep Sleep May Increase Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes - Science Daily, 1/1/08 - "They found that when slow-wave sleep was suppressed for only three nights, young healthy subjects became about 25 percent less sensitive to insulin"
• Insufficient Sleep Raises Risk Of Diabetes, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 12/1/07 - "subjects who reported sleeping five or fewer hours and subjects who reported sleeping nine or more hours were significantly more likely to have incident diabetes over the follow-up period than were subjects who reported sleeping seven hours"
• Sleep a Speedy Time for Memory Making - WebMD, 11/15/07
• Kids: Less Sleep May Lead to Overweight - WebMD, 11/5/07
• 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"
• Extra Sleep Boosts Athletic Performance - WebMD, 6/13/07
• Sleep Strengthens Your Memory - Science Daily, 4/24/07
• Sleep Deprivation Blurs Moral Judgment - WebMD, 3/2/07
• How much sleep do I really need? - Dr. Murray
• Some Respect, Please, for the Afternoon Nap - New York Times, 2/25/07
• Sleep Deprivation May Impair Memory - WebMD, 2/12/07
• Take a Nap, Protect Your Heart? - WebMD, 2/12/07 - "A total of 23,681 residents of Greece with no history of heart disease, stroke, or cancer at enrollment were followed an average of 6.3 years ... people who took naps at least three times a week for an average of at least 30 minutes were 37% less likely to die of heart disease than people who did not take regular naps"
• On-the-job naps might cut risk for heart problems - USA Today, 2/12/07 - "In the largest study to date on the health effects of napping, researchers tracked 23,681 healthy Greek adults for an average of about six years. Those who napped at least three times weekly for about half an hour had a 37% lower risk of dying from heart attacks or other heart problems than those who did not nap"
• Less Sleep, More Pounds - WebMD, 5/23/06
• Skimpy Sleep May Up Blood Pressure - WebMD, 4/3/06 - "Among people aged 32-59, those who reported getting less than six hours of nightly sleep in the original survey were twice as likely to have been diagnosed with high blood pressure"
• Study Shows How Sleep Improves Memory - Science Daily, 6/29/05
• Sleep Helps the Brain Learn - WebMD, 6/14/05
• How Sleep, or Lack of, Affects Teen Athletes - WebMD, 5/13/05
• Long or Short Sleep Time May Be Associated With Diabetes - Medscape, 4/26/05 - "Sleep duration of six hours or less or nine hours or more is associated with increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)"
• Less Sleep Could Mean More Weight - WebMD, 1/10/05 - "Total sleep times tended to decrease as body weight increased ... The difference in total sleep time between patients who were normal weight and those who weren't was only 16 minutes per day"
• The New Science of Sleep - Time Magazine Cover Story (paid prescription), 12/20/04
• Sleep Loss Feeds Appetite - WebMD, 12/7/04
• Sleep More and You May Control Eating More - WebMD, 11/9/04
• Sleep Disorders Often Indicate Multiple Health Conditions - Science Daily, 11/5/04
• Deep Sleep Cements Learning - WebMD, 10/27/04
• Zzzzzzzz! How much sleep is enough? - MSNBC, 6/21/04
• Too Much Sleep Just as Bad as Too Little? - WebMD, 3/23/04
• Rx for Teen Moodiness: Sleep - WebMD, 2/9/04
• Sleep on It, Really It Helps - WebMD, 1/21/04
• Sleep A Must For Creative Thinking - CBS News, 1/21/04
• Chronic Low-Back Pain and Related Disability Improved With Medium-Firm Mattress Use - Doctor's Guide, 11/16/03
• Losing Sleep Impairs Frontal Cortex Function - Doctor's Guide, 11/14/03
• Sleep Boosts Memory in Different Ways - WebMD, 10/8/03
• Sleep Disorders Tied to Poor Brain Chemistry - Physician's Weekly, 8/4/03
• A Good Nap May Help You Learn - WebMD, 6/27/03
• Men Handle Sleep Deprivation Worse than Women - WebMD, 6/13/03
• Neuroactive Steroid Concentrations Unaffected By Sleep Deprivation During Major Depression - Doctor's Guide, 3/21/03
• Sustained Reduced Sleep Can Have Serious Consequences - Doctor's Guide, 3/13/03 - "subjects who slept four to six hours a night for fourteen consecutive nights showed significant deficits in cognitive performance equivalent to going without sleep for up to three days in a row. Yet these subjects reported feeling only slightly sleepy and were unaware of how impaired they were"
• Worry, inactivity impede sleep's health benefits - USA Today, 3/9/03
• Sleep Disorders Mimic ADHD Symptoms - WebMD, 3/3/03
• Bad Sleep Leads to Early Death in Elderly - WebMD, 2/5/03
• You Can't Fight Biological Clock - WebMD, 1/30/03
• Minimal Mesopontine Neuronal Loss In Disordered Rapid-Eye-Movement Sleep - Doctor's Guide, 1/27/03
• Sleep, Less and More, Linked to Heart Disease - WebMD, 1/24/03
• Unattended Somnography Reliably Estimates Sleep Quality, Disturbed Breathing - Doctor's Guide, 1/17/03
• Study Follows Sleeping Patterns Of Women From Age 38 Onward - Doctor's Guide, 1/10/03
• Too Much Sleep May Be as Bad As Too Little - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03
• Rhythms Of The Night: Sleep Patterns May Sound A Wake-Up Call For Modern Medicine - Intelihealth, 12/16/02
• Sleep Said To Help Motor Skills - Intelihealth, 8/13/02
• Sleep on It: You'll Do Better - WebMD, 7/2/02
• 6 Hours of Sleep May Be Inadequate - WebMD, 6/25/02
• One week of 2-Hour Sleep Deprivation Associated with Reduced Psychomotor Ability, Rise in IL-6, TNF-a - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/02
• Body Temperature Changes May Affect Sleep Promotional Effects Of Sedative-Hypnotics - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/02
• Counting The Healthcare Costs of Chronic Sleep Deprivation - Doctor's Guide, 5/15/02
• Sleep-Disordered Breathing Largely Undiagnosed - Doctor's Guide, 4/22/02
• New Test Spots Sleep Disorders - WebMD, 4/3/02
• Simplified Tool Effectively Screens for Sleep Disorders - Doctor's Guide, 4/3/02
• Asleep on the Job? Take a Nap - WebMD, 4/2/02
• Late to bed, early to rise complaining - USA Today, 4/2/02
• Sleep and Behavioral Problems Linked - WebMD, 3/4/02
• If You're Dog Tired, Your Dog May Be Guilty - WebMD, 2/21/02
• Study Suggests Less Sleep Is OK - Intelihealth, 2/15/02
• Mortality Associated With Sleep Duration and Insomnia - Archives of General Psychiatry, 2/02 - "The best survival was found among those who slept 7 hours per night. Participants who reported sleeping 8 hours or more experienced significantly increased mortality hazard, as did those who slept 6 hours or less. The increased risk exceeded 15% for those reporting more than 8.5 hours sleep or less than 3.5 or 4.5 hours. In contrast, reports of "insomnia" were not associated with excess mortality hazard. As previously described, prescription sleeping pill use was associated with significantly increased mortality after control for reported sleep durations and insomnia"
• Are You Sleeping Enough -- or Too Much? - WebMD, 2/14/02
• Experts challenge study linking sleep, life span - CNN, 2/14/02 - "The data can't be used to establish a cause and affect relationship because there are flaws in the study ... You can't tell how people rated their own sleep quality and looked back at their sleep, which is a subjective reaction to how much sleep they were getting"
• Researchers Debate Exactly How Sleep Aids Memory, Learning - WebMD, 11/1/01
• NIH To Encourage Kids To Get Sleep - Intelihealth, 11/2/01 - "Hunt said research shows that children who regularly get nine hours of sleep perform better in school, experience better moods, suffer fewer accidents and are less likely to become obese"
• Sleep on This: Lack of Shut-Eye Ups Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 6/25/01 - "People who don't get adequate rest may increase their risk for type 2 diabetes ... "short-sleepers," or those who slept less than 6.5 hours per night, were about 40% less insulin-sensitive than normal sleepers, those who logged about 7.5 to 8.5 hours a night"
• Get Your ZZZs, Your Tummy Will Thank You, Natural Stomach Protein Repairs Damage, Protects Against Ulcers While You Sleep - WebMD, 5/9/01 - "late hours, too much alcohol, and other lifestyle factors that prevent a good night's sleep, disrupt the stomach's natural repair cycle and may lead to ulcers, or tearing of the stomach lining"
• Natural Stomach Protein Repairs Damage, Protects Against Ulcers While You Sleep - WebMD, 4/12/01
• Body Clock: How Do We Keep Time? Clock Genes in Skin Cells Might Help Diagnose Sleep Problems - WebMD, 4/12/01
• Health Officials Want Kids to Sleep at Least Nine Hours a Night - WebMD, 2/28/01
• The Big Sleep, Nodding Off - CNN, 12/5/00 - "the nappers turned in a 34-percent higher performance level and scored 100 percent better in terms of alertness, he says."
• Working Night Shift Affects More Than Your Social Life - WebMD,  10/16/00
• Poor Sleep Erodes Middle-Aged Men - Intelihealth, 8/16/00
• Thanks for the Memories? Sleep May Deserve Some Credit - WebMD, 7/18/00
• Sleep May Help Keep Metabolic Process Young - WebMD, 7/13/00
• Lack Of Sleep Alters Hormones, Metabolism - Doctor's Guide, 10/22/99
• Sleep's healing properties - CNN, 8/25/99
• Catching Forty Winks Can Be Risky - Dr. Dean, 7/27/99
• On-the-job naps could be pause that refreshes - CNN, 3/26/98