Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 4/29/09.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Statins Alter Prostate Cancer Patients' PSA Levels - Science Daily, 4/28/09 - "We found that PSA levels are actually significantly lower in prostate cancer patients on statins versus prostate cancer patients not on statins"

Depression Linked With Accumulation Of Visceral Fat - Science Daily, 4/28/09 - "Our results suggest that central adiposity – which is commonly called belly fat – is an important pathway by which depression contributes to the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes"

Physical Activity Improves Life Expectancy And Decreases Need Of Care Among Older People - Science Daily, 4/28/09 - "people who have been regularly physically active since middle age and have lived long, needed less hospital and institutional care during their last year of life than those people who have been only occasionally or not at all physically active"

Vitamin E may reverse male pattern baldness: Study - Nutra USA, 4/28/09 - "Volunteers were randomly assigned to the palm tocotrienol complex (total tocotrienol intake of 100 mg) or the placebo (soft gelatin capsule containing 600 mg soy bean oil) ... Hair counts, measured by the counting the number of hairs in a pre-selected 2x2 cm area, were found to significantly increase by an average of 41.8 per cent in the tocotrienol group, with eight volunteers experiencing greater than 50 per cent hair growth ... There are eight forms of vitamin E: four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta). Alpha-tocopherol is the main source found in supplements ... 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" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.

Anti-ageing Cosmetic Reduced Wrinkles In Clinical Trial - Science Daily, 4/28/09 - "the cosmetic, No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum, could improve some of these clinical features ... 70% of individuals using the beauty product had significantly fewer wrinkles after 12 months of daily use compared to volunteers using a placebo" - Note:  The best I could figure is that it is only sold in England.

Eating Fatty Fish And Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Reduce Risk Of Heart Failure - Science Daily, 4/28/09 - "men who consumed approximately 0.36 grams a day were 33% less likely to develop heart failure than men who consumed little or no marine omega-3 fatty acids"

Prostate cancer risk slashed with new drug - MSNBC, 4/27/09 - "In a large international study, dutasteride, sold as Avodart, lowered the chances of a prostate cancer diagnosis by 23 percent after four years of use" - See dutasteride at OffshoreRx1.com.

Curcumin may cut body fat and weight gain: Mouse study - Nutra USA, 4/27/09 - "The curcumin suppression of angiogenesis in adipose tissue together with its effect on lipid metabolism in adipocytes may contribute to lower body fat and body weight gain ... Curcumin was also associated with significantly lower cholesterol levels and a reduction in the expression of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma), a protein that plays a role in metabolic functions" - [Abstract] - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Pomegranate Juice May Slow Prostate Cancer - WebMD, 4/26/09 - "All of the men drank 8 ounces of pomegranate juice daily, and that slowed down the time it took for their PSA levels to double ... Fifteen of the patients stayed with the study for up to 64 months (a little more than five years), and it typically took four times longer for their PSA levels to double when they were drinking pomegranate juice, compared to their PSA doubling time at the study's start" - See pomegranate at Amazon.com.

Tadalafil May Effectively Treat Symptoms Of BPH-LUTS In Addition To Erectile Dysfunction - Science Daily, 4/26/09 - "After 12 weeks of treatment, the men taking tadalafil experienced improved detrusor pressure at urinary flow rate, peak flow rate (Qmax), bladder capacity, post-void residual volume and bladder voiding efficiency. Relative symptom improvement in the IPSS also was significantly better in the tadalafil group" - See tadalafil at OffshoreRx1.com.

Statins May Exert Influence On Prostate Cancer Growth By Reducing Inflammation - Science Daily, 4/26/09 - "men who were on statins had a 72 percent reduction in risk for tumor inflammation, and we believe this might play a role in the connection between prostate cancer and statin use" - See atorvastatin at OffshoreRx1.com.

Major Statin Study Reveals Several Important Findings For Reducing Prostate Cancer And Disease - Science Daily, 4/26/09 - "non-statin users were three times more likely to develop prostate cancer, suggesting statin use may prevent development of prostate cancer ... Overall, statin use was not significantly associated with a decreased risk of developing ED. However, statins were associated with a decreased risk of ED among older men (>60 years). Men in this age category who used statins were less likely to develop ED, compared to older men who did not use statins. Additionally, men who took statins for a longer time were more protected against developing ED. For example, men who took statins for nearly nine years or more were 64 percent less likely to develop ED, while men who took statins for less than three years had about the same risk of developing ED. compared to men who did not take statins" - See atorvastatin at OffshoreRx1.com.

Statins link to healthy prostate - BBC News, 4/26/09 - "They found men who took statins were three times less likely to develop prostate cancer than men who did not take the drugs"

Low Vitamin D Linked to Severe Asthma - WebMD, 4/23/09 - "low vitamin D levels were associated with more asthma hospitalizations in the previous year, more airway hyperactivity in lung function tests, more use of anti-inflammatory asthma medications like inhaled steroids in the previous year, and higher blood levels of allergy markers" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Carotenoids may halve metabolic syndrome risk - Nutra USA, 4/23/09 - "Higher total carotenoid, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lycopene intakes were associated with lower waist circumferences and visceral and subcutaneous fat mass ... Higher lycopene intake was related to lower serum triglyceride concentrations ... higher total carotenoid intakes, mainly those of beta-carotene and lycopene, were associated with a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome and with lower measures of adiposity and serum triglyceride concentrations in middle-aged and elderly men" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.

Benefit Of Grapes May Be More Than Skin Deep: Lower Blood Pressure, Reduced Heart Damage - Science Daily, 4/22/09 - "After 18 weeks, the rats that received the grape-enriched diet powder had lower blood pressure, better heart function, and fewer signs of heart muscle damage than the rats that ate the same salty diet but didn't receive grapes ... Rats that received the blood pressure medicine, hydrazine, along with a salty diet also had lower blood pressure, but their hearts were not protected from damage as they were in the grape-fed group" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.

Fatty Fish May Lower Heart Failure Risk - WebMD, 4/22/09 - "Study participants who got the equivalent of 0.36 grams of omega-3 a day from fish had a 33% reduction in heart failure risk"

Low magnesium levels may increase stroke risk - Nutra USA, 4/22/09 - "Blood levels of magnesium were negatively associated with the risk of stroke, they said, with levels of 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8 mEq/L linked to a 22, 30, and 25 per cent reduction in stroke, respectively, compared to 1.5 mEq/L " - [Abstract]

Fructose-Sweetened Beverages Linked to Heart Risks - NYTimes.com, 4/23/09 - "a controlled and randomized study has found that drinks sweetened with fructose led to higher blood levels of L.D.L, or "bad" cholesterol, and triglycerides in overweight test subjects, while drinks sweetened with another sugar, glucose, did not. Both L.D.L. and triglycerides have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease"

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):

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) prevents age associated skeletal muscle loss - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Apr 21 - "using 12 months old C57BL/6 mice fed 10% corn oil (CO) or a diet supplemented with 0.5% c9t11-CLA, t10c12-CLA or c9t11-CLA+t10c12-CLA (CLA-mix) for 6 months. Both t10c12-CLA and CLA-mix groups showed significantly higher muscle mass, as compared to CO and c9t11-CLA groups ... may be a novel dietary supplement that will prevent sarcopenia by maintaining redox balance during aging" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.

Time-released garlic powder tablets lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure in men with mild and moderate arterial hypertension - Hypertens Res. 2009 Apr 24 - "hypotensive action of time-released garlic powder tablets (Allicor) was compared with that of regular garlic pills (Kwai) in 84 men with mild or moderate arterial hypertension ... Allicor treatment (600 mg daily) resulted in a reduction of both systolic and diastolic blood pressures by 7.0 mm Hg (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 5.3-8.7) and 3.8 mm Hg (95% CI: 2.7-4.8), respectively. Increasing the Allicor dosage to 2400 mg daily did not provide any additional benefit. Treatment with Kwai resulted in the same decrease in systolic blood pressure (5.4 mm Hg, 95% CI: 1.9-8.8) as that seen with Allicor, but no decrease in diastolic blood pressure was observed with Kwai ... The results of this study show that time-released garlic powder tablets are more effective for the treatment of mild and moderate arterial hypertension than are regular garlic supplements" - See garlic supplements at Amazon.com.

Curcumin inhibits adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and angiogenesis and obesity in C57/BL mice - J Nutr. 2009 May;139(5):919-25 - "Supplementing the high-fat diet of mice with curcumin did not affect food intake but reduced body weight gain, adiposity, and microvessel density in adipose tissue, which coincided with reduced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor VEGFR-2. Curcumin increased 5'AMP-activated protein kinase phosphorylation, reduced glycerol-3-phosphate acyl transferase-1, and increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 expression, which led to increased oxidation and decreased fatty acid esterification ... Our findings suggest that dietary curcumin may have a potential benefit in preventing obesity" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Green Tea (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Reduces Body Weight with Regulation of Multiple Genes Expression in Adipose Tissue of Diet-Induced Obese Mice - Ann Nutr Metab. 2009 Apr 22;54(2):151-157 - "Experimental diets supplemented with EGCG resulted in reduction of body weight and mass of various adipose tissues in a dose-dependent manner. EGCG diet also considerably lowered the levels of plasma triglyceride and liver lipid. In the epididymal white adipose tissue of EGCG diet-fed mice, the mRNA levels of adipogenic genes such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma), CCAAT enhancer-binding protein-alpha (C/EBP-alpha), regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2), lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were significantly decreased. However, the mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT-1) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2), as well as lipolytic genes such as hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), were significantly increased ... These results suggest that green tea EGCG effectively reduces adipose tissue mass and ameliorates plasma lipid profiles in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. These effects might be at least partially mediated via regulation of the expression of multiple genes involved in adipogenesis, lipolysis, beta-oxidation and thermogenesis in white adipose tissue" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Vitamin K supplementation and progression of coronary artery calcium in older men and women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Apr 22 - "those who received phylloquinone supplements had 6% less progression than did those who received the multivitamin alone ... Phylloquinone supplementation slows the progression of CAC in healthy older adults with preexisting CAC, independent of its effect on total MGP concentrations"

Dietary carotenoid intake is associated with lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and elderly men - J Nutr. 2009 May;139(5):987-92 - "After adjustment for confounders, total carotenoid and lycopene intakes were inversely associated with presence of metabolic syndrome [relative risk (RR) quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 (95% CI) 0.42 (0.20-0.87), P-trend 0.02; and 0.55 (0.28-1.11), P-trend 0.01, respectively]. For beta-carotene, a decreased risk was observed for each quartile of intake compared with the first [RR quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 (95% CI) 0.58 (0.33-1.02)]. Higher total carotenoid, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lycopene intakes were associated with lower waist circumferences and visceral and subcutaneous fat mass. Higher lycopene intake was related to lower serum triglyceride concentrations" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL, Mixed Carotenoid Complex at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff:

Those geniuses at Microsoft have finally found an simple solution to their problems with Vista:

Health Focus (Nuts):

• Walnuts and fish affect heart health differently - Nutra USA, 4/23/09
• Walnuts Fight Breast Cancer - WebMD, 4/21/09 - "Standard testing showed that eating walnuts cut the risk of developing breast tumors in half ... If mice did get breast tumors, the growth rate was also slowed, by 50% ... Extrapolating to humans, this would be about a nine-year delay"
• Adding Walnuts To Good Diet May Help Older People Improve Motor And Behavioral Skills - Science Daily, 4/19/09 - "the 6 percent walnut study diet is equivalent to a human eating 1 ounce, or about 7 to 9 walnuts, a day ... The study found that in aged rats, the diets containing 2 percent or 6 percent walnuts were able to improve age-related motor and cognitive shortfalls, while the 9 percent walnut diet impaired reference memory. Walnuts, eaten in moderation, appear to be among other foods containing polyphenols and bioactive substances that exhibit multiple effects on neural tissue"
• Metabolic Syndrome? Nuts! - WebMD, 12/8/08 - "A group that was given personalized advice on the Mediterranean diet and about 2 tablespoons of mixed nuts (1/2 walnuts, 1/4 almonds, and 1/4 hazelnuts) each day ... A year later, nobody lost weight. And about the same number of people developed newly diagnosed metabolic syndrome in each group ... But among patients who already had metabolic syndrome, those in the nut group were 70% more likely to have reversal of metabolic syndrome than those in the control group"
• Study: Pistachios May Lower LDL Cholesterol - WebMD, 9/11/08
• Pistachios Lower Cholesterol, Provide Antioxidants - Science Daily, 4/30/07 - "Pistachio amounts of 1.5 ounces and 3 ounces -- one to two handfuls -- reduced risk for cardiovascular disease by significantly reducing LDL cholesterol levels and the higher dose significantly reduced lipoprotein ratios"
• Pistachios May Calm Acute Stress Reaction - Science Daily, 4/30/07
• Hawaiian Treasure, Macadamia Nuts Good For The Heart - Science Daily, 4/30/07
• Walnuts Protect Arteries From Fat - WebMD, 10/9/06 - "the high-fat meal had less of a blood-vessel effect on those who ate the walnuts than on those who ate the olive oil ... walnuts contain a fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid. This plant-based fatty acid is similar to omega-3 fatty acid found in fish"
• Antioxidant-rich Pecans Can Protect Against Unhealthy Oxidation - Science Daily, 10/3/06 - "adding just a handful of pecans to your diet each day may inhibit unwanted oxidation of blood lipids, thus helping reduce the risk of heart disease. Researchers suggest that this positive effect was in part due to the pecan's significant content of vitamin E ... Pecans are especially rich in one form of vitamin E -- gamma tocopherol"
• More support for pistachios’ heart health benefits - Nutra USA, 5/31/06
• Pistachios Pummel Cholesterol - WebMD, 12/9/05 - "Among commonly eaten nuts and seeds, pistachios and sunflower seeds had the highest phytosterol content"
• Including Walnuts in a Low-Fat/Modified-Fat Diet Improves HDL Cholesterol-to-Total Cholesterol Ratios in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes - Medscape, 12/8/04
• Walnuts May Improve Lipid Profile in Type 2 Diabetes - Medscape, 12/1/04
• Peanuts Can Be Mother Nature's Vitamin Pill, USDA Data Shows - Medical News Today, 12/1/04 - "The 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has discovered that vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium and fiber, are all lacking in typical American diets. This study shows that eating a daily serving of peanuts or peanut butter can help children and adults meet nutrient needs"
• Are Nuts a Healthy Nibble? - Dr. Weil, 5/31/04
• FDA clears walnut health claim - Nutra USA, 4/1/04
• Almonds May Help in Weight Loss - WebMD, 11/7/03
• New Peanuts A Hearty Alternative - CBS News, 8/14/03
• Low-Cholesterol Diet as Good as Drugs - WebMD, 7/22/03 - "a vegetarian diet combining four types of cholesterol-lowering foods works as well as cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins ... It had four basic components: plant sterols in the form of a cholesterol-lowering margarine; soy proteins; sticky or soluble fibers such as fruits, vegetables, oats, and legumes; and almonds"
• FDA OK's Nutty Heart Health Claim - WebMD, 7/17/03
• The Importance of Nuts and Seeds in Your Diet - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 7/16/03
• Macadamia Nut Consumption Lowers Cholesterol in Men - New Hope Natural Media, 7/10/03

Abstracts:

• Effects of pistachio nuts consumption on plasma lipid profile and oxidative status in healthy volunteers - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2006 Apr;16(3):202-9 - "These results indicated that consumption of pistachio nuts decreased oxidative stress, and improved total cholesterol and HDL levels in healthy volunteers"

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