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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 11/4/09.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Low vitamin D again linked to higher mortality - Nutra USA, 11/3/09 - "Writing in the journal Clinical Endocrinology, scientists from the Netherlands, Austria, and the US report that low blood levels of the sunshine vitamin are associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, and mortality from heart disease ... several biologic mechanisms could explain a causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and mortality, with the vitamin’s active form (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) linked to a range of effects including control of inflammatory compounds, regulating immune health and blood pressure, or reducing arterial hardening ... People with the lowest average vitamin D levels (30.6 nanomoles per litre) were found to be at a 124 and 378 per cent increased risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality, respectively" - [Abstract] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Drinking Coffee Daily Linked to Lower Progression of Chronic Hepatitis C - Medscape, 11/2/09 - "Drinking 3 or more cups of coffee per day is linked to a lower risk for progression of chronic hepatitis C"

 Cholesterol-lowering Medicines May Be Effective Against Cancer - Science Daily, 11/2/09 - "Our results support the idea that statins can be used in more ways than just to lower cholesterol," says Pilon. "Not least that they can prevent the growth of cancer cells caused by lipid-modified proteins, but also that they can be effective in the treatment of diabetes and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's."

High Fructose Intake May Raise Blood Pressure - WebMD, 11/2/09 - "About 2.5 sugary soft drinks a day is enough to elevate the pressure ... Overall, intakes of 74 grams or more daily was associated with a 36% higher risk of having blood pressure of 140/90 or higher, she found. Ideally, blood pressure should be below 120/80 ... ''We know that fructose has the potential to reduce nitric oxide production within the blood vessels,'' she says. "Nitric oxide relaxes the vessel and is supposed to lower blood pressure. Fructose reduces the production of nitric oxide and makes it difficult for the vessels to relax and dilate." ... Fructose also raises uric acid in the blood, she says, and that could raise blood pressure. "Fructose can tell the kidneys to 'hold onto' more salt, and that can contribute to high blood pressure,""

Flu Vaccine Given To Women During Pregnancy Keeps Infants Out Of The Hospital, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 11/2/09 - "Infants born to women who received influenza vaccine during pregnancy were hospitalized at a lower rate than infants born to unvaccinated mothers ... vaccinating mothers during pregnancy was 80 percent effective in preventing hospitalization due to influenza in their infants during the first year of life and 89 percent effective in preventing hospitalization in infants under six months of age"

Diet Sodas May Be Hard on the Kidneys - WebMD, 11/2/09 - "Women who drank two or more diet sodas a day had a 30% drop in a measure of kidney function during the lengthy study follow-up ... Thirty percent is considered significant ... Put another way: the women who drank two or more diet sodas a day had a decline in their glomerular filtration rate, a measure of kidney function, of 3 milliliters per minute per year. ''With natural aging, kidney function declines about 1 mL per minute per year after age 40"

Folic acid shows benefits for diabetic heart health - Nutra USA, 11/2/09 - "diabetic mice fed a daily folic acid supplement equivalent to 5 milligrams per day for a 70 kg human, led to a reversal in the dysfunction occurring in the lining of blood vessels (endothelial dysfunction), compared to a lower dose of the micronutrient" - See folic acid products at Amazon.com.

Fish Oil May Protect Against Stroke From Ruptured Carotid Artery Plaques - Science Daily, 11/1/09 - "unstable carotid artery plaques – those in danger of rupturing and leading to a stroke – contain more inflammation and significantly less omega-3 fatty acids than asymptomatic plaques ... This suggests that increasing the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in carotid artery plaques could either prevent strokes or improve the safety of treatment. This may be accomplished by increasing dietary intake of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

MRI study: Reduced carotid wall area with Niaspan - theheart.org, 10/30/09 - "So, in terms of relieving a stenosis, for example, it is not clinically relevant. The point is the direction of change. Atherosclerosis has, for years, been considered a relentlessly progressive disease process. To bring about a demonstrable reversal, however small, in only 12 months is mechanistically significant," he said. "Furthermore, remember that the plaque is heterogeneous. We don't know what compositional changes have been induced, but if, for example, the lipid component had been reduced—and there are data from other studies to suggest this happens—then even a small change in total size could be very relevant to plaque behavior." - See niacin at Amazon.com.

Probiotics May Help Treat IBD Symptoms - WebMD, 10/29/09 - "A new study shows treatment with the probiotic Bacillus polyfermenticus reduced rectal bleeding, lessened tissue inflammation, and promoted weight gain in mice with colitis. The mice also had increased blood vessel growth in their intestinal lining, which is important for healing damaged tissue. The probiotic also encouraged the growth process of new blood vessels in laboratory tests with human intestinal cells" - See probiotics at Amazon.com.

Exercise Keeps Dangerous Visceral Fat Away A Year After Weight Loss, Study Finds - Science Daily, 10/29/09 - "as little as 80 minutes a week of aerobic or resistance training helps not only to prevent weight gain, but also to inhibit a regain of harmful visceral fat one year after weight loss"

Scientists Discover Influenza's Achilles Heel: Antioxidants - Science Daily, 10/29/09 - "antioxidants -- the same substances found in plant-based foods -- might hold the key in preventing the flu virus from wreaking havoc on our lungs"

Hormone Replacement Therapy Decreases Mortality In Younger Postmenopausal Woman, Study Shows - Science Daily, 10/28/09 - "HRT use by younger postmenopausal women was associated with a significant reduction in total mortality ... results from 19 randomized trials that included age-specific data from the WHI, with 16,000 younger postmenopausal women (mean age 55 years) followed for 83,000 patient-years, and showed a mortality relative risk of 0.73. When data from 8 observational studies were added to the analysis, the resultant relative risk was 0.72. Using Bayesian analysis to synthesize the available data, the probability of a mortality benefit in this population was 1.0. This means that the probability of the hypothesis that hormone therapy reduces total mortality in younger women is essentially 1"

Curry compound kills cancer cells, study shows - MSNBC, 10/28/09 - "Researchers at the Cork Cancer Research Center in Ireland treated esophageal cancer cells with curcumin — a chemical found in the spice turmeric, which gives curries a distinctive yellow color — and found it started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours ... But these cells showed no evidence of suicide, and the addition of a molecule that inhibits caspases and stops this "switch being flicked' made no difference to the number of cells that died, suggesting curcumin attacked the cancer cells using an alternative cell signaling system" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Coffee lovers don’t face higher risk of heart ills - MSNBC, 10/28/09 - "Researchers found that among more than 37,000 middle-aged and older Swedish men, those who regularly drank coffee were no more likely to develop heart failure than those who infrequently, if ever, drank the beverage"

Statins Show Dramatic Drug And Cell Dependent Effects In The Brain - Science Daily, 10/28/09 - "Besides their tremendous value in treating high cholesterol and lowering the risk of heart disease, statins have also been reported to potentially lower the risks of other diseases, such as dementia ... statin drugs can have profoundly different effects on brain cells -both beneficial and detrimental ... simvastatin reduced the expression of the cholesterol transporter ABCA1 by approximately 80% in astrocytes, while pravastatin lowered expression by only around 50%. Another interesting difference was that while both statins decreased expression of the Tau protein -associated with Alzheimer's disease -- in astrocytes, they increased Tau expression in neurons; pravastatin also increased the expression of another Alzheimer's hallmark, amyloid precursor protein (APP)"

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Problems Associated With Low Folate Levels In Pregnant Women - Science Daily, 10/28/09 - "A study published in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry finds that low maternal folate levels is linked to the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems in children at age seven to nine years"

Diet And Intestinal Bacteria Linked To Healthier Immune Systems - Science Daily, 10/28/09 - "Insoluble dietary fibre, or roughage, not only keeps you regular, say Australian scientists, it also plays a vital role in the immune system, keeping certain diseases at bay ... Similarly, probiotics and prebiotics, food supplements that affect the balance of gut bacteria, reduce the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, also inflammatory diseases"

Why Fish Oils Help With Conditions Like Rheumatoid Arthritis How They Could Help Even More - Science Daily, 10/28/09 -"New research from Queen Mary, University of London and Harvard Medical School has revealed precisely why taking fish oils can help with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis ... researchers describe how the body converts an ingredient found in fish oils into another chemical called Resolvin D2 and how this chemical reduces the inflammation that leads to a variety of diseases" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Effect of Oral Acetyl L-Carnitine Arginate on Biomarkers in Pre-Diabetics - Medscape, 10/28/09 - "3 g.day−1 of ALCA (n = 14; 31 +/- 3 yrs) or placebo (n = 15; 35 +/- 3 yrs) in a double-blind design, to consume for eight weeks ... slight improvements in glucose (109 +/- 5 to 103 +/- 5 mg.dL−1), HbA1c (6.6 +/- 1.1 to 6.2 +/- 1.2%), and HOMA-IR (3.3 +/- 1.3 to 2.9 +/- 1.2) ... slight improvement in glucose metabolism, as evidenced by minor decreases in blood glucose, insulin, and HbA1c (which may have been more pronounced with longer treatment, as HbA1c has a half-life equal to approximately 12 weeks" - See propionyl-l-carnitine products at Amazon.com.

Cell Phones on Hip May Weaken Bone - WebMD, 10/27/09 - "Early research suggests that wearing a cell phone on your hip may weaken the area of the pelvis widely used for bone grafting"

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):

Vitamin D and mortality in older men and women - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2009 Nov;71(5):666-72 - "After adjustment for age, sex, diabetes mellitus, smoking status, arterial hypertension, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, glomerular filtration rate and waist-to-hip ratio, the HRs remained significant for all-cause [1.97 (1.08-3.58; P = 0.027)] and for cardiovascular mortality [5.38 (2.02-14.34; P = 0.001)]" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Curcumin suppresses p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation, reduces IL-1beta and matrix metalloproteinase-3 and enhances IL-10 in the mucosa of children and adults with inflammatory bowel disease - Br J Nutr. 2009 Nov 2:1-9 - "We conclude that curcumin, a naturally occurring food substance with no known human toxicity, holds promise as a novel therapy in IBD" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Carnosine facilitates nitric oxide production in endothelial f-2 cells - Biol Pharm Bull. 2009 Nov;32(11):1836-9 - "These results indicate that carnosine facilitates NO production in endothelial F-2 cells. It is also suggested that eNOS is activated by Ca2+, which might be released from intracellular Ca2+ stores in response to carnosine" - See carnosine products at Amazon.com.

Effect of resveratrol on helicobacter pylori-induced interleukin-8 secretion, reactive oxygen species generation and morphological changes in human gastric epithelial cells - Biol Pharm Bull. 2009 Nov;32(11):1931-5 - "preincubation of the cells with 75 and 100 muM of resveratrol significantly (p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively) inhibited the secretion of IL-8 from H. pylori-infected cells. In addition, resveratrol pretreatment at 1-100 muM suppressed H. pylori-induced ROS generation in a concentration dependent manner. Moreover, H. pylori-initiated morphological changes were markedly blocked by resveratrol. Hence, resveratrol can be considered as a potential candidate against various H. pylori related gastric pathogenic processes" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Hair Loss):

Related Products:

Alternative News:

  • Treating Hair Loss Naturally - WebMD - "Daly says he routinely recommends up to 3 mg of biotin daily for his hair loss patients, while Lessman developed a healthy hair, skin, and nails product containing 2 mg of biotin per daily dosage, which he believes is the minimum for healthy hair"
  • Balding - Life Extension Magazine
  • Nizoral Shampoo for Hair Lossicon - DermaDoctor.com - "They found that Nizoral increased hair thickness and decreased hair shedding, whereas the zinc pyrithione shampoo had the opposite effect" - See Nizoral Shampoo at drugstore.comicon
  • I am a 35-year old woman who is losing her hair - Dr. Murray
  • Snack Size Science: Vitamin E and the quest for thick hair - Nutra USA, 5/5/09 - "The experiments used Carotech’s Tocomin SupraBio ingredient, which contains vitamin E in its tocotrienol forms. Vitamin E comes in eight forms, including four types of tocopherols, and four types of tocotrienols ... According to the company, the Malaysian researchers observed significant hair re-growth of about 42 per cent in the tocotrienol group, with eight volunteers experiencing greater than 50 per cent hair growth. No one in the placebo group experienced any hair growth benefits" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
  • 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.
  • An Herbal Solution to Baldness? - Dr. Weil, 4/24/08
  • Effect of Dietary Supplementation With INVERSION(R) Femme on Slimming, Hair Loss, and Skin and Nail Parameters in Women - Adv Ther. 2007 Sep-Oct;24(5):1154-71 - "Weight reduction and slimming were measured after INVERSION Femme was taken for 28 and 58 d. All women showed significant reductions in weight, body fat, and thigh circumference. During the second month of treatment, subjects showed an average 50% reduction in hair loss"
  • Low Iron Could Help Spur Baldness - HealthDay, 5/31/06 - "Iron deficiency is the world's most common nutritional deficiency ... If iron deficiency is detected and treated in the early stages, patients may be able to grow hair more effectively"
  • Hair Loss? It May Be Iron Deficiency - WebMD, 5/17/06 - "whatever the cause of hair loss -- for both women and men -- having too little iron in the blood makes it worse"
  • Flax lignans: a cure for hair loss? - Nutra USA, 5/9/05 - "Ten male sufferers of androgenetic alopecia aged between 20- and 70- years received a 50mg daily dose of SDG in the form of one 250 mg capsule of Acatris’ LinumLife Extra ... eight of the participants reported a modest improvement in their hair loss condition, one reported a great improvement and one reported no effect at all" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon flax products.
  • Omega-3 fatty acids might curb hair loss - azcentral.com, 4/12/05
  • Reversing Hair Loss? - Dr. Weil, 6/22/04 - "you may be able to prevent further loss and encourage re-growth by including omega-3 fatty acids to your diet"
  • Soy: Prevent Prostate Cancer, Male Baldness? - WebMD, 3/30/04 - "A little-known molecule called equol ... is showing promise as a powerful blocker of a potent male hormone involved in prostate cancer, male baldness, even acne ... Actually, the protective effects occur when two chemicals in soy protein -- genistin and daidzin -- reach the digestive system, Setchell explains. There, they are metabolized to form genistein and daidzein. Daidzein is metabolized once again, to form equol" - See iHerb or Vitacosticon isoflavone products.
  • Production rates of testosterone and of dihydrotestosterone in female pattern hair loss - Metabolism. 2003 Jul;52(7):927-929
  • Laser Comb [Hairmax] May Stimulate Hair Growth - thesandiegochannel.com, 5/8/03 - ""In our clinical trials in Canada, (the comb) does both," said Dr. Martin Unger, plastic surgeon. "We are getting over 97 percent -- sorry, 95 percent -- of the people who are using this are either stopping their hair loss or regrowing hair, and over 75 percent of the patients regrew hair to a significant amount." ... The Hairmax laser comb costs about $700." - See HairMax at drugstore.comicon or Amazon.com.
  • Laser Comb May Stimulate Hair Growth - NBCSandiego.com, 5/8/03
  • A randomized clinical trial of 5% topical minoxidil versus 2% topical minoxidil and placebo in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in men - Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 9/02 - "In men with AGA, 5% topical minoxidil was clearly superior to 2% topical minoxidil and placebo in increasing hair regrowth, and the magnitude of its effect was marked (45% more hair regrowth than 2% topical minoxidil at week 48)."
  • Can I Stop My Hair from Thinning? - Dr. Weil, 9/13/02 - "Make sure you’re getting enough omega-3 fatty acids ... supplement your diet with GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) in the form of black currant oil or evening primrose oil"
  • Natural Treatment for Male Pattern Baldness - New Hope Natural Media, 7/3/02 - "Those with male pattern baldness may increase hair growth by taking a preparation containing saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and beta-sitosterol ... Conventional medicines used to treat male pattern baldness are designed to block the conversion of testosterone to DHT. Topical application of minoxidil (Rogaine®) and taking oral finasteride (Propecia®) have been shown to inhibit this conversion and to increase hair growth, but both medications have been linked with several adverse side effects, including fast heart rate, headaches, impotence, and decreased libido ... 400 mg of a standardized extract of saw palmetto and 100 mg of beta-sitosterol per day ... After about five months, hair growth in 60% of the men taking the herbal combination had improved compared with their initial evaluation. In contrast, only 11% of those receiving the placebo improved"
  • Nutritional factors and hair loss - Clinical & Experimental Dermatology, 7/02 - "serum ferritin concentrations were a factor in female hair loss ... The role of the essential amino acid, l-lysine in hair loss also appears to be important. Double-blind data confirmed the findings of an open study in women with increased hair shedding, where a significant proportion responded to l-lysine and iron therapy" - See iHerb and Vitacosticon l-lysine products.
  • Monthly Updates - Hair Loss Research, 10/01 - "While finasteride (Propecia/Proscar) decreases serum DHT, it also is thought to increase estrogen which suggests that men over 35 may want to consider using it in conjunction with a systemic aromatase inhibitor such as Chrysin/Piperine (Super Miraforte), Arimidex, or stinging nettle extract, to maximize its hair growth effects and minimize potential side effects (that are listed in the PDR) such as Gynocaemastia (breast enlargement in males), sexual side effects, and an increase in fat deposition. These compounds have been reliably shown to increase testosterone and reduce excess estrogen, resulting in a youthful hormone profile that optimizes immune function and to some degree, body composition"
  • Antiaging Products for Skin, Hair and Nails - Nutrition Science News, 10/00 - "A lack of silicon is known to reduce normal growth and repair of the skin, hair and nails.  However, studies show that silicon supplementation has delivered few benefits. The reason for this in most cases is that a nonbioavailable silicon source has been used. Silicon is a nonmetallic element that is very reactive. It occurs naturally almost exclusively in silicates, the geologic rock-forming minerals. Although silicates are the most abundant materials on earth, they don't provide a bioavailable form of dietary silicon. Moreover, silica, often used as a dietary supplement, is a polymeric silicon-hydroxide-oxide-water complex from hard stone, such as quartz, that has anywhere from two to trillions of silicon atoms, and is also very poorly bioavailable. On the other hand, orthosilicic acid, which consists of only one Si bonded to four hydroxides instead of oxygen, is the form of Si that is found in our bloodstream. Therefore, stabilized orthosilic acid is the only form of supplemental silicon that has been shown conclusively to be bioavailable for humans. Silicates, silica gel, colloidal silica, clays, horsetail (Equisetum arvense) and most foods don't contain the orthosilicic acid form of silicon."
  • Hair Graying and Loss - Nutrition Science News, 10/00 - "Japanese researchers found that topical application of procyanidin-B2 from grape seed and apple extracts activate hair follicles in mice, resulting in increased hair growth. Furthermore, Italian researchers found that a topical preparation containing esculin (an oxolinic acid) from horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) reduced hair loss and increased circulation to the hair follicles in men and women suffering from hair loss.3 Reduced scalp microcirculation is also one of the factors causing hair loss."
  • Essential Oils Can Help Regrow Hair - Nutrition Science News, 9/00
  • Proanthocyanidin Power - Nutrition Science News, 6/00 - "Japanese researchers shaved mice and found that 40 percent of their hair grew back naturally. When a 1 percent solution of any of three proanthocyanidins was applied to the skin, however, between 70 and 80 percent of the hair grew back. Test tube studies confirm that OPCs actually stimulate the hair keratinocytes to produce three times more hair than the controls."
  • Hair Loss- MinSaw-A, Nizoral and Dercos- The bald truth! - By Phil Micans PharmB - "the addition of retinolic acid (the active ingredient in the famous anti-wrinkle skin cream- Retin-A), helps to further stimulate the blood supply on the scalp surface and therefore to the hair follicle"

Other News:

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