Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 9/29/10.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Some interesting info on telomeres that someone sent:

• Telomere Length Linked to Outcomes in Aplastic Anemia - nih.gov, 9/27/10 - "Aplastic anemia patients with shorter chromosome tips, or telomeres, have a lower survival rate and are much more likely to relapse after treatment than those with longer telomeres ... the blood cells of some patients with severe aplastic anemia disease have extremely short telomeres ... nearly 60% of the patients responded to immunosuppressive therapy. Of those who responded, the patients with the shortest telomeres were most likely to have a later relapse. The scientists found that the rate of relapse dropped as telomere lengths increased ... The group of patients with the shortest telomeres was also at greater risk for a conversion to bone marrow cancer (24%) than the other 3 groups (3% to 13%). Survival rates differed as well. Only 66% of patients with the shortest telomeres survived at least 6 years, compared to an 84% survival rate for the other 3 groups combined"
• Happy Healthy Long Life: There's No Way Around It: If You Want to Live Longer You've Just Got to Do It! Get Out There & Exercise! - 2/6/08 - "by the time you're 65, well, there's just not that much left. Which is exactly why not too many of us make it past 80, 90 or 100. Not to get you even more depressed about your rapidly shrinking telomeres, but there have been a number of studies that have shown how stress, especially in caregiver's of chronically ill children and spouses of Alzheimer's patients have accelerated telomere shrinking. One study even suggested that you can accelerate your biological age by as much as 17 years if you're exposed to what you perceive as high psychological stress! ... it looks as if it's a safe bet to start lengthening your telomeres now, by EXERCISING!"

Vitamin C rapidly improves emotional state of acutely hospitalized patients, study suggests - Science Daily, 9/23/10 - "Treatment with vitamin C rapidly improves the emotional state of acutely hospitalized patients ... About one in five acute-care patients in our hospital have vitamin C levels so low as to be compatible with scurvy ... But patients are rarely given vitamin supplements. Most physicians are simply unaware of the problem"

Chromium picolinate may lessen inflammation in diabetic nephropathy; Supplement linked to decreased protein in the urine of diabetic mice - Science Daily, 9/22/10 - "mice who received the supplement had lower levels of albuminuria (protein in the urine), an indication of kidney disease ... the treated diabetic mice, who were fed the diet with chromium picolinate, excreted about half as much albumin compared to their untreated diabetic counterparts" - See chromium supplements at Amazon.com.

Gum disease found to be significant public health concern - Science Daily, 9/22/10 - "the prevalence of periodontal disease may have been underestimated by as much as 50 percent. The implication is that more American adults may suffer from moderate to severe gum disease than previously thought ... If left untreated, it can lead to tooth loss, and may also interfere with other systems of the body. Several research studies have associated gum disease with other chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and rheumatoid arthritis" - See my 8/4/10 Newsletter on Periogard which is the only thing I've found that works.

Vitamin D protects against obesity-induced endometrial cancer, study suggests - Science Daily, 9/21/10 - "25 percent of obese mice fed a vitamin D supplemented diet developed endometrial cancer, while 67 percent of obese mice not treated with the vitamin developed cancer ... vitamin D offered no protective effects for normal weight mice ... Vitamin D has been shown to be helpful in a number of cancers, but for endometrial cancer, our study suggests it protects only against cancer that develops due to obesity ... Still, if these results are confirmed in women, use of vitamin D may be a wonderfully simple way to reduce endometrial cancer risk" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

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):

Low serum magnesium concentrations predict increase in left ventricular mass over 5 years independently of common cardiovascular risk factors - Atherosclerosis. 2010 Sep 21 - "Mg(2+) at baseline (0.790+/-0.003mmol/l, mean+/-SEM) inversely correlated with the difference in LVM over 5 years (p<0.0001, females: p<0.002, males: p<0.024). In the lowest Mg(2+)-quintile (Mg(2+)<=0.73mmol/l), LVM (187.4+/-3.1g at baseline) increased by 14.9+/-1.2g, while in the highest Mg(2+)-quintile (Mg(2+)>=0.85mmol/l) LVM (186.7+/-3.4g at baseline) decreased by -0.5+/-2.8g (p<0.0001 between quintiles). By multivariable analysis including several cardiovascular risk factors and antihypertensive treatment, serum Mg(2+) was associated with the increase in LVM at a statistically high significant level (p<0.0001). LVM after 5 years was significantly higher in subjects within the lower Mg(2+)-quintiles. This association remained highly significant after adjustment for several cardiovascular risk factors including arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus" - See magnesium supplements at Amazon.com.

Dehydroepiandrosterone combined with exercise improves muscle strength and physical function in frail older women - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010 Sep;58(9):1707-14 - "DHEA supplementation resulted in gains in lower extremity strength (from 459 +/- 121 N to 484 +/- 147 N; P=.01). There was also improvement in Short Physical Performance Battery score, a composite score that focuses on lower extremity function, in those taking DHEA (from 10.1 +/- 1.8 to 10.7 +/- 1.9; P=.02). There were significant changes in all hormone levels, including DHEAS, estradiol, estrone, and testosterone, and a decline in sex hormone-binding globulin levels in those taking DHEA ... CONCLUSION: DHEA supplementation improved lower extremity strength and function in older, frail women involved in a gentle exercise program of chair aerobics or yoga. No changes were found in BMD either due to small sample size, short duration of study or no effect. The physical function findings are promising and require further evaluation as frail women are at high risk for falls and fracture" - See DHEA at Amazon.com.

Chocolate consumption is inversely associated with prevalent coronary heart disease: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study - Clin Nutr. 2010 Sep 19 - "Compared to subjects who did not report any chocolate intake, odds ratios (95% CI) for CHD were 1.01 (0.76-1.37), 0.74 (0.56-0.98), and 0.43 (0.28-0.67) for subjects consuming 1-3 times/month, 1-4 times/week, and 5+ times/week, respectively (p for trend <0.0001) adjusting for age, sex, family CHD risk group, energy intake, education, non-chocolate candy intake, linolenic acid intake, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, and fruit and vegetables. Consumption of non-chocolate candy was associated with a 49% higher prevalence of CHD comparing 5+/week vs. 0/week [OR = 1.49 (0.96-2.32)]" - See Lindt - Excellence 90% Cocoa Bar.

Taurine prevents free fatty acid-induced hepatic insulin resistance in association with inhibiting JNK1 activation and improving insulin signaling in vivo - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2010 Sep 18 - "intralipid plus heparin (IH) ... Taurine co-infusion with IH prevented the rise in 8-isoprostaglandin and MDA, inhibited the activation of JNK1, and improved insulin signaling and insulin resistance in liver. The present study has demonstrated that taurine, as an antioxidant, prevented hepatic oxidative stress and ameliorated hepatic insulin resistance. And this effect may be associated with the inhibition of JNK1 activation and the improvement of insulin signaling. This study suggests the therapeutic value of taurine in protecting from hepatic insulin resistance caused by elevated FFAs" - See taurine at Amazon.com.

Metabolic Syndrome, Brain MRI, and Cognition - Diabetes Care. 2010 Sep 17 - "MetS exerts detrimental effects on memory and executive functioning in community-dwelling subjects without clinical strokes or dementia. Men are more affected than women, particularly if they have high inflammatory markers"

Health Focus (White Blood Cells):

Alternative News:

• Vitamin E may boost immune function: Mouse study - Science Daily, 5/20/10 - "The animals were fed 0.1 per cent Tocomin 50 per cent (Carotech), which is a mixture of tocotrienols and alpha-tocopherols, or a control diet containing only tocopherol, for six weeks ... Older mice fed the tocotrienol supplement displayed a greater level of lymphocyte proliferation, a marker of how quickly white blood cells can reproduce in response to infection, than old mice fed the control ... mice of both ages fed the tocotrienol supplement had higher levels of the interleukin-1beta, a cytokine released by immune cells (macrophages). ... There are eight forms of vitamin E: four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta). Alpha-tocopherol (alpha-Toc) is the main source found in supplements and in the European diet, while gamma-tocopherol (gamma-Toc) is the most common form in the American diet" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3 DHA boost for heart health in high-risk men: Study - Nutra USA, 3/6/09 - "supplementation with DHA for 45 days resulted in decreased levels of the number of circulating white blood cells (neutrophils) by 11.7 per cent, and these reductions were maintained until the end of the 90-day study (10.5 per cent reduction) ... levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) had decreased by 15 per cent, and IL-6 had decreased by 23 per cent ... Furthermore, levels of the anti-inflammatory matrix metalloproteinase-2 rose by 7 per cent ... In conclusion, DHA may lessen the inflammatory response by altering blood lipids and their fatty acid composition" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Gamma-tocopherol and docosahexaenoic acid decrease inflammation in dialysis patients - J Ren Nutr. 2007 Sep;17(5):296-304 - "gamma tocopherol (308 mg) and DHA (800 mg) ... In the treatment group, but not in the placebo group, there were significant decreases in IL-6 (21.4 +/- 3.5 to 16.8 +/- 3.7 pg/mL), white blood cell (WBC) count (7.4 +/- 0.3 to 6.9 +/- 0.4 10(3)/microL), and neutrophil fraction of WBCs (4.8 +/- 0.3 to 4.4 +/- 0.3 10(3)/microL), at P < .05 for all"
• Mediterranean Diet Lowers C-reactive Protein Levels - Medscape, 11/11/03 - "white blood cell count decreased significantly"

Other News:

• 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"
• Elevated white blood cell count is associated with arterial stiffness - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2008 May 2 - "These findings indicate that elevated WBC count is associated with arterial stiffness"
• White Blood Cell 'Waste Disposal' System Plays Critical Regulatory Role - Science Daily, 5/29/05
• Extra Weight May Age You Faster - WebMD, 5/25/05 - "inflammation burns out white blood cells faster, and the effort of replacing them wears down the telomeres"
• Blood Test May Show Heart Attack Risk - WebMD, 5/16/05 - "White blood cells are infection-fighting cells that may increase in response to infection or inflammation. Studies suggest that hardening of the arteries caused by cholesterol plaque -- atherosclerosis -- is linked to inflammation. Therefore, researchers suggest that measuring white blood cells may help reveal heart disease risk"
• WBC Counts Predict Future CVD Events - Physician's Weekly, 4/25/05 - "Patients with WBC counts greater than 6.7 x 109 cells/L were found to be at high risk, even when clinicians had not identified traditional CVD risk factors"
• Easy Blood Test May Reveal Women's Heart Risk - WebMD, 3/14/05 - "women with the highest white blood cell counts had twice the risk of dying of heart disease than those with the lowest levels ... women in the top fourth also had a 40% higher risk of nonfatal heart attack, 46% higher risk of stroke, and 50% higher risk of death due to any cause"

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