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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 11/9/11.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Combination Antioxidant Therapy May Help Fatty Liver - Medscape, 11/7/11 - "A combination of vitamin E and alpha lipoic acid (ALA) can improve the inflammatory and steatosis scores in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis ... combination therapy resulted in a 70% difference in change in tumor necrosis factors-alpha levels from baseline. ... ALA alone or vitamin E alone were not as effective ... Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common liver disease in the world ... In the United States, 20% of the general population and 75% to 92% of the morbidly obese population suffer from the disease" - See alpha lipoic acid products at Amazon.com and Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.

Brain parasite directly alters brain chemistry - Science Daily, 11/4/11 - "the findings could ultimately shed new light on treating human neurological disorders that are dopamine-related such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Parkinson's disease ... Infected mice and rats lose their innate fear of cats, increasing the chances of being caught and eaten, which enables the parasite to return to its main host to complete its life cycle ... Humans are accidental hosts to T. gondii and the parasite could end up anywhere in the brain, so human symptoms of toxoplasmosis infection may depend on where parasite ends up ... Toxoplasmosis, which is transmitted via cat faeces (found on unwashed vegetables) and raw or undercooked infected meat, is relatively common, with 10-20% of the UK population and 22% of the US population estimated to carry the parasite as cysts. Most people with the parasite are healthy, but for those who are immune-suppressed -- and particularly for pregnant women -- there are significant health risks that can occasionally be fatal" - Note:  So am I a germaphobe or do I just have a better understanding of things like this.  It's just another reason why I've got a no shoes house.  There's also pesticides on lawns, etc., that people step in an track into homes.

Some Doctors Warming Up to Probiotics - WebMD, 11/4/11 - "A review of 22 studies involving 3,096 patients presented at the meeting showed that taking probiotics while on antibiotics may cut the risk of developing antibiotic-associated diarrhea by about 60% ...antibiotics kill "good" bacteria along with the bacteria that cause illness. A decrease in beneficial bacteria may lead to digestive problems. Taking probiotics may help replace the lost beneficial bacteria and help prevent diarrhea ... Probiotics also appeared to provide protection against potentially deadly bouts of diarrhea caused by the bug Clostridium difficile, or C. diff. ... Look for a brand you trust and whose label offers that information" - See probiotics at Amazon.com.

High blood pressure may lead to missed emotional cues - Science Daily, 11/3/11 - "A recently published study by Clemson University psychology professor James A. McCubbin and colleagues has shown that people with higher blood pressure have reduced ability to recognize angry, fearful, sad and happy faces and text passages"

New role for hormone oxytocin in brain - Science Daily, 11/2/11 - "Much of the body's chemistry is controlled by the brain -- from blood pressure to appetite to food metabolism ... a team of scientists led by Dr. Gil Levkowitz of the Weizmann Institute has revealed the exact structure of one crucial brain area in which biochemical commands are passed from the brain cells to the bloodstream and from there to the body. In the process, they discovered a surprising new role for the "hormone of love," showing that it helps to direct the development of this brain structure ... The scientists showed that oxytocin, one of the two major hormones secreted in the adult neurohypophysis, is involved in the development of this brain area already in the embryo. At this stage, the oxytocin governs the formation of new blood vessels" - Note:  I'm still trying to figure out what they're trying to say.  Click here to purchase Oxytocin Factor or see Oxytocin 6x5iu tablets at International Antiaging Systems.

Low levels of alcohol consumption associated with small increased risk of breast cancer, study finds - Science Daily, 11/1/11 - "Analyses of data indicated that a low level of alcohol consumption (5.0 to 9.9 grams per day, equivalent to 3-6 glasses of wine per week) was modestly but statistically significantly associated with a 15 percent increased risk of breast cancer. In addition, women who consumed at least 30 grams of alcohol daily on average (at least 2 drinks per day) had a 51 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared with women who never consumed alcohol"

Red wine antioxidant could give metabolism a boost - USATODAY.com, 11/1/11 - "For the study, Schrauwen's team gave resveratrol to 11 obese, but otherwise healthy men. The men took 150 milligrams of the supplement a day for 30 days. To get that much resveratrol from wine would mean drinking over two gallons of wine a day ... resveratrol acted much like a low-calorie diet in terms of reducing energy expenditure and improving metabolism and overall health ... Changes included a lower metabolic rate, reduced fat in the liver, lower blood pressure and lower blood sugar. The men also had changes in the way their muscles burned fat ... In obesity, it's not clear whether burning fewer calories is a good or a bad thing ... It suggests, however, that cells were functioning more efficiently, as they do on a calorie-restricted diet" - [ABC News] - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Zeaxanthin Supplements as Effective as Lutein in AMD - Medscape, 11/1/11 - "Both lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids found in the color pigment of the eye ... Using a visual test designed to identify early signs of AMD, the researchers found that the vision in the zeaxanthin group sharpened from 0.97 to 0.57 (P > 0.06, 1-tail)" - See Jarrow Formulas, CarotenALL at Amazon.com.

Health risk from eating well-done meat may be underestimated - Science Daily, 11/1/11 - "the incidence of intestinal tumours increased from 31 per cent to 80 per cent in "human-like" mice who consumed substances from meat crust (i.e. the surface formed during heat-treatment) ... Heat-processing of food can lead to the formation of carcinogenic substances. The formation of carcinogenic substances -- so-called food mutagens -- usually occurs at high temperatures when frying or grilling"

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):

Enteral n-3 fatty acids and micronutrients enhance percentage of positive neutrophil and lymphocyte adhesion molecules: a potential mediator of pressure ulcer healing in critically ill patients - Br J Nutr. 2011 Nov 1:1-6 - "n-3 Fatty acids are recognised as influencing both wound healing and immunity. We assessed the impact of a fish oil- and micronutrient-enriched formula (study formula) on the healing of pressure ulcers and on immune function in critically ill patients in an intensive care unit ... intervention group, n 20, received study formula; and a control group, n 20, received an isoenergetic formula ... Patients who received the study formula showed significant increases in the percentage of positive CD18 and CD11a lymphocytes and of CD49b granulocytes as compared to controls (P < 0.05). While the severity of pressure ulcers was not significantly different between the two groups on admission, severity increased significantly over time for the control group (P < 0.05), but not for the study group. The present study suggests that a fish oil- and micronutrient-enriched formula may prevent worsening of pressure ulcers and that this effect may be mediated by an effect on adhesion molecule expression" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Adiponectin elevation by telmisartan ameliorates ISCHEMIC MYOCARDIUM IN Zucker Diabetic Fatty rats with metabolic syndrome - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2011 Nov 3 - "myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury ... Telmisartan reduced the extension of the infarct size in a dose-dependent fashion and decreased the levels of plasma troponin I, a specific marker of myocardial damage. Telmisartan also caused a dose-dependent increase in adiponectin both in plasma and cardiac tissue of infarcted ZDF rats. These levels were minimally increased (p<0.05 vs vehicle) by telmisartan 7 mg/kg/day and reached the maximum values with the highest dose of 12 mg/kg/day (p<0.01 vs vehicle). In contrast, within the infarcted tissue telmisartan decreased the expression of markers of inflammation such as the transcription factor NF-κB, the toll-like receptors TLR2 and TLR4 as well as TNF-α cytokine. Nitrosative stress was maximal in vehicle-treated infarcted hearts as evidenced by increased expression of iNOS, which was almost abolished after treatement with telmisartan. Conclusions: Treatment of ZDF rats for three weeks with telmisartan, a dual angiotensin II receptor antagonist and partial PPAR-γ receptor agonist, resulted in a significant reduction of myocardial damage induced by I/R and was assocciated with increased adiponectin and a decrease in inflammatory markers"

Association of hypogonadism with vitamin D status: the European Male Ageing Study - Eur J Endocrinol. 2011 Nov 2 - "In univariate analyses free T levels were lower (P=0.02) and E2 and LH higher (P<0.05) in men with deficient vitamin D (25(OH)D<50nmol/L). 25(OH)D was positively associated with total and free T, and negatively with E2 and LH in age and centre adjusted linear regressions. After adjusting for health and lifestyle factors no significant associations were observed between 25(OH)D and individual hormones of the HPT axis. However, deficient vitamin D was significantly associated with compensated [relative risk ratio (RRR)=1.52, P=0.03] and secondary hypogonadism (RRR=1.16, P=0.05). Seasonal variation was only observed for 25(OH)D (P<0.001).Conclusions: Secondary and compensated hypogonadism were associated with vitamin D deficiency and the clinical significance of this relationship warrants further investigation" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Milk Consumption and Bladder Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Published Epidemiological Studies - Nutr Cancer. 2011 Nov 1 - "Studies investigating the association of milk consumption with bladder cancer risk have reported inconsistent findings. We conducted a meta-analysis of published cohort and case-control studies to pool the risk estimates of the association between milk intake and bladder cancer ... High milk intake was significantly associated with decreased risk of bladder cancer (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.71-0.97) when comparing the highest with the lowest category of milk intake. The inverse association was stronger in Asia (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.40-0.81) than North America (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.76-1.03), and no association was observed in Europe (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.85-1.26). This relationship also varied significantly by specific dairy products. Our results suggest that milk may be related to the reduction of bladder cancer risk. Further studies need to clarify the biological mechanisms"

Diet and the risk of head and neck cancer: a pooled analysis in the INHANCE consortium - Cancer Causes Control. 2011 Oct 29 - "We investigated the association between diet and head and neck cancer (HNC) risk using data from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium. The INHANCE pooled data included 22 case-control studies with 14,520 cases and 22,737 controls ... An inverse association was observed for higher-frequency intake of fruit (4th vs. 1st quartile OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.43-0.62, p (trend) < 0.01) and vegetables (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49-0.90, p (trend) = 0.01). Intake of red meat (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.13-1.74, p (trend) = 0.13) and processed meat (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.14-1.65, p (trend) < 0.01) was positively associated with HNC risk"

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

Health Focus (Aromatization/Gynecomastia):

Related Topics:

Prescription aromatase inhibitors:

The Really Important Stuff:

  • Anastrozole (Arimidex) - anabolic-androgenic-steroids.com - "Anastrozole (Arimidex) is the aromatase inhibitor of choice ...With moderate doses of testosterone 0.5 mg/day is usually sufficient and in some cases may be too much" - Femara (letrozole) may not have been available at the time this article was written.
  • Chrysin: Is It An Effective Aromatase Inhibitor? - vrp.com - "Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any effective natural inhibitor of aromatase"

  • Aromatase Inhibition Offers Little Benefit, Possible Harm to Men With Lo... - Medscape, 12/22/09 - "The inescapable conclusion from these data is that the 50% increase in testosterone levels was trumped by the much more modest 20% reduction in estradiol levels, leading to negative skeletal effects of anastrozole therapy in aging men" - Note:  I'm not sure that thought this though thoroughly.  Mortally in men is best when estrogen is around 25pg/mL.  I suspect that most have higher estrogen than that.  See:

    • High, Low Estradiol Levels and Mortality in Men With Systolic HF - Medscape, 5/19/09 - "Both low and high serum levels of estradiol, compared with mid-range levels, are significantly and independently associated with increased all-cause mortality in men with chronic systolic heart failure"
      Serum Estradiol Concentration Quintiles as Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Men (With Quintile 3 as the Reference Group)
      Parameter Quintile 1 Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Quintile 5
      Estradiol concentration (pg/mL) <12.903 12.90–21.79 21.80–30.11 30.12–37.39 >37.40
      3-y survival* (%) 44.6 65.8 82.4 79.0 63.6
      Quintile as mortality predictor,* HR (95% CI) vs quintile 3 4.17 (2.33–7.45) 2.15 (1.16���3.99) -- 1.22 (0.64–2.31) 2.33 (1.30–4.18)
      HR= hazard ratio
  • High, Low Estradiol Levels and Mortality in Men With Systolic HF - Medscape, 5/19/09 - "Both low and high serum levels of estradiol, compared with mid-range levels, are significantly and independently associated with increased all-cause mortality in men with chronic systolic heart failure" - Note:  See my aromatization page for ways to reduce it.  I take a quarter tablet of letrozole every day.  See letrozole at OffshoreRx1.com.
    Serum Estradiol Concentration Quintiles as Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Men (With Quintile 3 as the Reference Group)
    Parameter Quintile 1 Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Quintile 5
    Estradiol concentration (pg/mL) <12.903 12.90–21.79 21.80–30.11 30.12–37.39 >37.40
    3-y survival* (%) 44.6 65.8 82.4 79.0 63.6
    Quintile as mortality predictor,* HR (95% CI) vs quintile 3 4.17 (2.33–7.45) 2.15 (1.16��3.99) -- 1.22 (0.64–2.31) 2.33 (1.30–4.18)
    HR= hazard ratio
  • Letrozole once a week normalizes serum testosterone in obesity-related male hypogonadism - Eur J Endocrinol. 2008 May;158(5):741-7 - "Isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) is frequently observed in severely obese men, probably as a result of increased estradiol (E(2)) production and E(2)-mediated negative feedback on pituitary LH secretion. Aromatase inhibitors can reverse this process ... treated with 2.5 mg letrozole once a week for 6 months ... Six weeks of treatment reduced total E(2) from 123+/-11 to 58+/-7 pmol/l (P<0.001, mean+/-s.e.m.), and increased serum LH from 4.4+/-0.6 to 11.1+/-1.5 U/l (P<0.001). Total testosterone rose from 5.9+/-0.5 to 19.6+/-1.4 nmol/l (P<0.001), and free testosterone from 163+/-13 to 604+/-50 pmol/l (P<0.001). Total testosterone rose to within the normal range in all subjects, whereas free testosterone rose to supraphysiological levels in 7 out of 12 men ... Letrozole 2.5 mg once a week produced a sustained normalization of serum total testosterone in obese men with IHH. However, free testosterone frequently rose to supraphysiological levels. Therefore, a starting dose <2.5 mg once a week is recommended" - See Femara (letrozole) at OffshoreRX.  I've been taking a quarter table a day but it sounds like that's way to much an a quarter tablet every other day might be best which comes to 2.5 mg every 8 days.  People complain about the hassle to get doctors to prescribe testosterone.  It sounds like letrozole will give you the same or better numbers without the hassle.  Plus testosterone replacement increases estrogen but letrozole has the advantage of decreasing it.  See my aromatization page.
  • Long-term Consequences of the Aromatase Inhibitors - Medscape, 11/16/05 - "The "short-term toxicities," such as vasomotor symptoms, venothromboemboli, and gynecologic complications, favor the use of AIs. However, long-term bone loss, altered lipid profiles, and possible compromise in sexual functioning appear to be adversely affected by the AIs"
  • Letrozole normalizes serum testosterone in severely obese men with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2005 May;7(3):211-5 - "Six weeks of treatment decreased serum estradiol from 120 +/- 20 to 70 +/- 9 pmol/l (p = 0.006). None of the subjects developed an estradiol level of less than 40 pmol/l. LH increased from 4.5 +/- 0.8 to 14.8 +/- 2.3 U/l (p < 0.001). Total testosterone rose from 7.5 +/- 1.0 to 23.8 +/- 3.0 nmol/l (p < 0.001) without a concomitant change in sex hormone-binding globulin level. Those treated with Letrozole 17.5 mg per week had an excessive LH response" - Note:  A half tablet per day would be 8.75 mg/week.  I believe 40 pmol/l of estradiol is 11.54 pg/mL and the normal value for men is 10 to 52 pg/mL (Quest says 10 to 50).  The way I read that, testosterone tripled.  I take a half tablet a day of Femara (letrozole).  See Femara at International Anti-aging Systems or Letrozole at OffshoreRx1.com.
  • Can Broccoli Prevent Lupus? - WebMD, 11/6/03 - "I3C is believed to act as an anti-estrogen ... I3C-fed mice had far fewer kidney problems than the mice whose diets were not supplemented, and researchers say this is the reason that they lived much longer. Kidney disease is one of the main, life-threatening complications of lupus" - See iHerb I3C products.
  • Why Testosterone Levels Decline  - Life Extension Magazine, 11/99 - "Clinical studies using testosterone injections, creams, or patches have often failed to provide a long-lasting, libido-enhancing effect in aging men (98). We now know why. The testosterone can be converted to estrogen. The estrogen is then taken up by testosterone receptor sites in cells throughout the body. When an estrogen molecule occupies a testosterone receptor site on a cell membrane, it blocks the ability of serum testosterone to induce a healthy hormonal signal. It does not matter how much serum free testosterone is available if excess estrogen is competing for the same cellular receptor sites"
  • Correcting A Hormone Imbalance  - Life Extension Magazine, 11/99 - "If all of the above fail to increase free testosterone and lower excess estradiol, then ask your doctor to prescribe the potent aromatase inhibiting drug Arimidex (anastrozole) in the very low dose of one-half (0.5 mg) mg, twice a week"
  • Androgel prescribing information - androgel.com - "Serum estradiol (E2) concentrations increased significantly within 30 days of starting treatment with AndroGel® 5 or 10 G/day and remained elevated throughout the treatment period but remained within the normal range for eugonadal men" - Yeah, but what if you are taking DHEA and what about testosterone/estrogen ratios.   See:
    • Biotransformation of oral dehydroepiandrosterone in elderly men: significant increase in circulating estrogens - J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999 Jun;84(6):2170-6 - "Serum testosterone and dihydrotestosterone remained unchanged after DHEA administration. In contrast, 17beta-estradiol and estrone significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner to concentrations still within the upper normal range for men [placebo vs. 50 mg DHEA vs. 100 mg DHEA; AUC 0-12 h for 17beta-estradiol, 510 +/- 198 vs. 635 +/- 156 vs. 700 +/- 209 pmol/L x h (P < 0.0001); AUC 0-12 h for estrone, 1443 +/- 269 vs. 2537 +/- 434 vs. 3254 +/- 671 pmol/L x h (P < 0.0001)]"
  • Estrogen: The Unrecognized Male Hormone - IAS
  • Testosterone Deficiency & Depression, Does DHEA Raise the Levels of Bioavailable Testosterone in Men? - Life Extension Magazine, 8/02 - "Some men on testosterone drug replacement therapy develop dangerously high estrogen levels. Estrogen can be suppressed by taking an aromatase-inhibiting drug like Arimidex (0.5 mg twice a week) or using a supplement like Super Mira Forte (six capsules daily)" - See Arimidex at International Anti-aging Systems.
  • Biotransformation of oral dehydroepiandrosterone in elderly men: significant increase in circulating estrogens - J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999 Jun;84(6):2170-6 - "Serum testosterone and dihydrotestosterone remained unchanged after DHEA administration. In contrast, 17beta-estradiol and estrone significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner to concentrations still within the upper normal range for men [placebo vs. 50 mg DHEA vs. 100 mg DHEA; AUC 0-12 h for 17beta-estradiol, 510 +/- 198 vs. 635 +/- 156 vs. 700 +/- 209 pmol/L x h (P < 0.0001); AUC 0-12 h for estrone, 1443 +/- 269 vs. 2537 +/- 434 vs. 3254 +/- 671 pmol/L x h (P < 0.0001)]" - That's a 40% increase in the bad estrogen!  On top of that, if you are taking testosterone, that increases estrogen also.
  • Aromatase Inhibition Corrects Endocrinopathy In Infertile Men - Doctor's Guide, 4/9/01 - "investigators found that men with severe infertility had significantly lower testosterone (328 versus 543 ng/dl) and significantly higher oestradiol (58.4 versus 43.5 ng/l) than the fertile controls. As a result, the infertile men had much lower testosterone-to-oestradiol ratios ... These abnormalities were corrected in the 45 men who received testolactone and their testosterone-to-oestradiol ratios rose into the normal range"
  • Evidence of a Treatable Endocrinopathy in Infertile Men - J. of Urology, 3/01 - "We identified an endocrinopathy in men with severe male factor infertility that is characterized by a decreased serum testosterone-to-estradiol ratio. This ratio can be corrected by aromatase inhibition, resulting in a significant improvement in semen parameters in oligospermic patients"
  • Replenish Testosterone Naturally - Life Extension Magazine, 1/00 - "Through a variety of mechanisms, aging men suffer from the dual effects of having too little testosterone and excess estrogen. The result is a testosterone/ estrogen imbalance that can severely inhibit sexual desire and performance ... Too much estrogen plays havoc with a man's sex life by binding to testosterone receptor sites and may contribute to the over-production of SHBG. SHBG binds free testosterone in a way that makes it unavailable to receptor sites in the brain, nerves and genitals."
  • Estrogen suppression in males: metabolic effects - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Apr;86(4):1836-8 - "First, a dose-response study of 12 males (mean age, 16.1 +/- 0.3 yr) was conducted, and blood withdrawn at baseline and after 10 days of oral Arimidex given as two different doses (either 0.5 or 1 mg) in random order with a 14-day washout in between. A sensitive estradiol (E2) assay showed an approximately 50% decrease in E2 concentrations with either of the two doses ... There was a 58% increase in serum T"
  • Male Hormone Modulation Therapy  - Life Extension Magazine, 11/99 - "One cause of hormone imbalance in men is that their testosterone is increasingly converted to estrogen. One report showed that estrogen levels of the average 54-year-old man are higher than those of the average 59-year-old woman . . . . High levels of estrogen have been implicated as a cause of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH)"
  • Arimidex - Rxlist.com - "ARIMIDEX 1 mg, reduced estradiol by approximately 70% within 24 hours and by approximately 80% after 14 days of daily dosing"

News & Research:

 

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