Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 7/18/12.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Increased recommended dietary Vitamin C could help reduce heart disease, stroke, cancer - Science Daily, 7/16/12 - "The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, of vitamin C is less than half what it should be, scientists argue in a recent report, because medical experts insist on evaluating this natural, but critical nutrient in the same way they do pharmaceutical drugs and reach faulty conclusions as a result ... the RDA of vitamin C should be raised to 200 milligrams per day for adults, up from its current levels in the United States of 75 milligrams for women and 90 for men ... Rather than just prevent the vitamin C deficiency disease of scurvy, they say, it's appropriate to seek optimum levels that will saturate cells and tissues, pose no risk, and may have significant effects on public health at almost no expense ... higher levels of vitamin C could help reduce the chronic diseases that today kill most people in the developed world -- heart disease, stroke, cancer, and the underlying issues that lead to them, such as high blood pressure, chronic inflammation, poor immune response and atherosclerosis" - See vitamin C at Amazon.com.

Vitamin B12 and Sensory and Motor Peripheral Nerve Function - Medscape, 7/13/12 - "Deficient B12 status is associated with worse sensory and motor nerve function in older adults. These findings have important implications for functioning and disability in older adults. Several studies have shown an association between peripheral neuropathy or poor peripheral nerve function and impaired mobility and falls.[22,25,44–48] ... In the aftermath of the 1998 mandatory folic acid fortification in the United States, it is important to study vitamin B12 and consequences of poor B12 status in older adults.[2] A high intake of folic acid may correct megaloblastic anemia, which is caused by a deficiency in B12 or folic acid.[14, 49] Because the classic sign of anemia may not be present, B12 deficiency may go unnoticed, and neurological damage may progress and not be easily reversible.[2] Although current recommendations do not advise monitoring B12 levels in older adults, the current results suggest that low levels are associated with peripheral nerve impairments, which have been associated with lower musculoskeletal function in our population.[22,23,26] Supplemental B12 is easily available, adequately absorbed, and well tolerated in older adults[50] and may correct vitamin B12 deficits associated with impaired peripheral nerve function. Randomized clinical trials are needed to establish that sufficient B12 supplementation can improve peripheral nerve function" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.

Association Between Plasma 25-OH Vitamin D and Testosterone - Medscape, 7/13/12 - "In conclusion, the present study confirms previous findings of a positive association between vitamin D status as reflected by 25(OH) vitamin D levels and testosterone levels, although in our study, this finding was not supported by parallel seasonal variation patterns of 25(OH) vitamin D and testosterone. Whether these cross-sectional findings reflect a causal relationship deserves further scientific examination" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Low Vitamin D May Blunt Effectiveness of Asthma Treatment - Medscape, 7/13/12 - "In asthmatic children treated with inhaled corticosteroids, vitamin D deficiency is associated with poorer lung function than [in] children with vitamin D insufficiency or sufficiency ... the investigators analyzed data from the Childhood Asthma Management Program, a multicenter trial of 1041 children diagnosed with mild to moderate persistent asthma ... Among children being treated with corticosteroids, those who were vitamin D deficient were less likely than other children taking the same drug to show big improvements in prebronchodilator FEV1 scores after 12 months of treatment" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Chemicals in personal care products -- phthalates -- may increase risk of diabetes in women - Science Daily, 7/13/12 - "Phthalates are endocrine disrupting chemicals that are commonly found in personal care products such as moisturizers, nail polishes, soaps, hair sprays and perfumes. They are also used in adhesives, electronics, toys and a variety of other products ... women with higher levels of phthalates in their urine were more likely to have diabetes. Specifically:  Women who had the highest levels of the chemicals mono-benzyl phthalate and mono-isobutyl phthalate had almost twice the risk of diabetes compared to women with the lowest levels of those chemicals ... Women with higher than median levels of the chemical mono-(3-carboxypropyl) phthalate had approximately a 60 percent increased risk of diabetes ... Women with moderately high levels of the chemicals mono-n-butyl phthalate and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate had approximately a 70 percent increased risk of diabetes"

Your Brain -- Use It or Lose It - Medscape, 7/12/12 - "It is not yet known whether an active cognitive lifestyle and social engagement directly affect the brain and cerebral vasculature, whether people who are more resilient neurologically have more active cognitive lifestyles, or whether predisposition to greater resiliency is linked to predisposition to cognitive activity. However, improvement of cognitive decline by cognitive retraining (JW Psychiatry Oct 17 2011) suggests that a two-way interaction between the environment and the brain might protect against dementia via several mechanisms"

Effect of Long-term Cannabis Use on Axonal Fiber Connectivity - Medscape, 7/12/12 - "Our results suggest that long-term cannabis use is hazardous to white matter in the developing brain. Given the association between cannabis-related harms and age of onset of regular use, delaying use may minimize such harmful effects. Disturbed brain connectivity in cannabis users may underlie cognitive impairment and vulnerability to psychosis, depression and anxiety disorders (Lim et al., 2002), all of which are significant public health concerns. White matter alterations have been associated with various functional and clinical outcomes in schizophrenia, including illness, symptomatic and cognitive measures (Walterfang et al., 2011), with white matter pathology underlying faulty integration of cortical–cerebellar–thalamic–cortical circuits thought to play a primary role in the observed cognitive deficits (Wexler et al., 2009). Similar connectivity disturbances, particularly in the fimbria of the hippocampus and commissural fibres extending to the precuneus reported in this study, may underlie the memory impairment and other cognitive deficits that are observed in long-term heavy cannabis users"

Anxiety linked to shortened telomeres, accelerated aging - Science Daily, 7/11/12 - "researchers had obtained blood samples from 5,243 women, age 42 to 69 years, who were participants in the Nurses' Health Study. Using the samples, the researchers analyzed telomere lengths, as well as the participants' concurrent self-reports regarding phobic symptoms on a validated questionnaire ... Having a high phobic anxiety level was associated with significantly shorter telomere lengths. The difference in telomere lengths for women who were highly phobic vs. not was similar to what was seen for an additional six years of age"

Widespread exposure to BPA substitute is occurring from cash register receipts, other paper - Science Daily, 7/11/12 - "growing evidence of the potentially toxic effects of BPA has led some manufacturers to replace it with BPS in thermal paper and other products. BPS is closely related to BPA, with some of the same estrogen-mimicking effects, and unanswered questions exist about whether it is safer ... they analyzed 16 types of paper from the U.S., Japan, Korea and Vietnam ... The study detected BPS in all the receipt paper they tested, 87 percent of the samples of paper currency and 52 percent of recycled paper. The researchers estimate that people may be absorbing BPS through their skin in larger doses than they absorbed BPA when it was more widely used -- 19 times more BPS than BPA. People who handle thermal paper in their jobs may be absorbing much more BPS"

Metformin May Help Renew Neurons - Medscape, 7/10/12 - "Animal studies showed that metformin activates a key pathway (aPKC-CBP) that promotes neurogenesis and enhanced hippocampus-dependent spatial memory formation in study animals. Results also showed that the drug has similar activity on human neural precursors, increasing the likelihood that it might enhance neurogenesis in the human brain as well ... compared with mice given a control substance, those treated with metformin had about a third more new neurons in the hippocampus, and almost double the number of new neurons produced by stem cells ... in a spatial learning maze test, mice given metformin (200 mg/kg) were significantly better able to learn the location of a submerged platform compared with those given a sterile saline solution" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Nutrient mixture improves memory in patients with early Alzheimer's - Science Daily, 7/10/12 - "Wurtman came up with a mixture of three naturally occurring dietary compounds: choline, uridine and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA ... These nutrients are precursors to the lipid molecules that, along with specific proteins, make up brain-cell membranes, which form synapses. To be effective, all three precursors must be administered together ... In animal studies, he showed that his dietary cocktail boosted the number of dendritic spines, or small outcroppings of neural membranes, found in brain cells. These spines are necessary to form new synapses between neurons ... 40 percent of patients who consumed the drink improved in a test of verbal memory, while 24 percent of patients who received the control drink improved their performance ... Patients, whether taking Souvenaid or a placebo, improved their verbal-memory performance for the first three months, but the placebo patients deteriorated during the following three months, while the Souvenaid patients continued to improve ... as the trial went on, the brains of patients receiving the supplements started to shift from patterns typical of dementia to more normal patterns. Because EEG patterns reflect synaptic activity, this suggests that synaptic function increased following treatment, the researchers say" - Avoid the patent mark-up.  See citicholine at Amazon.com, uridine at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA 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):

L-Carnitine prevents the development of ventricular fibrosis and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in hypertensive heart disease - J Hypertens. 2012 Jul 12 - "Prognosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains poor because of unknown pathophysiology and unestablished therapeutic strategy ... L-carnitine supplementation attenuates cardiac fibrosis by increasing prostacyclin production through arachidonic acid pathway, and may be a promising therapeutic option for HFpEF" - See l-carnitine at Amazon.com.

Association of glycated hemoglobin with carotid intimal medial thickness in Asian Indians with normal glucose tolerance - J Diabetes Complications. 2012 Jul 11 - "To assess the association of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels with carotid intimal medial thickness (CIMT) in Asian Indians with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) ... The study group included 1383 NGT subjects, of whom 760 (54.9%) were women. The mean CIMT value in the 1st quartile of HbA1c (<5.2%) was 0.65 and it increased significantly to 0.73 in the last quartile of HbA1c (>5.8) (p<0.001). Regression analysis showed that HbA1c had a strong association with CIMT after adjusting for age, gender, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, serum triglycerides, HOMA-IR and smoking (ß - 0.046, p=0.047) ... Even among subjects with NGT, there is a significant increase in CIMT with increasing levels of HbA1c, showing the value of using HbA1c for diagnosis of glucose intolerance"

Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance is associated with low T(3)/T(4) ratio in pre diabetic euthyroid pakistani subjects - J Diabetes Complications. 2012 Jul 11 - "Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are associated with low T(3)/T(4) ratio in pre-diabetic euthyroid Pakistani subjects" - See T3 at International Anti-aging Systems.

Resveratrol decreases inflammation and increases utrophin gene expression in the mdx mouse model of duchenne muscular dystrophy - Clin Nutr. 2012 Jul 12 - "Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a lethal genetic disease with no cure ... Resveratrol may be a therapy for DMD by reducing inflammation" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Plasma adiponectin levels in relation to prognosis in patients with angiographic coronary artery disease - Metabolism. 2012 Jul 10 - "major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) ... The incidence of MACE was significantly higher in the low adiponectin group (P=.037). In a multivariate Cox regression analysis for adiponectin levels, previously documented risk factors, coronary artery stenosis scores, and low adiponectin levels were indicated as independent predictors of MACE in patients with CAD (RR 1.75; 95% CI, 1.066-2.865; P=.027). Further adjustment for hsCRP, Ccr, LVEF, fasting glucose and lipid profile did not attenuate this association (RR=2.36; 95% CI 1.338-4.167; P=.003). The relative risk for low adiponectin levels after additional adjustment for the coronary score was 2.42 (95% CI 1.367-4.279; P=.002). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis curve suggested that patients with lower adiponectin concentrations had a decreased event-free survival ratio (log-rank χ(2) =4.592, P=.032)"

Use of thiazolidinediones and the risk of bladder cancer among people with type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis - CMAJ. 2012 Jul 3 - "The limited evidence available supports the hypothesis that thiazolidinediones, particularly pioglitazone, are associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer among adults with type 2 diabetes"

Lactobacilli vs Antibiotics to Prevent Urinary Tract Infections: A Randomized, Double-blind, Noninferiority Trial in Postmenopausal Women - Arch Intern Med. 2012 May 14;172(9):704-12 - "Growing antibiotic resistance warrants studying nonantibiotic prophylaxis for recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs). Use of lactobacilli appears to be promising ... Between January 2005 and August 2007, we randomized 252 postmenopausal women with recurrent UTIs taking part in a double-blind noninferiority trial to receive 12 months of prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, 480 mg, once daily or oral capsules containing 109 colony-forming units of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 twice daily ...The mean number of symptomatic UTIs in the year preceding randomization was 7.0 in the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole group and 6.8 in the lactobacilli group. In the intention-to-treat analysis, after 12 months of prophylaxis, these numbers were 2.9 and 3.3, respectively. The between-treatment difference of 0.4 UTIs per year (95% CI, -0.4 to 1.5) was outside our noninferiority margin. At least 1 symptomatic UTI occurred in 69.3% and 79.1% of the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and lactobacilli participants, respectively; median times to the first UTI were 6 and 3 months, respectively. After 1 month of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis, resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and amoxicillin had increased from approximately 20% to 40% to approximately 80% to 95% in E coli from the feces and urine of asymptomatic women and among E coli causing a UTI. During the 3 months after trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole discontinuation, resistance levels gradually decreased. Resistance did not increase during lactobacilli prophylaxis. CONCLUSIONS In postmenopausal women with recurrent UTIs, L rhamnosus GR-1 and L reuteri RC-14 do not meet the noninferiority criteria in the prevention of UTIs when compared with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. However, unlike trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, lactobacilli do not increase antibiotic resistance" - See lactobacillus products at iHerb.

Aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, paracetamol, and risk of endometrial cancer: A case control study, systematic review, and meta-analysis - Int J Cancer. 2012 Jul 9 - "We analysed data from the Australian National Endometrial Cancer Study (ANECS), a population-based case-control study ... For the meta-analysis risk estimates were pooled using a random-effects model. In our case-control study women who had ever used aspirin in the last 5 years had significantly lower risk of endometrial cancer OR=0.78 (95%CI: 0.63-0.97). There was a significant inverse dose-response (P-trend <0.001) such that women who reported using =2 aspirin/week had almost half the risk OR=0.54 (0.38-0.78). No significant associations were observed between use of half-aspirin/day, non-aspirin NSAIDs or paracetamol and endometrial cancer risk. The results were similar when examined by cancer subtype. Nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. The overall pooled risk estimate for any vs. no use of aspirin was 0.87 (0.79-0.96) with no evidence of heterogeneity. The pooled risk estimate for obese women (BMI=30 kg/m(2) ) was 0.72 (0.58-0.90) but there was no association for non-obese women. Overall these results suggest that aspirin may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer, particularly among obese women"

Diabetes, metformin use, and colon cancer: A population-based cohort study in Taiwan - Eur J Endocrinol. 2012 Jul 9 - "Even though diabetes patients had a significantly higher probability of receiving examinations that could lead to the detection of colon cancer, they had a significantly higher risk (24%) of this cancer after adjustment. Metformin users had a significantly lower risk (27%) of colon cancer. While comparing patients with diabetes for <1, 1-3, and ≥3 years to non-diabetes individuals, the adjusted relative risk (95% confidence interval) was 1.308 (1.020-1.679), 1.087 (0.900-1.313), and 1.185 (1.055-1.330), respectively. The higher risk among those with diabetes for <1 year suggested a possible reverse causality or a link with prediabetes. However, diabetes still might play some role in colon cancer development among those with diabetes for ≥3 years. The duration of metformin use showed an inverse trend, with a significant relative risk of 0.643 (0.490-0.845) in users for ≥3 years, when compared to non-users. In addition, metformin may reduce colon cancer risk associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a surrogate for smoking)" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Erythrocyte n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid and Seafood Intake Decrease the Risk of Depression: Case-Control Study in Korea - Ann Nutr Metab. 2012 Jul 6;61(1):25-31 - "Multivariate-adjusted regression analysis showed that the risk of depression was significantly and negatively associated with erythrocyte levels of 20:5 n-3, 22:6 n-3, 16:0 and 18:0, but positively associated with erythrocyte levels of 18:2t and 16:1 after adjusting for confounding factors. In addition, the risk of depression was negatively associated with the intake of energy, carbohydrate, seafood and grains, but positively with the intake of fat and meat after adjustment for confounding factors. Conclusions: The risk of depression could be decreased with increased erythrocyte levels of n-3 PUFA and saturated fatty acids, as well as seafood intake, but decreased erythrocyte levels of trans fatty acids in Koreans" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Liothyronine/Cytomel®/Triiodothyronine (T3)):

Where to purchase (check with your doctor first):

• T3 at International Anti-aging Systems

CME:

• Triiodothyronine Augmentation For the Treatment of Depression in Substance Misusers Unresponsive to Tricyclic Antidepressants - HKMJ 2001;7:299-302 - "we believed this treatment strategy should be used more often in local practice"

News & Research:

• Persistence of Mortality Risk in Patients With Acute Cardiac Diseases and Mild Thyroid Dysfunction - Am J Med Sci. 2011 Aug 26 - "A total of 1026 patients (mean age: 67.7 years) were divided into 4 groups: (1) euthyroid (EU, n = 579); (2) subclinical-like hypothyroidism (SLHYPO, n = 68); (3) subclinical-like hyperthyroidism (SLHYPER, n = 23) and (4) low-triiodothyronine syndrome (LowT3, n = 356). Follow-up started from the day of thyroid hormone evaluation (mean follow-up: 30 months). The events considered were cardiac and overall deaths ... Survival rate for cardiac death was lower in SLHYPO and in LT3 than in EU (log rank test; χ = 33.6; P < 0.001). Survival rate for overall death was lower in SLHYPO, SLHYPER and LowT3 than in EU (48.3; P < 0.001). After adjustment for several risk factors, the hazard ratio for cardiac death was higher in SLHYPO (3.65; P = 0.004) in LowT3 (1.88; P = 0.032) and in SLHYPER (4.73; P = 0.047). Hazard ratio for overall death was higher in SLHYPO (2.30; P = 0.009), in LowT3 (1.63; P = 0.017) and in SLHYPER than in EU (3.71; P = 0.004). Hazards for SLHYPO, SLHYPER and LowT3 with respect to EU were proportional over the follow-up period ... In patients with acute cardiac disease, a mildly altered thyroid status was associated with increased risk of mortality that remains constant during all the follow-up" - See T3 at International Anti-aging Systems.
• Antipsychotics Significantly Decrease Free Thyroid Hormone Concentrations - Doctor's Guide, 9/4/08 - "In patients who receive antipsychotic medication, levels of free thyroxine and free triiodothyronine show significant decreases that may affect thyroid hormone functional activity in some tissues, such as the liver"
• Best Thyroid Treatment? - Dr. Weil, 8/29/08
• Looking For The Fountain Of Youth? Cut Your Calories, Research Suggests - Science Daily, 7/3/08 - "While scientists do not know how calorie restriction affects the aging process in rodents, one popular hypothesis is that it slows aging by decreasing a thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine (T3), which then slows metabolism and tissue aging" - All the studies I've read seem to support the opposite:
  • Longer-lived Rodents Have Lower Levels Of Thyroid Hormone - Science Daily, 10/12/06 - "T4 levels varied significantly between all of the groups, with the shorter-lived groups having higher levels of T4 than longer-lived groups ... However, because T3, levels did not differ significantly among all the groups, further research in this area using larger sample sizes (numbers of rodents in each group) is needed"
    
  • ACUTE EFFECTS OF TRIIODOTHYRONINE REPLACEMENT THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEART FAILURE AND LOW-T3 SYNDROME: A RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jan 2 - "Low-triiodothyronine (T3) syndrome is a predictor of poor outcome in patients with cardiac dysfunction ... dilated cardiomyopathy (DC) ... In DC patients, short-term synthetic L-T3 replacement therapy significantly improved neuroendocrine profile and ventricular performance"
  • Low triiodothyronine: a strong predictor of outcome in acute stroke patients - Eur J Clin Invest. 2007 Aug;37(8):651-7 - "The 1-year mortality was 27.34% for low T3 and 19.37% for normal T3 cases (P = 0.006). A smaller percentage of patients with low T3 values were independent at 1 year compared to those with normal T3 values [54.2% vs. 68.7%, chi(2) = 12.09, P < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 0.53"
  • Natural killer activity and thyroid hormone levels in young and elderly persons - Gerontology 2001 Sep-Oct;47(5):282-8 - "Decreased serum concentrations of total T(3) may contribute to low NK activity in the 'almost healthy' subgroup of the elderly"
  • Does low tri-iodothyronine independently predict mortality in elderly hospitalised patients? -  Int J Clin Pract 2001 Jul-Aug;55(6):409-10 - "Our study shows an association of low serum T3 with patient mortality in elderly hospitalised patients"
• T3 Supplementation Raises Patients' Response to Sertraline - Clinical Psychiatry News, 11/06 - "The sertraline-T3 cohort also was much more likely (odds ratio 2.69) to go into remission by the sixth week of treatment. At that point, 58.5% (31/53) of the T3-augmented patients but only 38% (19/50) of the placebo group was in remission"
• Longer-lived Rodents Have Lower Levels Of Thyroid Hormone - Science Daily, 10/12/06 - "T4 levels varied significantly between all of the groups, with the shorter-lived groups having higher levels of T4 than longer-lived groups ... However, because T3, levels did not differ significantly among all the groups, further research in this area using larger sample sizes (numbers of rodents in each group) is needed"
• Thyroid Supplementation Enhances Antidepressant Response - Medscape, 9/21/06 - "Remission occurred in 31 patients (58.5%) receiving T3 compared with 19 patients (38%) in the placebo group" - See T3 at International Anti-aging Systems but check with your doctor first.
• T3 Therapy Not Yet Ready for Psychiatric Use - Clinical Psychiatry News, 2/05 - "Today, many patients with complaints of chronic malaise or fatigue approach their physician seeking T3 therapy, but the fact is that none of the handful of well-designed randomized controlled trials done since then has been able to confirm the initial report of superior outcomes ... There is reason for concern that supraphysiologic doses of T3 in this setting could interfere with protein and fat metabolism and interact synergistically with catecholamines to increase myocardial oxygen demand, with resultant increased arrhythmia, MI, heart failure, and death"
• Reply to Doctor Who States that T3 is Dangerous--Fibromyalgia, Hypothyroidism, Thyroid Hormone Resistance - DrLowe.com, 12/8/03
• Combinination Levothyroxine/Liothyronine Shows No Obvious Benefit Over Levothyroxine Alone in Patients With Primary Hypothyroidism - Doctor's Guide, 12/11/03
• Combination Therapy No Better Than T4 Alone for Primary Hypothyroidism - Medscape, 12/9/03
• Thyroxine Plus 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine Treatment for Depressed Patients with Hypothyroidism Does Not Improve Patient-Assessed Well-Being - Doctor's Guide, 10/30/03
• Thyroid Hormone T3 Doesn't Boost Effectiveness of SSRIs - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/03
• Adding T3 to Paroxetine Adds No Benefit in Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 4/28/03
• Algorithm-Based Treatment Shows High Lack Of Response To Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - Doctor's Guide, 4/17/03 - "When the clinicians added T3, they found it was effective among 10 out of 16 women patients (62.5%), but was not effective in any of the 9 male patients who received it. Although values were within the normal range, patients who responded to T3 had higher serum thyroid-stimulating hormone levels than those who did not ... The effect of T3 may be related to thyroid function even within the normal range"
• Options for Treatment-Resistant Depression - Psychiatric Times, 7/02 - "Use of T3 may interfere with thyroid metabolism if taken chronically, so its use should generally be limited to two or three weeks. Doses of T3 between 25 mcg/day to 50 mcg/day are more effective than T4"
• Bipolar Patients Sensitive to Thyroid Function Variations - Doctor's Guide, 1/8/02 - "They studied 65 patients in the depressed phase of bipolar I disorder to test the hypothesis that patients with lower thyroid function, even within the normal range, might have a poorer response to treatment initially ... Outcomes were relatively poor unless patients had FTI [free thyroxine index] values above the median and TSH values below the median"
• Does thyroid supplementation accelerate tricyclic antidepressant response? A review and meta-analysis of the literature - Am J Psychiatry 2001 Oct;158(10):1617-22 - "This meta-analysis supports the efficacy of T(3) in accelerating clinical response to tricyclic antidepressants in patients with nonrefractory depression"
• Sustained Release T3 / Time Release T3 - WilsonSyndrome.com - "When Dr. Wilson first started treating Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome, Cytomel (instant release) was all he used. When he had about 300 patients at a time on Cytomel, he would get about 6-8 beeper pages over the weekend from patients having complaints and 2-3 of those calls would be about some pretty worrisome side effects. When Dr. Wilson conceived of and started using T3 mixed with a sustained release agent (see WTS history) he would go 6 months without a page"
• Synthroid / Armour Thyroid - WilsonSyndrome.com - "Some patients and physicians hear about the need for T3 and think they can gain the benefits of T3 by using Armour instead of Synthroid because it contains T3. But Armour thyroid doesn't contain just T3. It contains a lot of T4 as well! T4 is the very hormone we're trying to reduce in WTS in order to deplete RT3 levels"
• Thyroid Hormones Accelerate Depressive Response to Drug Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 10/30/01 - "Five of the six studies found T3 to be significantly more effective than placebo in accelerating clinical response ... Investigators say they found that the average effect was highly significant"
• The acute effect of calcium carbonate on the intestinal absorption of levothyroxine - Thyroid 2001 Oct;11(10):967-71 - "When 1,000 microg of levothyroxine alone was given to subjects, the maximum average total T4 absorption was 837 microg (83.7% of the dose ingested) at 120 minutes. When levothyroxine was coadministered with 2.0 g of calcium (as calcium carbonate), the maximum average T4 absorption decreased to 579 microg (57.9% of the dose ingested) at 240 minutes"
• Use OF T3 Thyroid Hormone to Treat Depression - DrMirkin.com, 5/19/01 - "some people become depressed when they take just T4 and their depression can be cured when they take both thyroid hormones, T3 and T4"
• Replacing T4 With Triiodothyronine Improves Cognition And Mood In Hypothyroidism - Doctor's Guide, 7/5/00 - "Substituting T3 for a portion of T4 changed the concentrations of thyroid hormones and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as improving cognition and mood"
• T3---fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism, thyroid hormone resistance - drlowe.com
• Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome - "Conversion of T4 to T3 can also be impaired by glucocorticoids" - Maybe that is the mechanism by which cortisol causes depression, and if so, could T3 then cure the depression? - Ben
• Adding Natural Hormone Boosts Brain Function In Hypothyroidism - Doctor's Guide, 2/11/99 - "We found there wasn't much difference between the two treatments in terms of metabolic effects or effects on various peripheral organs," Prange said. "There were big differences, however, in the mental state of the patients. If these findings hold up, they will be very important."
• Depression Management - ContinuingEducation.com, exp. 12/31/02 - See table six, recommends 5 - 50 mcg T3, 100 mcg (.1 mg) T4
• Liothyronine Sodium - RxList.com - "Twenty-five mcg of liothyronine [T3] is equivalent to approximately 1 gram of desiccated thyroid or thyroglobulin and 0.1 mg of L-thyroxine [T4]" - I don't know if that is correct concerning 1 gram of desiccated thyroid.  That would mean that it would take 17 of the normal 60 mg desiccated thyroid capsules to equal 25 mcg T3 and 100 mcg T4 (1000/60 = 17).  I would think that that amount would be lethal.  Maybe it should have been grains instead of grams.  Any feedback would be appreciated. - Ben

Abstracts:

• Familial Longevity Is Associated with Decreased Thyroid Function - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Aug 25 - "We found that a lower family mortality history score (less mortality) of the parents of nonagenarian siblings was associated with higher serum TSH levels (P = 0.005) and lower free T4 levels (P = 0.002) as well as lower free T3 levels (P = 0.034) in the nonagenarian siblings"
• T3 affects expression of collagen I and collagen cross-linking in bone cell cultures - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Aug 10 - "T3 increased mRNA expressions of procollagen-lysine-1,2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenase 2 (Plod2) and of lysyloxidase (Lox), both genes involved in post-translational modification of collagen. Moreover, it stimulated mRNA expression of BMP-1, the processing enzyme of the lysyloxidase-precursor and of procollagen. An increase in the collagen cross-link-ratio Pyr/deDHLNL indicates, that T3 modulated cross-link maturation in the MC3T3-E1 culture system. These results demonstrate that T3 directly regulates collagen synthesis and collagen cross-linking by up-regulating gene expression of the specific cross-link related enzymes, and underlines the importance of a well-balanced concentration of thyroid hormones for maintenance of bone quality"
• The pharmacodynamic equivalence of levothyroxine and liothyronine: a randomized, double blind, cross-over study in thyroidectomized patients - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2010 May;72(5):709-15 - "This is the first study addressing the equivalency between L-T3 and L-T4 therapy measured by baseline and TRH-stimulated TSH. The therapeutic substitution of L-T3 for L-T4 was achieved at approximately 1:3 ratio"
• The pharmacodynamic equivalence of levothyroxine and liothyronine. A randomized, double blind, cross-over study in thyroidectomized patients - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2009 Sep 10 - "The therapeutic substitution of L-T3 for L-T4 was achieved at approximately 1:3 ratio"
• Increased reverse T3 is associated with shorter survival in independently-living elderly. The Alsanut study - Eur J Endocrinol. 2008 Nov 10 - "rT3 was the only thyroid hormone associated with shorter survival"
• Higher Serum Free Thyroxine Levels Are Associated with Coronary Artery Disease - Endocr J. 2008 May 23 - "The relative risk (RR) for CAD in highest tertile of FT(4 )showed increased risk compared with the lowest tertile (RR 1.98; 95% CI 0.98-3.99, p<0.001). Our study showed that FT(4 )levels were associated with the presence and the severity of CAD. Also, this study suggests that elevated serum FT(4 )levels even within normal range could be a risk factor for CAD" - That might be an argument for going with T4 on say even days and T3 on odd days.
• ACUTE EFFECTS OF TRIIODOTHYRONINE REPLACEMENT THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEART FAILURE AND LOW-T3 SYNDROME: A RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jan 2 - "Low-triiodothyronine (T3) syndrome is a predictor of poor outcome in patients with cardiac dysfunction ... dilated cardiomyopathy (DC) ... In DC patients, short-term synthetic L-T3 replacement therapy significantly improved neuroendocrine profile and ventricular performance"
• Low triiodothyronine: a strong predictor of outcome in acute stroke patients - Eur J Clin Invest. 2007 Aug;37(8):651-7 - "The 1-year mortality was 27.34% for low T3 and 19.37% for normal T3 cases (P = 0.006). A smaller percentage of patients with low T3 values were independent at 1 year compared to those with normal T3 values [54.2% vs. 68.7%, chi(2) = 12.09, P < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 0.53"
• Free triiodothyronine and thyroid stimulating hormone are directly associated with waist circumference, independently of insulin resistance, metabolic parameters and blood pressure in overweight and obese women - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2007 Jun 4
• A Comparison of Lithium and T3 Augmentation Following Two Failed Medication Treatments for Depression: A STAR*D Report - Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;163(9):1519-30 - "After a mean of 9.6 weeks (SD=5.2) of treatment, remission rates were 15.9% with lithium augmentation and 24.7% with T(3) augmentation"
• T3 augmentation of SSRI resistant depression - J Affect Disord. 2006 Apr;91(2-3):211-5 - "The women took a mean daily dose of 40.6 mug of T3 for a mean duration of 3.75 weeks, while the men were on a mean daily dose of 43.8 mug of T3 for 3.5 weeks. T3 augmentation was associated with a statistically significant drop (p<.003) in the mean HAMD at end of the three weeks compared to baseline scores"
• Critical appraisal: Combined T3 and T4 replacement therapy is not better than replacement with T4 alone - Rev Med Chil. 2005 Sep;133(9):1116-9
• Natural killer activity and thyroid hormone levels in young and elderly persons - Gerontology 2001 Sep-Oct;47(5):282-8 - "Decreased serum concentrations of total T(3) may contribute to low NK activity in the 'almost healthy' subgroup of the elderly"
• Effect of triiodothyronine on mitochondrial energy coupling in human skeletal muscle - J Clin Invest 2001 Sep;108(5):733-7 - "these data suggest that T(3) promotes increased thermogenesis in part by promoting mitochondrial energy uncoupling in skeletal muscle"
• Topical triiodothyronine stimulates epidermal proliferation, dermal thickening, and hair growth in mice and rats - Thyroid 2001 Aug;11(8):717-24 - "hair length that was 1,180% longer ... 85% more hairs per millimeter ... topically applied thyroid hormone has dramatic effects on both skin and hair growth. These observations offer a new strategy for developing thyroid hormone and its analogues for treating disorders of skin and hair growth"
• Does low tri-iodothyronine independently predict mortality in elderly hospitalised patients? -  Int J Clin Pract 2001 Jul-Aug;55(6):409-10 - "Our study shows an association of low serum T3 with patient mortality in elderly hospitalised patients"
• Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy - Horm Res 2001 Jan;56 Suppl S1:74-81 - "Desiccated thyroid contains both thyroxine (T(4)) and triiodothyronine (T(3)); serum T(3) frequently rises to supranormal values in the absorption phase, associated with palpitations. Liothyronine (T(3)) has the same drawback and requires twice-daily administration in view of its short half-life ... TSH values of </=0.1 mU/l carry a risk of development of atrial fibrillation and are associated with bone loss although not with a higher fracture rate. It is thus advisable not to allow TSH to fall below - arbitrarily - 0.2 mU/l ... recent animal experiments indicate that only the combination of T(4) and T(3) replacement, and not T(4) alone, ensures euthyroidism [normal thyroid status] in all tissues of thyroidectomized rats ... It could well be that a slow-release preparation containing both T(4) and T(3) might improve the quality of life, compared with T(4) replacement alone, in some hypothyroid patients"
• Effects of thyroxine as compared with thyroxine plus triiodothyronine in patients with hypothyroidism - N Engl J Med. 1999 Feb 11;340(6):469-70 - "among 15 visual-analogue scales used to indicate mood and physical status, the results for 10 were significantly better after treatment with thyroxine [t4] plus triiodothyronine [t3]"