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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 11/6/13. You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.
The Role of the Gut
Microbiome in Health and Disease - Medscape, 11/5/13 -
"Disturbances to the microbial equilibrium of the gut
may mean that some microbes become overrepresented while others are diminished.
"It's like a garden—you're less likely to have weeds growing if you have lush
vegetation, but without this vegetation the weeds can potentially take over,"
Mazmanian says. When the gut moves toward a state of microbial imbalance,
normally benign gut microbes may begin to induce inflammation and trigger
disease throughout the body, even in the nervous system ... although 70% of the
immune cells in the body at any one time can be found in the intestine, they
circulate throughout the body, and the microbiota of the gut environment help
determine how immune cells will behave elsewhere. He gives an example: "If
T-cells, while in the gut, are programmed by the microbiota to have
anti-inflammatory properties, then they may suppress inflammation even after
they leave the gut."" - See
probiotic products at Amazon.com
Serum Selenium Is Low in
Newly Diagnosed Graves' Disease - Medscape, 11/5/13 -
"Patients with newly diagnosed GD and AIH had
significantly lower s-Se compared with random
controls. Our observation supports the postulated link between inadequate
selenium supply and overt autoimmune thyroid disease, especially GD" -
See
se-methylselenocysteine at Amazon.com Ibuprofen no good in treating colds or sore throats - Science Daily, 11/4/13 - "compared with paracetamol, ibuprofen or a combination of both ibuprofen and paracetamol provide no advantage for patients overall with respiratory tract infections (otherwise known as colds or sore throats) ... steam inhalation, another common treatment method, has no clear benefit and around 2 per cent of people get mild scalding but not bad enough to see a doctor ... The research also showed that patients were more likely to come back within a month with worsening symptoms or new symptoms if they were prescribed with ibuprofen or ibuprofen with paracetamol"
Magnesium levels vital to brain health as population ages - Science Daily,
11/4/13 - "the human brain begins shrinking after age
25. Structural changes and loss of brain synapses lead to rapid decline in
cognitive health ... magnesium deficiency in
adults may play a more important role in CI, and
more seriously, Alzheimer's Disease (AD),
than previously thought ... elevation of brain magnesium through dietary intake
of magnesium threonate exerts substantial positive effects on brain synapes in a
mouse model of AD, actually restoring aging brains to their youthful conditions
... the 'gold standard' of science, demonstrates that dietary supplementation of
Magtein, patented magnesium threonate, can significantly enhance human cognitive
functions and decrease symptoms of cognitive impairments ... We know that as we
age our bodies naturally lose magnesium. For example, drinking coffee or
caffeinated products increases the loss" - See
Magtein at Amazon.com Scientists unlock secrets of diabetes drug - Science Daily, 11/3/13 - "The key is that metformin doesn't work to lower blood glucose by directly working on the glucose. It works on reducing harmful fat molecules in the liver, which then allows insulin to work better and lower blood sugar levels ... Fat is likely a key trigger for pre-diabetes, causing blood sugar to start going up because insulin can't work as efficiently to stop sugar coming from the liver" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.
Anti-aging strategies can improve more than looks - Science Daily, 11/1/13 -
"The No. 1 way people can prevent photoaging is wearing
a 30-plus SPF sunscreen -- one that contains zinc oxide -- every day ... Using
an over-the-counter cream with retinol, which is
a vitamin A derivative, can decrease the risk of skin cancer and improve skin
pigmentation and abnormalities, as well as increase collagen content to help
with lines and wrinkles ... Fraxel laser resurfacing is an excellent way to
improve wrinkles, pigmentation and
abnormalities" - See
retinol products at Amazon
Vitamin D Deficiency Linked
to Onset of Psychosis - Medscape, 11/1/13 - "A study
of almost 140 participants in the United Kingdom showed that those who were
presenting to a psychiatric in-patient facility with an FEP had significantly
lower levels of vitamin D than did their
age-matched, healthy peers ... What surprised us was the degree of difference
between the patients and their matched controls, with patients being nearly 3
times as likely to have full-blown vitamin D deficiency ... The study is
published in the November issue of
Schizophrenia Research"
- See
vitamin D at Amazon.com Exposure to Cortisol-Like Medications Before Birth May Contribute to Emotional Problems, Brain Changes - Science Daily, 10/31/13 - "cortisol-like drugs called glucocorticoids are administered frequently to women in preterm labor to accelerate their babies' lung maturation prior to birth ... excessive glucocorticoid levels may have effects on brain development, perhaps contributing to emotional problems later in life ... researchers then divided the children into two groups: those who were exposed to glucocorticoids prenatally and those who were not ... children with fetal glucocorticoid exposure showed significant cortical thinning, and a thinner cortex also predicted more emotional problems. In one particularly affected part of the brain, the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, it was 8-9% thinner among children exposed to glucocorticoids" Low thyroid levels may signal heightened risk of death in hospitalized patients - Science Daily, 10/30/13 - "When older individuals have low levels of thyroid hormones, particularly T3, it reflects that the body is weak and more susceptible to the harmful effects of disease ... As a result, older individuals who have a reduced ability to synthesize T3 hormones have a higher rate of mortality, both in the short- and long-term" - See T3 at International Anti-aging Systems. Eew, that's the pits! Man had armpit odor for 4 years - NBC News, 10/30/13 - "The doctors diagnosed the man with trichomycosis axillaris, which is an infection of hair shafts caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium tenuis ... The bacteria tend to grow on hair in moist regions of the body — mostly armpit hair" Is left-handedness higher among those suffering from psychosis? - Science Daily, 10/30/13 - "11% of those diagnosed with mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder were left-handed, which is similar to the rate in the general population, however, 40% of those with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were left-handed"
'Good'
cholesterol controls blood glucose - Science Daily, 10/30/13 -
"without ApoA-I, burning of
calories is reduced in skeletal muscle resulting in increased blood glucose and
weaker muscle function. The scientists then determined that
HDL cholesterol and its protein ApoA-I both enhance
usage of glucose and calories inside muscle cells. Raising HDL and ApoA-I levels
in animal models resulted in protection against hyperglycemia and age-related
symptoms such as decline of muscle performance or fat mass gain. Improved
calorie burning in mitochondria (the "power plants" in each cell) was further
indicated by a marked reduction of circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21, a
novel biomarker for mitochondrial dysfunction ... Our results link for the first
time low HDL-cholesterol with impaired use of glucose and burning of calories in
type 2 diabetes" - [Abstract]
- See my niacin page and
niacin at Amazon.com High Blood Sugar Makes Alzheimer’s Plaque More Toxic to the Brain - Science Daily, 10/29/13 - "While neuronal involvement is a major factor in Alzheimer's development, recent evidence indicates damaged cerebral blood vessels compromised by high blood sugar play a role. Even though the links among Type 2 diabetes, brain blood vessels and Alzheimer's progression are unclear, hyperglycemia appears to play a role ... Researchers studied cell cultures taken from the lining of cerebral blood vessels, one from normal rats and another from mice with uncontrolled chronic diabetes. They exposed the cells to beta amyloid and different levels of glucose and later measured their viability. Cells exposed to high glucose or beta amyloid alone showed no changes in viability. However, when exposed to hyperglycemic conditions and beta amyloid, viability decreased by 40 percent" 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): High fat diets are associated with higher abdominal adiposity regardless of physical activity in adolescents; the HELENA study - Clin Nutr. 2013 Oct 18 - "physical activity (PA) ... The percent of energy derived from dietary fat intake is strongly and linearly associated with total, truncal and abdominal adiposity independently of PA in adolescents. These observations implicate the amount of dietary fat intake as a specific risk factor in the excess of abdominal adiposity in adolescence"
Associations
of Dietary Fiber Intake With Long-Term Predicted Cardiovascular Disease Risk and
C-Reactive Protein Levels (from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey Data [2005-2010]) - Am J Cardiol. 2013 Oct 3 -
"A total of 11,113 subjects, aged 20 to 79 years with no
history of CVD, from the 2005 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey were included in the present study to examine associations of
dietary fiber intake with predicted lifetime
CVD risk and
C-reactive protein levels. Dietary
fiber intake showed a significant gradient association with the likelihood of
having a low or an intermediate predicted lifetime CVD risk among young and
middle-age adults. In fully adjusted multinomial logistic models, dietary fiber
intake was related to a low lifetime CVD risk with an odds ratio of 2.71 (95%
confidence interval 2.05 to 3.59) in the young adults and 2.13 (95% confidence
interval 1.42 to 3.20) in the middle-age adults and was related to an
intermediate lifetime risk of 2.65 (95% confidence interval 1.79 to 3.92) in the
young and 1.98 (95% confidence interval 1.32 to 2.98) in the middle-age adults
compared with a high lifetime risk. A significant inverse linear association was
seen between dietary fiber intake and log-transformed C-reactive protein levels
with a regression coefficient +/- standard error of -0.18 +/- 0.04 in the
highest quartile of fiber intake compared with the lowest fiber intake" -
See
Garden of Life, RAW Fiber at Amazon.com Hemoglobin A1C in non-diabetic patients: An independent predictor of coronary artery disease and its severity - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2013 Oct 9 - "We enrolled 299 consecutive individuals undergoing coronary angiography for suspected ischemia. Patients were included if they had no history of prior revascularization or diabetes mellitus and had fasting blood glucose<126mg/dl (7.0mmol/l) and HbA1c<6.5% (47mmol/mol). The severity of the CAD was also evaluated using the Gensini score ... With increasing HbA1c levels, there was a significant increase in the prevalence of CAD and number of vessels involved. In multivariate analysis, HbA1c emerged as an independent predictor of significant CAD (OR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.3-6.2, p=0.009). Adjusted ORs for the occurrence of CAD were highest in subjects with both hsCRP and HbA1c in the upper 2 quartiles (OR: 4.183; 95% CI: 1.883-9.290, p<0.0001). There was a significant association between Gensini score and increasing HbA1c tertiles (p=0.038). The ideal cut-off value of HbA1c for prediction of the occurrence of CAD was 5.6% 38mmol/mol)"
Tea
consumption and cardiovascular disease risk - Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Oct 30 -
"performed a search in 3 databases for meta-analyses and
compared them with studies they subsumed ... In the case of
stroke, a consistent, dose-response association
with tea consumption on both incidence and
mortality was noted with RRs of 0.80 (95% CI: 0.65, 0.98) for
flavonoids and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.85) for
tea when high and low intakes were compared or the addition of 3 cups/d was
estimated" - Note: Blueberries
are one of the highest in flavonoids. My pick for flavonoids would be
Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com
Association
of vitamin D status and blood pressure response after renal denervation -
Clin Res Cardiol. 2013 Oct 31 - "Vitamin
D deficiency is associated with hypertension; however, it is unclear whether
vitamin D influences therapeutic blood pressure reduction. Renal sympathetic
denervation (RDN) reduces blood pressure in resistant hypertension ... In
patients with resistant hypertension, low vitamin D concentrations were
associated with a decreased SBP response and a higher rate of non-response"
- See
vitamin D at Amazon.com
Dietary Magnesium Intake Improves Insulin Resistance among Non-Diabetic Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome Participating in a Dietary Trial - Nutrients. 2013 Sep 27;5(10):3910-9 - "The dietary intervention study examined this question in 234 individuals with MetS. Magnesium intake was assessed using 24-h dietary recalls at baseline, 6, and 12 months ... After multivariate adjustment, magnesium intake was inversely associated with metabolic biomarkers of insulin resistance (P < 0.01). Further, the likelihood of elevated HOMA-IR (>3.6) over time was 71% lower [odds ratio (OR): 0.29; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.12, 0.72] in participants in the highest quartile of magnesium intake than those in the lowest quartile. For individuals meeting the RDA for magnesium, the multivariate-adjusted OR for high HOMA-IR over time was 0.37 (95% CI: 0.18, 0.77). These findings indicate that dietary magnesium intake is inadequate among non-diabetic individuals with MetS and suggest that increasing dietary magnesium to meet the RDA has a protective effect on insulin resistance" - See Jarrow Formulas, MagMind, 90 Veggie Caps.
Resveratrol
and desferoxamine protect human oxLDL-treated granulosa cell subtypes from
degeneration - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Oct 29 -
"Obese women suffer from anovulation and infertility,
which are driven by oxidative stress caused by increased levels of lipid
peroxides and circulating oxidised low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL). OxLDL binds
to lectin-like oxLDL receptor 1 (LOX-1), CD36, and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)
and causes cell death in human granulosa cells (GCs) ... To reveal whether
treatment with antioxidants: resveratrol (RES)
and/or desferoxamine (DFO) protect GCs from oxLDL-induced damage ... Granulosa
cell cultures were treated with oxLDL alone or with resveratrol (RES) or
desferoxamine (DFO) under serum-free conditions for up to 36 h ... Different
subtypes of human GCs exposed to RES or DFO were protected as evidenced by lack
of cell death, enhanced mitosis, reduced expression of LOX-1, TLR4, CD36, and
Hsp-60, induction of protective autophagy, and reduction of oxidative stress
markers. Importantly, RES could restore steroid-biosynthesis in
cytokeratin-positive GCs which exhibited significant induction of steroidogenic
acute regulatory protein ... RES and DFO exert a protective effect on human GCs.
Thus, RES and DFO may help improving the treatment of obese women or
PCOS patients undergoing IVF-therapy" - See
resveratrol products at Amazon.com
Insulin
resistance indices are inversely associated with vitamin D binding protein
concentrations - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Oct 29 -
"vitamin D binding
protein (VDBP) ... Subjects were 47, post menarchal, female adolescents, mean
age 15.8 +/- 1.4 years ... Our data suggest that, VDBP concentrations are
regulated by total 25(OH)D levels to maintain adequate concentrations of
bioavailable 25(OH)D. VDBP concentrations are inversely associated with
hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance"
- See
vitamin D at Amazon.com
Grape seed
procyanidins in pre- and mild hypertension: a registry study - Evid Based
Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:313142 - "The
efficacy of a standardized grape seed procyanidins
extract (GSPE, Enovita) to decrease blood
pressure when associated with nondrug intervention (diet and lifestyle
modifications) was investigated in a controlled registry study involving 119
healthy, pre- and mildly hypertensive subjects. Two dosages of Enovita were
evaluated (150 and 300 mg/die) ... After four months of treatment, a
statistically significant higher, and dose-dependent, improvement in all
endpoints was observed in the treatment groups compared to that of the control,
with blood pressure normalizing in 93% of the higher dosage (300 mg) treatment
group. Taken together, these observations suggest that GSPEs have beneficial
cardiovascular effects that complement current intervention strategies in the
hypertension area. The effect on blood pressure adds to the beneficial effects
of GSPEs on the cardiovascular disease (CVD) phenotype associated with the
oxidation of membrane lipids (endothelial dysfunction, formation of oxidized
LDL, and activation of phagocytic cells)" - See Jarrow Formulas, OPCs + 95 at Amazon.com Association of total protein intake with bone mineral density and bone loss in men and women from the Framingham Offspring Study - Public Health Nutr. 2013 Oct 29:1-7 - "This suggests that greater protein intake benefits women especially those with lower Ca intakes. However, protein effects are not significant for short-term changes in bone density. Contrastingly, in men, higher protein intakes lead to greater bone loss at the trochanter" Dietary Intake of Vegetables, Fruits, and Meats/Beans as Potential Risk Factors of Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Texas Case-Control Study - Nutr Cancer. 2013 Oct 29 - "This study was conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to evaluate associations between consumption of vegetables, fruits, and meats with AML risk among Texas residents ... Overall, AML risk was significantly decreased among those who consumed the most dark green vegetables, seafood, and nuts/seeds; and it was significantly increased among greatest consumers of red meat. Among men, AML risk was lowest among those whose consumption was in the highest quartile for fruits [odds ratio (OR) = 0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.10-0.69], poultry (OR = 0.28, 95%CI = 0.10-0.78), and seafood (OR = 0.39, 95%CI = 0.16-0.96) compared to those in the lowest. Among women, risk was lowest among those whose consumption was in the highest quartile of dark-green vegetables (OR = 0.28, 95%CI = 0.12-.68), orange vegetables (OR = 0.40, 95%CI = 0.17-.96) and nuts/beans (OR = 0.26, 95%CI = 0.11-0.60)" Effects of blood triglycerides on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 61 prospective studies - Lipids Health Dis. 2013 Oct 29;12(1):159 - "We identified 61 eligible studies, containing 17,018 CVDs deaths in 726,030 participants and 58,419 all-cause deaths in 330,566 participants. Twelve and fourteen studies, respectively, reported the effects estimates of CVDs and total mortality by TG categories. Compared to the referent (90--149 mg/dL), the pooled RRs (95% CI) of CVDs mortality for the lowest (< 90 mg/dL), borderline-high (150--199 mg/dL), and high TG (>= 200 mg/dL) groups were 0.83 (0.75 to 0.93), 1.15 (1.03 to 1.29), and 1.25 (1.05 to 1.50); for total mortality they were 0.94 (0.85 to 1.03), 1.09 (1.02 to 1.17), and 1.20 (1.04 to 1.38), respectively. The risks of CVDs and all-cause deaths were increased by 13% and 12% (p < 0.001) per 1-mmol/L TG increment in twenty-two and twenty-two studies reported RRs per unit TG, respectively"
The effect
of pioglitazone and extended-release niacin on HDL-cholesterol in diabetes
patients in a real-world setting - Int J Clin Pract. 2013 Nov;67(11):1151-8
- "Patients with type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia were
included for review if they received the combination of
pioglitazone at doses ≥
15 mg/day and extended-release niacin (Niaspan)
at doses ≥ 1000 mg/day for ≥6 months ... a statistically significant increase in
HDL-C (+ 25.13%, p < 0.0001) was observed at the conclusion of combination
therapy. The HDL-C levels progressively increased with duration of combination
treatment, and were not correlated with concomitant statin use. Significant
decreases in total cholesterol and triglycerides were detected, and HbA1c
decreased 0.84% during combination therapy for all therapies combined" -
See
niacin at Amazon.com Time Warner Cable promises faster internet to woo back fleeing customers - engadget.com, 10/31/13 - Right now I'm paying $30 / month for 16 Mbps. Here's San Diego's Time Warner prices to upgrade: Turbo (20 Mbps) - add $10. Extreme (30 Mbps) - add $20. Ultimate (50 Mbps) - add $30. This article claims that the Ultimate will now be 100 Mbps.
Merkur Model 180 Long Handled Safety Razor
- I posted about this last week comparing it
to the $3 blades. The only area where the $3 blades have the advantage is in the
glide strips. The safety razors seem to drag so I did some more research and the
best solution seems to be
Jack Black Beard Lube Conditioning Shave Health Focus (Hair Loss): Alternative News:
Other News:
Abstracts:
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which won ‘Best Shave Cream’ in Men's Health Magazine. One of the reviewers
said that it worked best if you applied regular shaving cream over it. If you
read the active ingredients, it seems to be the various oils in it. At $33 per
pint, it’s expensive and it seemed like any vegetable oil would do the same
thing so I tried about a tablespoon of light olive oil that the razor was
soaking in anyway and applied it to my face with the shaving cream over it. That
worked and gave me the best shave yet. Could something that simple not be common
knowledge? Maybe. I shave in the shower but it might be messy at the sink.
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