Recent Longevity News for the week ending 5/27/15

Metabolic Syndrome Stabilizes but Still Affects 50% of Seniors - Medscape, 5/20/15 - "The newest figures indicate that the overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome rose with age: 18.3% of 20- to 39-year-olds, 33% of 40- to 59-year-olds, and 46.7% of people aged 60 and older had metabolic syndrome"

Acetaminophen in pregnancy may lower testosterone in unborn boys - Science Daily, 5/20/15 - "Testosterone, produced in the testicles, is crucial for life-long male health. Reduced exposure to the hormone in the womb has been linked to an increased risk of infertility, testicular cancer and undescended testicles ... Scientists gave the mice a typical daily dose of paracetamol -- over a period of either 24 hours or seven days ... After seven days of exposure, however, the amount of testosterone was reduced by 45 per cent"

Caffeine intake associated with reduced levels of erectile dysfunction - Science Daily, 5/20/15 - "Men who drink the equivalent caffeine level of two to three cups of coffee a day are less likely to have erectile dysfunction (ED) ... men who consumed between 85 and 170 milligrams of caffeine a day were 42 percent less likely to report ED, while those who drank between 171 and 303 milligrams of caffeine a day were 39 percent less likely to report ED compared to those who drank zero to seven milligrams a day ... Even though we saw a reduction in the prevalence of ED with men who were obese, overweight and hypertensive, that was not true of men with diabetes. Diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for ED" - [CNET]

• To the K-Cup and beyond: Single serve coffee makers reviewed - CNET Reviews, 9/8/13 - "what really stood out for us was the differences in flavor between each unit, even using the same kind of coffee ... The sturdy Bunn MyCafe MCU is our favorite brewer so far, for its sturdy construction, retro design, and, most importantly because it makes the most flavorful cup of coffee" - See BUNN MCU Single Cup Multi-Use Brewer at Amazon.com.  It takes both pods and coffee grounds which isn't clear until you get toward the end of the full review.  Everyone seems to be selling the pods these days including Costco and the military commissaries.  My favorite is the San Francisco French Roast at Amazon.com.

Skipping meals linked to abdominal weight gain - Science Daily, 5/19/15 - "This does support the notion that small meals throughout the day can be helpful for weight loss, though that may not be practical for many people ... But you definitely don't want to skip meals to save calories because it sets your body up for larger fluctuations in insulin and glucose and could be setting you up for more fat gain instead of fat loss ... In mice that gorged and then fasted, the researchers saw elevations in inflammation, higher activation of genes that promote storage of fatty molecules and plumper fat cells -- especially in the abdominal area -- compared to the mice that nibbled all day"

Higher Diet Quality Linked to Less Cognitive Decline - Medscape, 5/19/15 - "After adjusting for known confounding factors such as systolic blood pressure, history of stroke, and diabetes, the highest quintile of modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index — or the healthiest diet — was associated with a reduction in risk for cognitive decline compared with the least healthy diet (hazard ratio [HR], 0.76" - Note: The quality of the diet may very well have contributed to the factors they are adjusting for so the hazard ratio would probably be much less than 0.76.

Abstracts from this week:

Vitamin D deficiency exacerbates atypical antipsychotic-induced metabolic side effects in rats: Involvement of the INSIG/SREBP pathway - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2015 May 9 - "Antipsychotic treatments, especially clozapine, elevated serum lipid levels, which were most apparent in VD deficient rats, but alleviated in VD-supplemented rats" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

The Role of CD36 in the Effect of Arginine in Atherosclerotic Rats - Med Sci Monit. 2015 May 24 - "The addition of arginine has a significant effect on reducing rat atherosclerosis development, which may be attributed to both the down-regulation of CD36 expression in rat aortic endothelial and blood mononuclear cells and the NO pathway" - See L-arginine products at Amazon.com.

Fish oil-derived n-3 PUFA therapy increases muscle mass and function in healthy older adults - Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 May 20 - "Compared with the control group, 6 mo of n-3 PUFA therapy increased thigh muscle volume (3.6%; 95% CI: 0.2%, 7.0%), handgrip strength (2.3 kg; 95% CI: 0.8, 3.7 kg), 1-RM muscle strength (4.0%; 95% CI: 0.8%, 7.3%) (all P < 0.05), and tended to increase average isokinetic power (5.6%; 95% CI: -0.6%, 11.7%; P = 0.075) ... Fish oil-derived n-3 PUFA therapy slows the normal decline in muscle mass and function in older adults and should be considered a therapeutic approach for preventing sarcopenia and maintaining physical independence in older adults" - [Nutra USA] - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are related to a reduced risk of depression - Br J Nutr. 2015 May;113(9):1418-26 - "sample of Finnish men and women aged 30-79 years from the Health 2000 Survey ... The relative odds between the highest and lowest quartiles was 0.65 (95 % CI 0.46, 0.93; P for trend = 0·006) after adjustment for sociodemographic, lifestyle and metabolic factors ... These results support the hypothesis that higher serum 25(OH)D concentrations protect against depression even after adjustment for a large number of sociodemographic, lifestyle and metabolic factors" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Diet Soft Drink Consumption is Associated with the Metabolic Syndrome: A Two Sample Comparison - Nutrients. 2015 May 13 - "In both studies, individuals who consumed at least one soft drink per day had a higher prevalence of MetS, than non-consumers. This was most evident for consumers of diet soft drinks, consistent across both studies. Diet soft drink intakes were also positively associated with waist circumference and fasting plasma glucose in both studies. Despite quite different consumption patterns of diet versus regular soft drinks in the two studies, findings from both support the notion that diet soft drinks are associated with a higher prevalence of MetS"

Impact of Leucine Supplementation on Exercise Training Induced Anti-Cardiac Remodeling Effect in Heart Failure Mice - Nutrients. 2015 May 15 - "Leucine supplementation potentiates the effects of aerobic exercise training (AET) on skeletal muscle ... Leucine supplementation potentiated AET effects on exercise tolerance, which might be related to its recognized impact on skeletal muscle" - See leucine products at Amazon.com.

Metformin inhibits age-related centrosome amplification in Drosophila midgut stem cells through AKT/TOR pathway - Mech Ageing Dev. 2015 May 16 - "Age-related changes in tissue-resident stem cells may be closely associated with tissue aging and age-related diseases, such as cancer. Centrosome amplification is a hallmark of cancers ... metformin, a recognized anti-cancer drug, inhibits age- and oxidative stress-induced centrosome amplification in ISCs ... Our study reveals the beneficial and protective effects of metformin on centrosome amplification via AKT/TOR signalling modulation" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store. 

Health Focus (Cayenne/Capsicum):