Recent Longevity News for the week ending 6/17/15

Beta-Alanine Boosts Performance in Female Masters Athletes - Medscape, 6/16/15 - "Beta-alanine, a nonessential amino acid, appears to function as a precursor to carnosine in muscle tissue. Carnosine buffers hydrogen ions, making muscle tissue less acidic and delaying fatigue ... randomly assigned 11 female masters cyclists to beta-alanine 800 mg and 11 to placebo four times a day for 28 days" - See beta-alanine at Amazon.com.

Vitamin D supplements may benefit children with kidney disease - Science Daily, 6/11/15 - "Five-year kidney survival was 75% in patients with vitamin D levels ≥50 nMol/L at the start of the study and 50% in those with lower levels" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Vitamin D shows promise for treating Crohn's disease - Science Daily, 6/12/15 - "the authors assigned 27 CD patients in remission to 2000 IU/day vitamin D supplementation or placebo for 3 months. They found, that patients treated with the supplementation were more likely to maintain their intestinal permeability, whereas this deteriorated in the placebo group. Increased intestinal permeability is considered a measure of gut leakiness, which is shown to predict and precede clinical relapse in CD. In addition, patients with the highest blood levels of vitamin D had signs of reduced inflammation (measured by C-reactive protein and antimicrobial peptides), and these patients also reported better quality of life" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Erectile dysfunction worsened, testosterone levels decreased by some treatments of prostate enlargement - Science Daily, 6/12/15 - "The researchers found that the men treated with finasteride experienced marked and significant gradual decrease in their erectile function and had significant and progressive decline in total testosterone levels while those on the tamsulosin therapy did not"

Fatty Liver Risk Increases With Daily Intake of Sugary Drinks - Medscape, 6/11/15 - "Compared with nonconsumers and individuals who consumed less than 1 serving of SSBs per month, those who consumed less than 1 serving of SSBs per week (but more than 1 serving per month) had a 16% increase in risk (95% CI, 0.88 - 1.54). Those who consumed from 1 serving per week to less than 1 serving per day had a 32% increased risk (95% CI, 0.93 - 1.86), and those who consumed more than 1 serving daily had a 61% increase in risk"

Endurance Runners on Low-Carb Diet Burn Fat - Medscape, 6/11/15 - "Ten of the athletes habitually ate high-carbohydrate diets that were 28% fat, 15% protein, and 58% carbohydrate, and 10 ate low-carbohydrate diets that were 71% fat, 19% protein, and 11% carbohydrate. All had been on these diets for at least 6 months ... on average, the high-carbohydrate group burned less fat per minute than the low-carbohydrate group ... 0.67 vs 1.54 g"

Statins and Lower Cancer Mortality; Risk Cut by Up to a Half - Medscape, 6/10/15 - "statin use was associated with a 22% reduction in deaths from various cancer types in women and a 55% reduction in deaths from bone/connective tissue cancers. The study in men looked at statin use together with the antidiabetes medication metformin and found a 40% reduction in prostate cancer mortality, with the effect more pronounced in men with obesity/metabolic syndrome ... the researchers speculate that statins interfere with cell growth and metastasis by blocking cholesterol production, thereby affecting molecular pathways and the inflammatory response"

Heart attack risk increases 16-21% with use of common antacid - Science Daily, 6/10/15 - "Adults who use proton pump inhibitors are between 16 and 21 percent more likely to experience a heart attack than people who don't use the commonly prescribed antacid drugs"

Abstracts from this week:

Effects of flaxseed supplements on blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trial - Clin Nutr. 2015 May 29 - "Reduction of SBP was significant with flaxseed powder (WMD: -1.81 mmHg, 95% CI: -2.03 to -1.59, p < 0.001) but not oil (WMD: -4.62 mmHg, 95%CI: -11.86 to 2.62, p = 0.211) and lignan extract (WMD: 0.28 mmHg, 95% CI: -3.49 to 4.04, p = 0.885). However, DBP was significantly reduced with powder and oil preparations (WMD: -1.28 mmHg, 95% CI: -2.44 to -0.11, p = 0.031, and -4.10 mmHg, 95%CI: -6.81 to -1.39, p = 0.003, respectively), but not with lignan extract (WMD: -1.78 mmHg, 95% CI: -4.28 to 0.72, p = 0.162) ... This meta-analysis of RCTs showed significant reductions in both SBP and DBP following supplementation with various flaxseed products" - See flaxseed at Amazon.com.

Quercetin reduces eIF2α phosphorylation by GADD34 induction - Neurobiol Aging. 2015 May 15 - "After the long-term feeding of quercetin, deterioration in memory assessed by freezing behavior was delayed in APP23 mice. These results indicate that quercetin may reduce eIF2α phosphorylation and ATF4 expression through GADD34 induction in the brain, leading to the improvement of memory in aged mice and the delay of deterioration in memory at the early stage of AD in AD model mice" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

Amazon.com Store Card - I’ve been using the Amazon Chase card for Amazon purchases because it gives you a 3% credit on you Amazon purchases every month. Now I noticed they have an Amazon Store card that gives 5%. On the down side, the interest is 24% but that’s only if you don’t pay it off every month.

Outdoor Research Sombriolet Sun Hat - #1 in Amazon's "Hats & Caps".  Also see Coolibar products at Amazon.com.

Anthelios products at Amazon.com - Ultra Light Sunscreen, Fragrance-free, PABA-free & Non-comedogenic.

Planters Trail Mix, Fruit & Nut, 2-oz. Bags (Count of 72) at Amazon.com - 4.5 stars.  Small packages so they don’t get rancid. 15% off for subscribe & save plus a 20% off coupon plus 3% off for using the Amazon credit cards. It’s almost like they’re paying you to take it (just kidding but all together that’s around 37% off). It brings it to a little then 50 cents per 2 ounce package.

Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus Preview - CNET, 6/10/15 - "The K400 Plus is an inch thick (2.5cm) and weighs just shy of a pound (390 grams) with a pair of AA batteries packed in. Logitech claims you'll see about 18 months of battery life. The K400 Plus connects to your PC by way of Logitech's tiny Unifying receiver, so you can connect up to six compatible wireless Logitech peripherals, and expect a range of about 33 feet or 10 meters" - See Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus at Amazon.com.

How to get the Windows 10 upgrade icon if it's missing - CNET, 6/9/15

Health Focus (Vitamin D):