Recent Longevity News for the week ending 7/8/15

Lifestyle and Youthful Looks - Medscape, 7/7/14 - "In Dutch men, smoking, having skin that went red in the sun, being outside in the sun most of the summer, sunbed use, wearing false teeth and not flossing teeth were all significantly associated (P < 0·05) with a total 9.3-year higher perceived facial age in a multivariate model adjusting for chronological age. In Dutch women, smoking, sunbathing, sunbed use, few remaining teeth and a low body mass index (BMI) were associated with a total 10.9-year higher perceived facial age. In English women, cleaning teeth only once a day, wearing false teeth, irregular skin moisturization and having skin that went red in the sun were associated with a total 9.1-year higher perceived facial age. Smoking and sunbed use were associated more strongly with wrinkling in women than in men. BMI, sun exposure and skincare were associated predominantly with perceived facial age via wrinkling, whereas oral care was associated via other facial features"

Vitamin C related to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, early death - Science Daily, 7/7/15 - "those with the highest intake of fruit and vegetables have a 15% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 20% lower risk of early death compared with those who very rarely eat fruit and vegetables. At the same time, we can see that the reduced risk is related to high vitamin C concentrations in the blood from the fruit and vegetables ... Among other things, vitamin C helps build connective tissue which supports and connects different types of tissues and organs in the body. Vitamin C is also a potent antioxidant which protects cells and biological molecules from the damage which causes many diseases, including cardiovascular disease" - See American Health Products - Ester C W/Citrus Bioflavonoids, 1000 mg, 180 veg tablets at Amazon.com.

Are You Aging Faster Than Everyone Else? - NBC News, 7/7/15 - "as early as age 38, some people are biologically much older. In fact, some look like they're in their 60s, while others still look like 20-somethings ... Some of the people in our cohort had aged physiologically not at all between 26 and 38 ... At the other end of the extreme there were folks aging two to three times as much ... Their scores on the tests looked like people who are in their 50s and 60s ... The study members who appeared to be aging faster in their physiologies were also doing less well on the physical function ... We saw that already by age 38, study members whose physiologies were aging faster were showing signs of cognitive decline ... Perhaps most stunning, the aging-related changes showed up in people's faces"

Medical Marijuana: Where's the Evidence? - Medscape, 7/6/15 - "Reviewing the medical literature on medical marijuana, the two papers come to similar conclusions — that some evidence supports the use of marijuana for nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy, specific pain syndromes, and spasticity from multiple sclerosis. But for most other indications such as hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, or Tourette's syndrome, they found that the evidence supporting its use is of poor quality" - Note:  People who argue that the medications for nausea and vomiting have side effects are totally ignoring the psychological and physiological side effects of marjianna.

Omega-3 supplements, antioxidants may help with preclinical Alzheimer's disease -Science Daily, 6/30/15 - "A new report published in the July 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal describes the findings of a very small study in which people with mild clinical impairment, such as those in the very early stages of the disease, saw clearance of the hallmark amyloid-beta protein and reduced inflammation in neurological tissues. Although the findings involved just 12 patients over the course of 4 to 17 months, the findings suggest further clinical study of this relatively inexpensive and plentiful supplement should be conducted" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Fucoxanthin and lipid metabolism: A minireview - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2015 Jun 3 - "fucoxanthin (a carotenoid derived from brown seaweeds) ... The results of experimental studies suggest that consumption of fucoxanthin and its derivatives as nutritional supplements is a promising option for prevention and treatment of obesity and a wide variety of related pathologies, including metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease" - See fucoxanthin at Amazon.com.

Brain atrophy in cognitively impaired elderly: the importance of long-chain ω-3 fatty acids and B vitamin status in a randomized controlled trial - Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Jul;102(1):215-21 - "included 168 elderly people (≥70 y) with mild cognitive impairment, randomly assigned either to placebo (n = 83) or to daily high-dose B vitamin supplementation (folic acid, 0.8 mg; vitamin B-6, 20 mg; vitamin B-12, 0.5 mg) (n = 85) ... There was a significant interaction (P = 0.024) between B vitamin treatment and plasma combined ω-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) on brain atrophy rates. In subjects with high baseline ω-3 fatty acids (>590 μmol/L), B vitamin treatment slowed the mean atrophy rate by 40.0% compared with placebo (P = 0.023). B vitamin treatment had no significant effect on the rate of atrophy among subjects with low baseline ω-3 fatty acids (<390 μmol/L). High baseline ω-3 fatty acids were associated with a slower rate of brain atrophy in the B vitamin group but not in the placebo group" - [Nutra USA] - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

The relationship between the parenteral dose of fish oil supplementation and the variation of liver function tests in hospitalized adult patients - Nutr J. 2015 Jul 2;14(1):65 - "parenteral nutrition (PN) ... GGT, AP and ALT improved with FO PN-supplementation. Moreover, the improvement was greater when the doses of FO were higher. FO administration in PN is safe" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Coffee consumption and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma by sex: The Liver Cancer Pooling Project - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2015 Jun 30 - "Higher coffee consumption was associated with lower risk of HCC (HR>3 cups/day vs. non-drinker, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.53-0.99; ptrend cups/day=<0.0001). More notable reduced risk was seen among women than men (pinteraction=0.07). Women who consumed more than three cups of coffee per day were at a 54% lower risk of HCC (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.26-0.81), whereas men had more modest reduced risk of HCC (HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.63-1.37). The associations were stronger for caffeinated coffee (HR>3 cups/day vs. non-drinker, 0.71, 95% CI, 0.50-1.01) than decaffeinated coffee (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.55-1.54)"

Secoiridoids delivered as olive leaf extract induce acute improvements in human vascular function and reduction of an inflammatory cytokine: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial - Br J Nutr. 2015 Jun 8 - "The leaves of the olive plant (Olea europaea) are rich in polyphenols, of which oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol (HT) are most characteristic. Such polyphenols have been demonstrated to favourably modify a variety of cardiovascular risk factors ... trial was conducted with eighteen healthy volunteers (nine male, nine female), who consumed either OLE (51 mg oleuropein; 10 mg HT), or a matched control (separated by a 4-week wash out) on a single occasion ... DVP-stiffness index and ex vivo IL-8 production were significantly reduced (P< 0·05) after consumption of OLE compared to the control" - [Nutra USA] - See olive leaf extract at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

GPS Visualizer: Convert GPS files to plain text or GPX - Neat website to convert Google Maps into .gpx files for things like hiking with MotionX on your iPhone or iPad. Cut and paste the Google Maps URL into that website (the URL field) and it will generate the gpx file. To import a .gpx file into MotionX on your iPhone, cut and paste the code into notepad. Save the file to {name}.txt. Using File Explorer, rename the file to {name}.gpx. Send an email to gpsimport@motionx.com with {name}.gpx attached. They will automatically generate an email back with a link. Click on that link with your iPhone and it will import it into MotionX. See http://support.motionx.com/motionx-gps/importing-waypoints-or-tracks/

• Here's an example to a hill near my home. Google Maps plotted the trial (you have to select "Hiking"). You also need to select "Google Hybrid" for the maps in MotionX.

Click here for my page on my favorite hiking supplies.

Health Focus (Memory Loss):