Recent Longevity News for the week ending 11/11/15

Fit legs equals fit brain, study suggests - BBC, 11/10/15 - "When it came to cognitive ageing, leg strength was the strongest factor that had an impact in our study ... Other factors such as heart health were also important, but the link with leg strength remained even after we accounted for these"

Lowering blood pressure below current targets benefits a wide range of patients - Science Daily, 11/7/15 - "average systolic blood pressure was 6.8 mmHg lower and diastolic blood pressure 4.5 mmHg lower (on average 133.2/76.4 mmHg vs 140.4/80.9 mmHg) in patients who received more intensive treatment compared to those given a standard regimen ... Overall, the findings showed that intensive treatment reduced heart attacks by about 14% and stroke by around a quarter compared with less intensive regimens. Progressive retinopathy (damage to the retina of the eye) was also reduced by about a fifth"

Chrondroitin outperforms celecoxib in knee osteoarthritis study - Science Daily, 11/7/15 - "studied 194 people with knee OA and inflammation of the synovial membrane in the knee. The participants were followed for two years and were divided into two groups. The first group took 1200mg (pharmacological preparation) of chondroitin daily, and the second group took 200mg of celecoxib daily ... At both one and two years, the researchers found a better reduction of cartilage loss in the whole knee, and more particularly in the inner half, of the participants on chondroitin when compared to those on celecoxib. Additionally, there was a decrease in synovial membrane thickness in some of the participants on chondroitin, showing far better results for this group ... This study demonstrates that both chondroitin sulfate and celecoxib are equally effective at reducing the symptoms of knee OA patients. However, only chondroitin sulfate was found to be capable of slowing down the progression of the disease by reducing the loss of cartilage" - See chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com.

46,471: Drug Overdoses Killed More Americans Than Car Crashes or Guns - cnsnews.com, 11/5/15 - "Drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States, ahead of motor vehicle deaths and firearms (deaths) ... In 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, 46,471 people in the United States died from drug overdoses, and more than half of those deaths were caused by prescription painkillers and heroin"

5 theories about why middle-aged, white Americans are dying at such high rates - Washington Post, 11/5/15 - "The nation's opioid epidemic ... Alcohol poisoning ... Suicide ... The end of the American dream ... Breakdown of family support networks"

Dental implants frequently lead to complications - Science Daily, 11/5/15 - "A total of 596 patients at 37 Swedish clinics were examined at a 9-year follow-up. "Altogether, 7.6 % of patients had lost at least one implant and 14.5 % had developed peri-implantitis with pronounced bone loss," ... Peri-implantitis appears to develop within a few years and then progresses quickly and at an accelerating pace"

Preventing dental implant infections - Science Daily, 11/4/15 - "researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen have developed a new type of implant coating in cooperation with industry partners. The DentaPlas coating helps prevent the growth of bacteria, thus allowing the implant to properly take hold and thereby form a faster and more permanent bond with the jawbone"

Insulin sensitivity: One night of poor sleep could equal six months on a high-fat diet, study in dogs suggests - Science Daily, 11/4/15 - "Prior to the high-fat diet, one night of sleep deprivation reduced insulin sensitivity by 33%; this reduction was similar to the reduction caused by a high-fat diet alone (21%) ... Many patients understand the importance of a balanced diet, but they might not have a clear idea of how critical sleep is to maintaining equilibrium in the body"

Abstracts from this week:

A systematic review and meta-analysis of nut consumption and incident risk of CVD and all-cause mortality - Br J Nutr. 2015 Nov 9:1-14 - "In the twenty included prospective cohort studies (n 467 389), nut consumption was significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality (ten studies; risk ratio (RR) 0.81; 95 % CI 0.77, 0.85 for highest v. lowest quantile of intake, P het=0.04, I 2=43 %), CVD mortality (five studies; RR 0.73; 95 % CI 0.68, 0.78; P het=0.31, I 2=16 %), all CHD (three studies; RR 0.66; 95 % CI 0.48, 0.91; P het=0.0002, I 2=88 %) and CHD mortality (seven studies; RR 0.70; 95 % CI 0.64, 0.76; P het=0.65, I 2=0 %), as well as a statistically non-significant reduction in the risk of non-fatal CHD (three studies; RR 0.71; 95 % CI 0.49, 1.03; P het=0.03, I 2=72 %) and stroke mortality (three studies; RR 0.83" - Note:  I still worry about the high omega-6 in nuts and wonder whether the lower mortality may be do the the lifestyle of people of consume nuts or some other constituent in them.  Maybe the vitamin E which you can get from supplements without all the calories offsets the affects of the omega-6.

High hemoglobin A1c levels within the non-diabetic range are associated with the risk of all cancers - Int J Cancer. 2015 Nov 6 - "Compared to individuals without known diabetes and HbA1c levels of 5.0-5.4%, the HRs for all cancers were 1.27 (95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.52); 1.01 (0.90-1.14); 1.28 (1.09-1.49); and 1.43 (1.14-1.80) for individuals without known diabetes and HbA1c levels <5.0%, 5.5-5.9%, 6.0-6.4%, and ≥6.5%, respectively, and 1.22 (1.02-1.47) for individuals with known diabetes. The lowest HbA1c group had the highest risk of liver cancer, and HbA1c levels were linearly associated with the risk of all cancers after excluding liver cancer ... our findings corroborate the notion that glycemic control in individuals with high HbA1c levels may be important not only to prevent diabetes but also to prevent cancer"

Association of Vitamin E Intake with Reduced Risk of Kidney Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies - Med Sci Monit. 2015 Nov 8 - "The pooled RR (95%CI) of kidney cancer for the highest vs. the lowest level of vitamin E intake was 0.81 ... Results of the present study suggest an inverse relationship between vitamin E intake and kidney cancer risk" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.

Folic acid supplementation at lower doses increases oxidative stress resistance and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans - Age (Dordr). 2015 Dec;37(6):113 - "Here, we show for first time that FA extends organism life span and causes a delay in aging. We observed that FA inhibits mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and insulin/insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling pathways to control both oxidative stress levels and life span. The expression levels of stress- and life span-relevant gerontogenes, viz. daf-16, skn-1, and sir. 2.1, and oxidative enzymes, such as glutathione S-transferase 4 (GST-4) and superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD-3), were also found to be highly enhanced to attenuate the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage and to delay the aging process. Our study promotes the use of FA to mitigate abiotic stresses and other aging-related ailments" - See folic acid products at Amazon.com.

Effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid treatment over mechanical allodynia and depressive-like behavior associated with experimental diabetes - Behav Brain Res. 2015 Nov 4 - "It was observed that the diabetic (DBT) animals, when compared to normoglycemic (NGL) animals, developed a significant mechanical allodynia since the second week after diabetes induction, peaking at fourth week which is completlely prevented by FO treatment (0.5, 1 or 3g/Kg). Moreover, DBT animals showed an increase of immobility frequency and a decrease of swimming and climbing frequencies in modified forced swimming test (MFST) since the second week after diabetes injection, lasting up at the 4th week. FO treatment (only at a dose of 3g/Kg) significantly decreased the immobility frequency and increased the swimming frequency, but did not induce significant changes in the climbing frequency in DBT rats. Moreover, it was observed that DBT animals had significantly lower levels of BDNF in both hippocampus and pre frontal cortex when compared to NGL rats, which is completely prevented by FO treatment" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Relationship between marijuana and other illicit drug use and depression/suicidal thoughts among late middle-aged and older adults - Int Psychogeriatr. 2015 Nov 6 - "major depressive episode (MDE) ... Compared to non-users of any illicit drug, the odds of past-year MDE among those who used marijuana only, other illicit drugs only, and marijuana and other illicit drugs were 1.54 (95% CI = 1.17-2.03), 2.75 (95% CI = 1.75-4.33), and 2.12 (95% CI = 1.45-3.09), respectively. Those who used marijuana and other drugs also had higher odds (2.44, 95% CI = 1.58-3.77) of suicidal thoughts than non-users of any illicit drug" - Note:  People take it to get happy but when the short term effect wears off it actually makes them sad. When are people going to wake up to that?

Fish, n-3 PUFA consumption, and pancreatic cancer risk in Japanese: a large, population-based, prospective cohort study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Nov 4 - "we found an inverse association of marine n-3 PUFA (EPA+DPA+DHA) and DHA consumption with pancreatic cancer risk: compared with the lowest quartile, multivariate-adjusted HRs in the highest quartile were 0.70 (95% CI: 0.51, 0.95; P-trend = 0.07) and 0.69 (0.51, 0.94; P-trend = 0.03), respectively" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Magnesium status and the metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis - Nutrition, 2015 Oct 22 - "higher consumption of Mg is associated with lower risk of MetS (OR=0. 73, CI: 0.62, 0.86, P<0.001); we also could find a significant but heterogeneous association between serum Mg and MetS (Mean difference (MD): -0.19" - [Nutra USA] - See magnesium supplements at Amazon.com.

Metformin and prostate cancer mortality: a meta-analysis - Cancer Causes Control. 2015 Nov 4 - "Metformin use was associated with improved overall survival in studies with clear risk window definition (HR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.86-0.90, p < 0.001) and in studies with potential immortal time bias (HR 0.52, 95 % CI 0.41-0.65, p < 0.001). No significant association with prostate cancer-specific mortality was detected (HR 0.76, 95 % CI 0.44-1.31, p = 0.33). Metformin use was associated with a decreased risk of biochemical recurrence (HR 0.79" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Intakes of Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and Other Carotenoids and Age-Related Macular Degeneration During 2 Decades of Prospective Follow-up - JAMA Ophthalmol. 2015 Oct 8 - "Comparing extreme quintiles of predicted plasma lutein/zeaxanthin score, we found a risk reduction for advanced AMD of about 40% in both women and men (pooled relative risk comparing extreme quintiles = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.48-0.73; P for trend < .001). Predicted plasma carotenoid scores for other carotenoids, including β-cryptoxanthin, α-carotene, and β-carotene, were associated with a 25% to 35% lower risk of advanced AMD when comparing extreme quintiles. The relative risk comparing extreme quintiles for the predicted plasma total carotenoid index was 0.65" - [Nutra USA] - See carotenoids at Amazon.com.

Dietary Protein Intake Is Protective Against Loss of Grip Strength Among Older Adults in the Framingham Offspring Cohort - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2015 Nov 2 - "Greater protein intake, regardless of source, was associated with less decrease in grip strength (all p for trend ≤.05): participants in the lowest quartiles lost 0.17% to 0.27% per year while those in the highest quartiles gained 0.52% to 0.60% per year. In analyses stratified by age, participants aged 60 years or older (n = 646) had similar linear trends on loss of grip strength for total and animal (all p for trend <.03) but not plant protein, while the trends in participants younger than 60 years (n = 896) were not statistically significant"

Effects of Four-Week Supplementation with a Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Preparation on Mood and Blood Biomarkers in Young Adults: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - Nutrients. 2015 Oct 30 - "Compared to placebo, MVM supplementation was associated with significantly lowered homocysteine and increased blood B-vitamin levels (p < 0.01). MVM treatment was also associated with significantly improved mood, as measured by reduced scores on the "depression-dejection" subscale of the Profile of Mood States"

Low n-6/n-3 PUFA Ratio Improves Lipid Metabolism, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Function in Rats Using Plant Oils as n-3 Fatty Acid Source - Lipids. 2015 Nov 2 - "The 1:1 and 5:1 ratio groups had significantly decreased serum levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and proinflammatory cytokines compared with the 20:1 group ... The 1:1 group had a significantly decreased lipid peroxide level compared with the other groups ... We demonstrated that low n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio (1:1 and 5:1) had a beneficial effect on cardiovascular risk factors by enhancing favorable lipid profiles, having anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress effects, and improving endothelial function. A high n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio (20:1) had adverse effects"

• Omega-6 fatty acids - University of Maryland Medical Center - "The typical American diet tends to contain 14 - 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids"

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Lowers Serum FSH in Normal Weight but not Obese Women - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2015 Nov 2 - "Dietary administration with omega-3 PUFA decreased serum FSH levels in NW but not in obese women with normal ovarian reserve. This effect is intriguing and is directionally consistent with murine data whereby higher dietary omega-3 PUFA extends reproductive lifespan. Our results imply that this nutritional intervention should be tested in women with diminished ovarian reserve in an attempt to delay ovarian aging" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com. 

Health Focus (Macular Degeneration):