Recent Longevity News for the week ending 12/9/15

Physical activity may leave the brain more open to change - Science Daily, 12/7/15 - "moderate levels of physical activity enhance neuroplasticity in the visual cortex of adult humans"

Common Prostate Cancer Treatment May Double Risk for Alzheimer's -NBC News, 12/7/15 - "The study of more than 16,000 men being treated for prostate cancer showed that those who got any kind of androgen deprivation therapy had nearly twice the risk of developing Alzheimer's over the next 2 ½ years as men getting other treatments"

Diabetes Drug Improves Gut Bacteria - WebMD, 12/4/15 - "taking metformin had positive effects on the intestinal bacteria of people with type 2 diabetes. Specifically, the drug improved the ability of the bacteria to produce certain types of short-chain fatty acids that reduce blood sugar levels in different ways" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Cannabis increases the noise in your brain - Science Daily, 12/3/15 - "Several studies have demonstrated that the primary active constituent of cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC), induces transient psychosis-like effects in healthy subjects similar to those observed in schizophrenia ... A new study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, reports that ∆9-THC increases random neural activity, termed neural noise, in the brains of healthy human subjects. The findings suggest that increased neural noise may play a role in the psychosis-like effects of cannabis ... This interesting study suggests a commonality between the effects on the brain of the major active ingredient in marijuana and symptoms of schizophrenia ... Not only does this finding aid our understanding of the processes underlying psychosis, it underscores an important concern in the debate surrounding medical and legalized access to marijuana"

Magnesium ions show promise in slowing progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice - Science Daily, 12/1/15 - "in mouse models of the disease oral administration of magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) alleviated cognitive decline by suppressing the Aβ deposition in amyloid plaques in an APH-1α/1β-dependent manner ... The good news about this work is that if it holds up in humans, magnesium is a common element that is readily available" - See Jarrow Formulas, MagMind at Amazon.com.  2013 Study:

• 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"

Abstracts from this week:

BMI and Body Fat Mass Is Inversely Associated with Vitamin D Levels in Older Individuals - J Nutr Health Aging. 2015 - "In this study, higher BMI and higher body fat percentage were significantly associated with lower serum 25(OH)D levels in older persons. This association was particularly present in individuals with overweight, and higher fat percentages, suggesting that these persons are at increased risk of vitamin D insufficiency" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

High Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Infertile Women Referring for Assisted Reproduction - Nutrients. 2015 Dec 2 - "Serum 25(OH)D levels are highly deficient in women seeking medical help for couple's infertility ... Importantly, this deficiency status may last during pregnancy with more severe consequences" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Effect of Resveratrol Treatment on the Pharmacokinetics of Diclofenac in Healthy Human Volunteers - Phytother Res. 2015 Dec 3 - "resveratrol (RSV) ... diclofenac (DIC) ... combination therapy of DIC along with RSV may represent a novel approach to reduce dosage and results in reduced gastrointestinal side effects of DIC" - See ReserveAge Resveratrol Vegetarian Capsules, 500 Mg, 60-Count at Amazon.com.

Arginine behaviour after arginine or citrulline administration in older subjects - Br J Nutr. 2015 Dec 1:1-6 - "Arginine (ARG) and its precursor citrulline (CIT) are popular dietary supplements, especially for the elderly. However, age-related reductions in lean body mass and alterations in organ functions could change their bioavailability ... In conclusion, a single CIT administration in the elderly is safe and well tolerated, and CIT proves to be a better in vivo ARG precursor than ARG itself in healthy elderly subjects" - See citrulline at Amazon.com.

Vitamin D is associated with cardiopulmonary exercise capacity: results of two independent cohorts of healthy adults - Br J Nutr. 2015 Dec 1:1-9 - "25(OH)D levels were positively associated with all considered parameters of cardiopulmonary exercise capacity. Subjects with high 25(OH)D levels (4th quartile) showed an up to 25 % higher exercise capacity compared with subjects with low 25(OH)D levels (1st quartile)" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com. 

Health Focus (Hypertension):