Recent Longevity News for the week ending 3/23/16

A Healthy Heart May Protect an Aging Brain - WebMD, 3/16/16 - "participants who met more heart-healthy goals had better brain-processing speed at the start of the study. This link was most apparent for certain lifestyle factors, including not smoking, being at a healthy weight and having ideal blood sugar levels ... At follow-up, scientists noted that meeting more heart-healthy goals was linked to less deterioration in brain processing speed, memory and executive function. Executive function involves focusing, organization, time management and other cognitive skills"

Vegans may lack essential nutrient intake, study reports - Science Daily, 3/16/16 - "Nutrients of concern are vitamin B-12, iron, calcium, vitamin D, protein and omega-3 fatty acids ... We found that some of these nutrients, which can have implications in neurologic disorders, anemia, bone strength and other health concerns, can be deficient in poorly planned vegan diets ... Vegans have not been shown to be deficient in protein intake or in any specific amino acids ... The Mayo Clinic review team recommends that health care providers monitor vegan patients for adequate blood levels of vitamin B-12, iron, ferritin, calcium and vitamin D"

Health Benefit of Standing Desks Not Proven, Medical Review Shows - ABC News, 3/16/16 - The video is more informative than the article.  Standing has problems also such a varicose veins.

Re-energizing the aging brain - Science Daily, 3/17/16 - "In our new study, we show that long-term dietary supplementation with pyruvate increases the energy reserves in the brain, at least in mice, in the form of the molecules glycogen, creatine and lactate ... The mice became more energetic and increased their explorative activity. It appears that these behavioral changes are directly due to the effect of pyruvate on brain function, since we didn't find that these mice had developed greater muscle force or endurance ... The dose necessary to achieve these effects was about 800 mg pyruvate per day -- which corresponds to about 10 g per day in humans -- given to the mice in normal chow over a period of 2.5 to 6 months" - See pyruvate at Amazon.com.

Here's Why You Should Always Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them - wimp.com - "A news report from Huff Post Live shows how clothes that what we think might be new and clean are actually hiding germs from being handled by a countless amount of people. Think about it, when you shop for clothes, you always rummage through everything on the rack, and maybe even pick something up and try it on yourself. Now imagine everyone else in the store doing that every day. That's a lot of hands on your new clothes"

Broccoli ingredient has positive influence on drug efficacy - Science Daily, 3/15/16 - "The enzyme AKR1C3 is a biochemical actor in several metabolic pathways in the human body. It is also central in the efficacy of a cancer drug that is currently still in development and clinical testing. This drug, called PR-104A, is administered in an inactive form and is converted into its active form inside the cancer cells by the AKR1C3 present there. The researchers therefore used cell culture to investigate whether the broccoli ingredient increased the efficacy of PR-104A. Their hypothesis was confirmed: when the scientists pre-treated the colon cancer cells with sulforaphane, less than a third of the usual dose of PR-104A was enough to kill the cancer cells. "Since cancer drugs generally have strong side-effects, any approach that reduces the dose of medication while maintaining efficacy is always welcome," says Sturla" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Clinical efficacy of probiotic as an adjunctive therapy to non-surgical periodontal treatment of chronic periodontitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis - J Clin Periodontol. 2016 Mar 1 - "root planing (SRP) ... chronic periodontitis (CP) ... Meta-analysis showed a statistically significant CAL gain (-0.42 mm, p=0.002) and bleeding on probing (BOP) reduction (-14.66, p=0.003) for SRP + probiotic treatment versus SRP at short-term. Only a tendency (p=0.06) has been observed in terms of overall PPD reduction, whereas results were significant when stratified for moderate (-0.18, p=0.001) and deep pockets (-0.67" - [Nutra USA] - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Reduced inflammatory and muscle damage biomarkers following oral supplementation with bioavailable curcumin - BBA Clinical Jun 16 - "The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of oral curcumin supplementation (Longvida® 400 mg/days) on muscle & ADL soreness, creatine kinase (CK), and inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10) following EMID (eccentric-only dual-leg press exercise) ... Curcumin supplementation resulted in significantly smaller increases in CK (− 48%), TNF-α (− 25%), and IL-8 (− 21%) following EIMD compared to placebo ... The observed improvements in biological inflammation may translate to faster recovery and improved functional capacity during subsequent exercise sessions" - [NutraUSA] - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Curcumin Rescues Diabetic Renal Fibrosis by Targeting Superoxide-Mediated Wnt Signaling Pathways - Am J Med Sci. 2016 Mar;351(3):286-95 - "Curcumin alleviated extracellular matrix accumulation in diabetic nephropathy by not only preventing the diabetes-mediated superoxide synthesis but also resuming downregulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. These findings suggest that regulation of Wnt activity by curcumin is a feasible alternative strategy to rescue diabetic renal injury" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Effect of folic acid supplementation on cancer risk among adults with hypertension in China: A randomized clinical trial - Int J Cancer. 2016 Mar 17 - "There is no evidence that 0.8mg daily folic acid supplementation can increase the risk of cancer incidence among adults with hypertension without history of stroke or MI in China. Our data suggest a protective effect in participants with MTHFR TT genotype and low folate levels"

Yogurt consumption and abdominal obesity reversion in the PREDIMED study - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2015 Dec 12 - "consumption of whole-fat yogurt was associated with changes in waist circumference and higher probability for reversion of abdominal obesity. Therefore, it seems that whole-fat yogurt has more beneficial effects in management of abdominal obesity in elderly population at high cardiovascular risk"

Identification of pinostilbene as a major colonic metabolite of pterostilbene and its inhibitory effects on colon cancer cells - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2016 Mar 18 - "Pterostilbene (PTE) is a resveratrol derivative mainly found in blueberries, and it has been shown to inhibit colon carcinogenesis in multiple animal models ... Our results demonstrated that PIN is a major metabolite of PTE in the colon of mice fed with PTE, and PIN may play important roles in the anti-colon cancer effects elicited by orally administered PTE" - See Reserveage Nutrition - Resveratrol with Pterostilbene 500mg, Cellular Age-Defying Formula, 60 veg capsules.

Dietary proanthocyanidins inhibit UV radiation-induced skin tumor development through functional activation of the immune system - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2016 Mar 15 - "The incidence of skin cancer is equivalent to the incidence of malignancies in all other organs combined. The main risk factor for this disease is overexposure of the skin to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV irradiation induces inflammation, oxidative stress, DNA damage and suppression of the immune system in the skin, which together contribute to carcinogenesis. The use of dietary phytochemicals shows great promise as a complementary and alternative strategy for skin cancer prevention. Grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSPs) have been tested extensively for their anti-skin cancer effect using in vivo animal models ... These effects of GSPs could be useful in attenuation of the adverse effects of UV radiation and may have health benefits in humans" - See OPCs+95 at Amazon.com.

Polyphenol rich olive oils improve lipoprotein particle atherogenic ratios and subclasses profile: a randomized, crossover, controlled trial - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2016 Mar 15 - "Polyphenols from olive oil and thyme modified the lipoprotein subclasses profile and decreased the LDL-P/total HDL particle (HDL-P), small HDL/large HDL, and HDL-cholesterol/HDL-P ratios, and decreased the lipoprotein insulin resistance index (LP-IR)" - See olive leaf extract at Amazon.com.

Daily chocolate consumption is inversely associated with insulin resistance and liver enzymes in the Observation of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Luxembourg study - Br J Nutr. 2016 Mar 17:1-8 - "After excluding subjects taking antidiabetic medications, higher chocolate consumption was associated with lower HOMA-IR (β=-0·16, P=0·004), serum insulin levels (β=-0·16, P=0·003) and γ-GT (β=-0·12, P=0·009) and ALT (β=-0·09, P=0·004), after adjustment for age, sex, education, lifestyle and dietary confounding factors, including intakes of fruits and vegetables, alcohol, polyphenol-rich coffee and tea. This study reports an independent inverse relationship between daily chocolate consumption and levels of insulin, HOMA-IR and liver enzymes in adults, suggesting that chocolate consumption may improve liver enzymes and protect against insulin resistance, a well-established risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders" - See Ghirardelli Chocolate Intense Dark Squares, Midnight Reverie, 4.12 oz., 86% Cacao (Pack of 4) at Amazon.com.

Flaxseed supplementation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a pilot randomized, open labeled, controlled study - Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2016 Mar 17:1-9 - "The significant mean differences were reached in hepatic markers between flaxseed and control group, respectively: ALT [-11.12 compared with -3.7 U/L; P< 0.001], AST [-8.29 compared with -4 U/L; p < 0.001], GGT [-15.7 compared with -2.62 U/L; p < 0.001], fibrosis score [-1.26 compared with -0.77 kPa; p = 0.013] and steatosis score [-47 compared with -15.45 dB/m; p = 0.022]" - See flax seed at Amazon.com.

Protective Role of Grape Seed Proanthocyanidins Against Ccl4 Induced Acute Liver Injury in Mice - Med Sci Monit. 2016 Mar 17;22:880-889 - "Our results provide strong evidence that administration of GSPs might confer significant protection against CCl4-induced acute liver injury in mice" - See OPCs+95 at Amazon.com.

Lean body mass change over 6 years is associated with dietary leucine intake in an older Danish population - Br J Nutr. 2016 Mar 16:1-7 - "Higher protein intake, and particularly higher leucine intake, is associated with attenuated loss of lean body mass (LBM) over time in older individuals. Dietary leucine is thought to be a key mediator of anabolism ... Dietary leucine intake was assessed at baseline and after 6 years in men and women, aged 35-65 years, participating in the Danish cohort of the WHO-MONICA (Multinational MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular disease) study (n 368) ... Older participants in the highest quartile of leucine intake (7·1 g/d) experienced LBM maintenance, whereas lower intakes were associated with LBM loss over 6 years ... This study corroborates findings from laboratory investigations in relation to protein and leucine intakes and LBM change" - See BulkSupplements Pure L-Leucine Powder (1 Kilogram).

Nutrients, foods, dietary patterns and telomere length: Update of epidemiological studies and randomized trials - Metabolism. 2016 Apr;65(4):406-15 - "Attrition of telomeres, chromatin structures that help maintain genome stability, leads to cell death or senescence. Thus telomere length is a reliable hallmark of biological aging and the risk of developing age-related chronic diseases through common oxidation and inflammation mechanisms ... Variability in telomere shortening that is independent of chronological age suggests that it is a modifiable factor, which may be explained in part by lifestyle variables such as smoking, adiposity, physical exercise, and diet ... Consistent with well-known evidence of benefit or harm for chronic age-related diseases, dietary antioxidants and consumption of antioxidant-rich, plant-derived foods help maintain telomere length. In contrast, total and saturated fat intake and consumption of refined flour cereals, meat and meat products, and sugar-sweetened beverages relate to shorter telomeres. Data on alcohol and dairy products is controversial. There is evidence that adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with longer telomeres. Randomized clinical trials are limited to seafood-derived long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, with promising results"

Atorvastatin prevents advanced glycation end products (AGEs)-induced cardiac fibrosis via activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) - Metabolism. 2016 Apr;65(4):441-53 - "Compared with the control group, in vivo treatment with Ator significantly retarded the AGEs-induced diastolic function and attenuated cardiac fibrosis, α-SMA, and RAGE over expression induced by AGEs ... In this study, we demonstrated that AGEs-induced fibroblast proliferation and differentiation were dependent on AGEs-RAGE-ERK1/2 pathway and that atorvastatin could block this pathway via activating PPAR-γ"

Tonsillectomy and incidence of oropharyngeal cancers - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2016 Mar 14 - "Tonsillectomies were associated with reduced risk of tonsil cancers (SIRs 1+ years post-tonsillectomy=0.31; 95%CI=0.08-0.79 and 5+ years post-tonsillectomy=0.17; 95%CI=0.02-0.62)" - Cancer of the tonsil is nothing to sneeze at.  I had it 11 years ago and by the time I realized it, it had spread the the lymph nodes in my neck and had become the size of a golf ball wedged under my jaw and neck.  I lucked out with just surgery but the prognosis isn't that good for most people.  It was something like a 25% chance for a five year survival back then.  The way I read this study, it's an 83% reduction in the risk.  A lot of people will disagree but my stance (after what I went through) is to get rid of them.  You don't need them.  Plus, get the HPV shot.

Efficacy and Safety of MMFS-01, a Synapse Density Enhancer, for Treating Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - J Alzheimers Dis. 2015 Oct 27;49(4):971-90 - "Since brain atrophy during aging is strongly associated with both cognitive decline and sleep disorder, we evaluated the efficacy of MMFS-01 in its ability to reverse cognitive impairment and improve sleep ... We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-designed trial in older adult subjects (age 50-70) with cognitive impairment. Subjects were treated with MMFS-01 (n = 23) or placebo (n = 21) for 12 weeks and cognitive ability, sleep quality, and emotion were evaluated ... With MMFS-01 treatment, overall cognitive ability improved significantly relative to placebo (p = 0.003; Cohen's d = 0.91). Cognitive fluctuation was also reduced. The study population had more severe executive function deficits than age-matched controls from normative data and MMFS-01 treatment nearly restored their impaired executive function, demonstrating that MMFS-01 may be clinically significant" - [Nutra USA] - See Magtein at Amazon.com.

Effect of Korean Red Ginseng on Cognitive Function and Quantitative EEG in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: A Preliminary Study - J Altern Complement Med. 2016 Mar 14 - "Korean red ginseng (KRG) has a nootropic effect. This study assessed the efficacy of KRG on cognitive function and quantitative electroencephalography (EEG) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) ... Fourteen patients with AD (mean age, 74.93 years; 11 women and 3 men) were recruited and treated with KRG (4.5 g per day) for 12 weeks. Cognitive function was assessed by the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) ... The FAB score improved significantly after 12 weeks of treatment. In the relative power spectrum analysis performed according to responsiveness, alpha power increased significantly in the right temporal area of the responders. The increments of relative alpha power in the right temporal, parietal, and occipital areas were significantly higher in the responders than the nonresponders" - See ginseng at Amazon.com. 

Health Focus (HDL Cholesterol):