Recent Longevity News for the week ending 8/10/16

The FDA approves first generic version of widely used influenza drug, Tamiflu - fda.gov, 8/3/16 - Doesn't say when it will be available.  It says it only cuts the flu by 15 hours.  From my own experience, it's a lot more than that.  I keep it on hand and take it at the first indication and it cuts it down to four or five days as opposed to at least three weeks for me.  The secret is 'at first indication'.  By the time you make an appointment, get to the doctor and get the prescription filled you're already pushing that 48 hour window.  The sooner the better and my guess is that there's an exponential curve to that 48 hours (that how the viruses multiply).  Tamiflu goes for about $34 in Tijuana.  I used to think that my three week plus flues were from an underactive immune system but then I read where the reason kids die from the flu is that all that mucus is caused by an overactive immune system.

Being overweight 'ages people's brains' - BBC, 8/4/16 - "The brains of overweight people look "10 years older" than those of leaner peers"

Average American 15 Pounds Heavier in Two Decades - WebMD, 8/3/16 - "since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the average American has put on 15 or more additional pounds without getting any taller"

Inosine treatment helps recovery of motor functions after brain injury - Science Daily, 8/3/16 - "Brain injuries were created in the area controlling each monkey's favored hand. Four monkeys received inosine treatment, while four received a placebo ... While both the treated and placebo groups recovered significant function, three out of four of the treated monkeys were able to return to their pre-operative grasping methods. The placebo group developed a compensatory grasping method for retrieving food rewards unlike the original thumb-and-finger method ... Inosine has also been administered in human clinical trials for multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease and has been proven to be safe in doses up 3000 mg/day. Athletes have used inosine as a nutritional supplement for decades, and inosine supplements are widely available commercially" - See inosine at Amazon.com.

Medical benefits of dental floss unproven - Washington Post, 8/2/16 - "The AP looked at the most rigorous research conducted over the past decade, focusing on 25 studies that generally compared the use of a toothbrush with the combination of toothbrushes and floss. The findings? The evidence for flossing is “weak, very unreliable,” of “very low” quality, and carries “a moderate to large potential for bias.” ... The majority of available studies fail to demonstrate that flossing is generally effective in plaque removal" - I've always thought the same thing just looking at the mechanics of it.  I still think you have to kill the bacteria, not rub it in with floss.  Here's a cut and paste from my dental page:

• Periogard - Needs a prescription but is usually available at you dentist for around $10.
• GUM Go-betweens Proxabrush Cleaners Wide [3614] 8 Each (Pack of 3).  These are wide and will only word for the back four slots but that's where most of the problem lies.
• Put a few tablespoons of Periogard into a small glass.  Soak the brush in it and run it between your teeth.

Metformin-sustained Weight Loss and Reduced Android Fat Tissue at 12 Months in EMPOWIR (Enhance the Metabolic Profile of Women With Insulin Resistance) - WebMD, 8/2/16 - "carbohydrate-modified diet (CMD) and were then randomized to one of three arms for 6 months (phase 1): CMD alone (D), or in combination with metformin (M), or metformin + rosiglitazone (MR), with rerandomization of the D group to one of the active treatment arms ... Mean (±SD) BW decreased significantly at 12 months in the M arm: 85.1 ± 8.5 kg to 79.8 ± 9.0 kg (P = .0003), with 54% of variance in weight over time explained by M treatment. Mean (±SD) percent android fat decreased significantly in the M and D arms: 53.5 ± 4.8% to 49.3 ± 7.6% (P = .010) and 52.9 ± 6.2% to 48.1 ± 8.7% (P = .021)" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Fish Oil Might Help Healing After Heart Attack - WebMD, 8/1/16 - "360 heart attack survivors were followed for six months. Half of them were given 4 grams of omega-3 fatty acid supplements daily for six months, while the other half were given placebo pills ... Using MRIs of the heart, the researchers found there was a 6 percent improvement in both heart function and scarring in undamaged parts of the organ among patients who took 4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids daily" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Berberine Inhibits Intestinal Polyps Growth in Apc (min/+) Mice via Regulation of Macrophage Polarization - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2016;2016:5137505 - "Antitumor effect of berberine has been reported in a wide spectrum of cancer ... The total number and size of polyps were reduced remarkably in berberine group, compared with control group" - See berberine at Amazon.com.

Resveratrol primes the effects of physical activity in old mice - Br J Nutr. 2016 Aug 4:1-10 - "Decrease in muscle mass and performance with ageing is one of the main factors of frailty in the elderly. Maintenance of muscle performance by involving in physical activities is essential to increase independence and quality of life among elderly ... RSV improves muscle performance in mature and old animals but not in young animals. Without showing significant effect by itself, RSV primed the effect of exercise by increasing endurance, coordination and strength in old animals. This effect was accompanied by a higher protection against oxidative damage and an increase in mitochondrial mass. RSV increased catalase and superoxide dismutase protein levels in muscle and primed exercise to reverse the decrease in their activities during ageing. Furthermore, RSV increased the level of mitochondrial mass markers such as cytochrome C, mitochondrial transcription factor A and nuclear respiratory factor-1 in muscle in exercised animals" - See Reserveage Nutrition - Resveratrol with Pterostilbene 500mg, Cellular Age-Defying Formula, 60 veg capsules at Amazon.com.

Low Iron Diet Increases Susceptibility to Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Young Rats - Nutrients. 2016 Jul 28;8(8) - "iron deficiency (ID) ... spiral ganglion cells (SGCs) ... ID without anemia delayed the recovery from noise-induced hearing loss and ribbon synapses damage, increased SGCs loss, and upregulated prestin after noise exposure. Thus, the cochleae in rat pups with ID without anemia were potentially susceptible to loud noise exposure, and this deficit may be attributed to the reduction of ribbon synapses and SGCs" - See iron supplements at Amazon.com.

Probiotic Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 reduces exercise-induced muscle damage and increases recovery - PeerJ Jul 21, 2016 - "The strenuous exercise significantly reduced athletic performance in PRO (Wingate Peak Power; PRO: (−39.8 watts, −5.3%, p = 0.03)), whereas PROBC maintained performance (+10.1 watts, +1.7%) ... The results provide evidence that probiotic supplementation in combination with protein tended to reduce indices of muscle damage, improves recovery, and maintains physical performance subsequent to damaging exercise" - [Nutra USA] - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Quercetin, not caffeine, is a major neuroprotective component in coffee - Neurobiol Aging. 2016 Jul 5;46:113-123 - "Epidemiologic studies indicate that coffee consumption reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease ... quercetin reduced oxidative/nitrative damage to DNA, as well as to the lipids and proteins of SH-SY5Y cells. There was a resultant increase in [GSH]i in SH-SY5Y cells. The data indicate that quercetin is the major neuroprotective component in coffee against Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Adiponectin predicts incident hypertension independent of body fat distribution: observations from the Dallas Heart Study - Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2016 Jul 2 - "Our study suggested a protective role of adiponectin against incident hypertension independent of body fat distribution" 

Health Focus (Atherosclerosis):