Recent Longevity News for the week ending 9/7/16

Effects of Dark Chocolate on NOX-2-generated Oxidative Stress in Patients With Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis - Medscape, 9/1/16 - "Compared to controls, NASH patients had higher sNOX2-dp, serum isoprostanes and CK-18 levels. A significant difference for treatments was found in subjects with respect to sNOX2-dp, serum isoprostanes and serum CK-18. The pairwise comparisons showed that, compared to baseline, after 14 days of dark chocolate intake, a significant reduction in sNOX2-dp serum isoprostanes and CK-18 M30 was found. No change was observed after milk chocolate ingestion" - See Ghirardelli Chocolate Intense Dark Squares, Midnight Reverie, 4.12 oz., 86% Cacao (Pack of 4) at Amazon.com.

Chemical in plastics linked to genital abnormalities in baby boys - Science Daily, 9/1/16 - "These chemicals, called phthalates, are most commonly found in plastics, personal care products like shampoos, makeup and perfumes, and in the U.S. food supply from things like jars, packaging, and other storage"

ICU patients lose helpful gut bacteria within days of hospital admission - Science Daily, 8/31/16 - "treatments used in the ICU -- including courses of powerful antibiotics, medicines to sustain blood pressure, and lack of nutrition -- can reduce the population of known healthy bacteria ... the next step is to use the data to identify therapies -- perhaps including probiotics -- to restore a healthy bacterial balance to patients" - Note: No kidding.  Seems like they would have figured that out by now.  Every time I've gone to the hospital such as surgery for neck cancer twelve years ago, I was admitted thinking I could run a marathon that day and I left looking like the walking dead.  One reason is that even for minor surgery they give you enough antibiotics via IV to kill and elephant.  Another reason is lack of sleep.  I posted a study on the sleep issue about a year ago.  See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

• Sleep, Patient Satisfaction May Go Hand in Hand for Hospitals - Medscape, 8/19/15 - "About half of all patients woken up for vitals checks probably don’t need to be, according to a 2013 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study suggests waking those patients may contribute to bad patient results and dissatisfaction, and could increase the odds of patients having to come back to the hospital ... Sleep disruptions are actually not benign as far as patients are concerned,” said Dana Edelson, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and an author on the 2013 study. “We’re putting them at unnecessary risk when we’re waking them up in the middle of the night when they don’t need to be.” ... And possibly making the recovery a bit more difficult ... Patients will tell you, ‘I was so exhausted, I couldn’t wait to get home and go sleep"
• Gut check: Does a hospital stay set patients up for sepsis by disrupting the body’s microbiome? - Science Daily, 6/1/15 - "We know that a major cause of microbiome disruption is antibiotic use. This study hints -- it does not prove, but it hints -- that profligate use of antibiotics might not just be bad because of antibiotic resistance. Profligate use of antibiotics might also, via the microbiome, put patients at increased risk of both all kinds of other infections, and to having a particularly bad response ('sepsis') to those infections"

Selenium status influence cancer risk - Science Daily, 8/31/16 - "the third of the population with lowest selenium status have a five- to ten-fold increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma -- also known as liver cancer"

Abstracts from this week:

Resveratrol Protects against High-Fat Diet Induced Renal Pathological Damage and Cell Senescence by Activating SIRT1 - Biol Pharm Bull. 2016;39(9):1448-54 - "mice were fed with standard diet, standard diet plus resveratrol, high-fat diet or high-fat diet plus resveratrol for 3 months, and results show that resveratrol treatment prevents high-fat diet induced renal pathological damage by activating SIRT1, a key member in the mammalian sirtuin family that response to calorie restriction life-extension method. This research confirms the potential role of resveratrol in the treatment of renal diseases and may provide an effective and convenient method to mimic the beneficial effects of calorie restriction" - See Reserveage Nutrition - Resveratrol with Pterostilbene 500mg, Cellular Age-Defying Formula, 60 veg capsules at Amazon.com.

Pomegranate extract alleviates disease activity and some blood biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2016 Aug 31 - "Compared with the placebo group, POMx supplement significantly reduced the score of DAS28 (P<0.001) which could be related to the decrease in swollen (P<0.001) and tender joints (P=0.001) count, pain intensity (P=0.003) and ESR levels (P= 0.03). POMx consumption also decreased HAQ score (P=0.007) and morning stiffness (P=0.04) and increased GPx concentrations" - See pomegranate extract at Amazon.com.

Forskolin, a hedgehog signaling inhibitor, attenuates carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in rats - Br J Pharmacol. 2016 Sep 2 - "Our findings indicate that forskolin has a promising antifibrotic effect which could be partially attributed to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects as well as inhibition of Hh signaling" - See Coleus forskohlii products at Amazon.com.

Molecular Targets Underlying the Anticancer Effects of Quercetin: An Update - Nutrients. 2016 Aug 29;8(9). pii: E529 - "Numerous pharmacological effects of quercetin include protection against diseases, such as osteoporosis, certain forms of malignant tumors, and pulmonary and cardiovascular disorders. Quercetin has the special ability of scavenging highly reactive species, such as hydrogen peroxide, superoxide anion, and hydroxyl radicals. These oxygen radicals are called reactive oxygen species, which can cause oxidative damage to cellular components, such as proteins, lipids, and deoxyribonucleic acid. Various oxygen radicals play important roles in pathophysiological and degenerative processes, such as aging" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Pomegranate juice causes a partial improvement through lowering oxidative stress for erectile dysfunction in streptozotocin-diabetic rat - Int J Impot Res. 2016 Sep 1 - "Erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). Pomegranate juice (PJ) is a potent antioxidant in diabetes induced oxidative stress ... This is the first study to show that PJ treatment ameliorates partially ED and completely oxidative stress and fibrosis in a diabetic rat model. Our results highlight the success of antioxidant mechanism of PJ in ED with diabetes and open the way for future understanding in alternative treatment combinations with PDE5 inhibitors" - See pomegranate extract at Amazon.com. 

Health Focus (Rhodiola rosea):