Recent Longevity News for the week ending 3/8/17

Eating Soy Tied to Reduced Breast Cancer Death Risk - Medscape, 3/6/17 - "Specifically, after a median follow-up of 9.4 years, 1224 deaths were documented. And women in the highest quartile of dietary isoflavone intake (≥1.5 mg/day) had a 21% decrease in all-cause mortality compared with women in the lowest quartile (<0.3 mg/day; fourth quartile vs first quartile: hazard ratio [HR], 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64"

Stress Can Make the Pounds Accumulate - NYT, 3/1/17 - "After controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, smoking, diabetes and other factors that might be linked to obesity, they found that the higher the level of cortisol, the greater the body weight, B.M.I. and waist circumference. Higher cortisol levels were also associated with persistence of obesity over time"

Osteoporosis drugs may make bones weaker - BBC, 3/1/17 - "the drugs were linked to microscopic cracks, making bones more fragile and prone to break"

Vitamin D Status at ICU Admission May Predict A-Fib and Bedsores - Medscape, 2/28/17 - "Patients with Vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL were nearly four times as likely to develop new-onset atrial fibrillation, with an odds ratio of 3.59 (95% CI, 1.01–12.70). On regression analysis, the risk for the condition decreased by 15% for each unit increase in vitamin D ... A second study of 402 surgical ICU patients found that 11 percent developed hospital-acquired pressure ulcers. Patients with vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL were more than twice as likely to develop the ulcers (OR 2.51; 95% CI, 1.06–5.97). On regression analysis, the risk of ulcers fell by 11% with each unit increase in vitamin D" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Enhanced task related brain activation and resting perfusion in healthy older adults after chronic blueberry supplementation - Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2017 Mar 1 - "Blueberries are rich in flavonoids, which possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. High flavonoid intakes attenuate age-related cognitive decline ... Participants were randomised to consume either 30 ml blueberry concentrate providing 387 mg anthocyanidins (5 female, 7 male; age 67.5±3.0 y; BMI, 25.9±3.3 kg.m-2) or isoenergetic placebo (8 female, 6 male; age 69.0 ±3.3 y; BMI, 27.1±.4.0 kg.m-2) ... Significant increases in brain activity were observed in response to blueberry supplementation relative to the placebo group within Brodmann areas 4/6/10/21/40/44/45, precuneus, anterior cingulate, and insula/thalamus (p<0.001), as well as significant improvements in grey matter perfusion in the parietal (5.0±1.8 vs -2.9±2.4 %, p=0.013) and occipital (8.0±2.6 vs -0.7±3.2 %, p=0.031) lobes. There was also evidence suggesting improvement in working memory (two back test) after blueberry versus placebo supplementation (p=0.05). Supplementation with an anthocyanin rich blueberry concentrate improved brain perfusion and activation in brain areas associated with cognitive function in healthy older adults" - [Nutra USA] - Don't like blueberries but strawberries are in season at Costco.  I've been making juice out of them.  Also, see blueberry extract at Amazon.com.

Vitamin D and muscle trophicity - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2017 Mar 2 - "Vitamin D deficiencies are associated with reduced muscle mass and strength, and its supplementation seems effective to improve these parameters in vitamin D-deficient study participants. Latest investigations have also evidenced that vitamin D is essential in muscle development and repair. In particular, it modulates skeletal muscle cell proliferation and differentiation ... Recently, it has been demonstrated that vitamin D influences skeletal muscle cell metabolism as it seems to regulate protein synthesis and mitochondrial function" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.  I find that it takes about 8,000 IU average per day to keep my vitamin D around 60 ng/mL but I'm old.  I take 10,000 IU per day because some days I forget to take it.

Subacute ibuprofen treatment rescues the synaptic and cognitive deficits in advanced-aged mice - Neurobiol Aging. 2017 Feb 9;53:112-121 - "Aging is accompanied by increased neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, and cognitive deficits both in rodents and humans, yet the onset and progression of these deficits throughout the life span remain unknown ... Here, we defined age-dependent and progressive impairments of synaptic and cognitive functions and showed that reducing astrocyte-related neuroinflammation through anti-inflammatory drug treatment in aged mice reverses these events ... When the mice were tested on hidden platform water maze, spatial learning memory was significantly impaired after 24 months of age. Importantly, subacute treatment with the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen suppressed astrocyte activation and restored synaptic plasticity and memory function in advanced-aged mice. These results support the critical contribution of aging-related inflammatory responses to hippocampal-dependent cognitive function and synaptic plasticity, in particular during advanced aging. Our findings provide strong evidence that suppression of neuroinflammation could be a promising treatment strategy to preserve cognition during aging" - See ibuprofen at Amazon.com.

Postpartum Varicose Veins: Supplementation with Pycnogenol or Elastic Compression-A 12-Month Follow-Up - Int J Angiol. 2017 Mar;26(1):12-19 - "At 3 and 6 months in the Pycnogenol group the number of veins and incompetent sites were lower. At 6 months there were 13.3% of patients with edema in controls versus 3.2% in the Pycnogenol group. Spider veins decreased in Pycnogenol patients. Cramps and other minor symptoms were less common in the Pycnogenol group. In both groups there was a significant improvement at 6 months with better results in the Pycnogenol group. The need for treatment was limited with a decreased need for sclerotherapy, surgery, and conservative treatments in the Pycnogenol group. The overall satisfaction was higher among Pycnogenol patients, and compliance was optimal" - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com.  Some say grape seed extract is similar without the patent make-up.  See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.

Effects of pioglitazone on the incidence of dementia in patients with diabetes - J Diabetes Complications. 2017 Jan 20 - "The risk of dementia decreased by 23% in the pioglitazone-treated cohort compared with that in the comparison cohort after adjustment for age, sex, hypertension, and stroke (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.62-0.96). In addition, the adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for dementia were 0.50 (0.34-0.75, P=.001) in high-cumulative dose users, 0.53 (0.36-0.77, P<.001) in long-term users, and 0.66 (0.49-0.90, P=.009) in high-mean daily dose users"

Clinical Evidence of Increase in Hair Growth and Decrease in Hair Loss without Adverse Reactions Promoted by the Commercial Lotion ECOHAIR® - Skin Pharmacol Physiol. 2017 Feb 23;30(1):46-54 - "ECOHAIR® spray improved the overall hair volume and appearance; it increased its thickness, induced hair growth, and decreased hair loss. Besides, no adverse local reactions were observed upon treatment with the product ... This study provides scientific support for the clinical use of ECOHAIR® as a treatment to be used in noncicatricial alopecia" - See ECOHAIR®.  I think this is what they're talking about.  If you're using Google Chrome, right click the page and select "Translate to English".  It says $665 with the shipping.  I assume that's Argentina pesos which converts to $43 U.S. dollars but it won't allow you select a country other than Argentina.  I'm sticking with the pumpkin seed oil:

• Effect of pumpkin seed oil on hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:549721 - "Mean hair count increases of 40% were observed in PSO-treated men at 24 weeks, whereas increases of 10% were observed in placebo-treated men" - See pumpkin seed oil at Amazon.com.

Anti-Aging Effect of Riboflavin Via Endogenous Antioxidant in Fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster - J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(3):314-31 - "Riboflavin prolonged the lifespan and increased the reproduction of fruit flies through anti-oxidative stress pathway involving enhancing the activity of SOD1 and CAT and inhibiting LF accumulation. Riboflavin deserves more attention for slowing human aging" - See riboflavin at Amazon.com.

Optimal Systolic Blood Pressure Levels for Primary Prevention of Stroke in General Hypertensive Adults: Findings From the CSPPT (China Stroke Primary Prevention Trial) - Hypertension. 2017 Feb 27 - "In conclusion, among adults with hypertension and without a history of stroke or myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, or renal function decline, a lower SBP goal of 120 to 130 mm Hg, as compared with a target SBP of 130 to 140 mm Hg or <120 mm Hg, resulted in the lowest risk of first stroke"

Association between Dietary Sodium Intake and Cognitive Function in Older Adults - J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(3):276-283 - "Lower sodium intake was associated with worse cognitive function in older community-dwelling adults. For the maintenance of cognitive health, older adults may be advised to avoid very low sodium diets"

Consumption of Nuts and Seeds and Telomere Length in 5,582 Men and Women of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) - J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(3):233-240 - "Nuts and seeds intake was positively and linearly associated with telomere length. For each 1-percent of total energy derived from nuts and seeds, telomere length was 5 base pairs longer (F=8.6, P=0.0065). Given the age-related rate of telomere shortening was 15.4 base pairs per year (F=581.1, P<0.0001), adults of the same age had more than 1.5 years of reduced cell aging if they consumed 5% of their total energy from nuts and seeds" - Note: I always worry about the studies showing the benefits of nuts.  Nuts are high in omega-6 which promotes inflammation which is detrimental to aging.  I think the studies showing the benefits of nuts has to do with the fact that the people that eat them are more health conscious to begin with.

Telomere length is predictive of breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carrier - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2017 Feb 24 - "Breast cancer cases had significantly shorter TL than unaffected women (p<0.0001), both BRCA2 mutation carriers (p=0.0097) and non-carriers (p=0.00006). Using exclusively samples acquired before breast cancer diagnosis, we found that shorter telomeres were significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers (HR = 3.60, 95% CI 1.17-11.28, p=0.025) but not in non-carriers (HR = 1.40"

Probiotics (Lactobacillus gasseri KS-13, Bifidobacterium bifidum G9-1, and Bifidobacterium longum MM-2) improve rhinoconjunctivitis-specific quality of life in individuals with seasonal allergies: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial - Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Feb 22 - "The probiotic group reported an improvement in the MRQLQ global score from baseline to pollen peak (-0.68 ± 0.13) when compared with the placebo group (-0.19" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

Somehow I got $50 in Amazon gift cards just for using Honey and the discount codes to boot.  See: http://joinhoney.com/ref/qfjhgc .  With the link they supply you earn points toward gift cards for signing up other people but up until now I didn't even use it.

Health Focus (Head & Neck Cancer):