Recent Longevity News for the week ending 4/12/17

Yes, there really are millions of tiny, dead bugs in your pillows - today.com, 4/11/17 - "The problem is that they go where there are a lot of skin scales. One of the best places in the world is your pillow. These little dust mites take those skin scales that come off of you and me and everyone else and eat them ... Think runny or stuffy nose, itchy eyes and sneezing. That's right: typical allergy symptoms. So you might have a dust mite allergy, and not even know it ... You probably won't be able to kill them all, but washing your bedding, including your pillows, is a good start ... The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recommends people wash their sheets and blankets once a week in hot water, invest in pillow and mattress covers and avoid wall-to-wall carpeting, if possible" - Note:  I figured this out on my own a long time ago and never saw the point of a top sheet if you're going to wash the comforter and sheets once per week anyway.  Like Georges problem in the Seinfeld episode: https://youtu.be/ysiRG37IEWw

• Bedbugs: How they hide and bite - CNN, 4/11/17
• Bedbugs resistant to more pesticides, study finds - ABC News, 4/11/17

The Grayer His Hair, the Higher His Heart Risk? - WebMD, 4/10/17 - "graying hair may also go hand-in-hand with unhealthy "biological aging," since both unfold along similar lines ... The upshot, he said, is that while graying hair may turn out to be an indicator of risk, most of the focus to date has stayed centered around clearly "modifiable" risk factors, meaning behaviors that patients can change. Those include shedding weight, quitting smoking, and taking steps to reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol"

6 foods to eat for a mood boost - Washington Post, 4/6/17 - "Salmon ... Probiotics ... Leafy greens ... Blueberries ... Oysters ... Chocolate ... typical unhealthy Western diets that include excessive amounts of sugar, salty snacks, processed and fried foods have been associated with worsening of symptoms of depression, and an increased risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease"

How to pick the healthiest fish for your plate - CNN, 4/6/17 - "One polyunsaturated fat, an omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid, was shown in the Harvard study to be especially protective against death by cancer and coronary artery disease. Walnuts are one of the best sources of linoleic acid; eating just seven shelled walnuts provides about 11 grams of the good stuff ... If you are dutifully eating your two servings a week, but it's from tilapia, shrimp, scallops or catfish, you won't actually be getting much of the health benefits from the omega-3 fatty acids ... Regardless of the type, salmon is still one of the best omega-3 sources" -  Note:  The article points out this study which implies that omega-6 isn't as bad as most claim:

• Association of Specific Dietary Fats With Total and Cause-Specific Mortality - JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Aug 1;176(8):1134-4 - "The HRs of total mortality comparing extreme quintiles of specific dietary fats were 1.08 (95% CI, 1.03-1.14) for saturated fat, 0.81 (95% CI, 0.78-0.84) for polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), 0.89 (95% CI, 0.84-0.94) for monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), and 1.13 (95% CI, 1.07-1.18) for trans-fat (P < .001 for trend for all). Replacing 5% of energy from saturated fats with equivalent energy from PUFA and MUFA was associated with estimated reductions in total mortality of 27% (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.70-0.77) and 13% (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.82-0.93), respectively. The HR for total mortality comparing extreme quintiles of ω-6 PUFA intake was 0.85 (95% CI, 0.81-0.89; P < .001 for trend). Intake of ω-6 PUFA, especially linoleic acid, was inversely associated with mortality owing to most major causes, whereas marine ω-3 PUFA intake was associated with a modestly lower total mortality (HR comparing extreme quintiles, 0.96"

Prolonged Antibiotic Use Tied to Colon Polyps - WebMD, 4/4/17 - "Women who took antibiotics for two weeks or more in their 20s through their 50s were more likely to have colon lesions in their 60s than women who didn't take the drugs for an extended period ... This suggests that alterations in the naturally occurring bacteria that live in one's intestines caused by antibiotics might predispose individuals to colorectal cancer ... Antibiotics disrupt the diversity and number of bacteria in the gut, or "microbiome." They also reduce resistance to toxic bacteria. All of this might play a role in the development of precancerous growths ... For example, two months of antibiotic use in her 20s or 30s upped a woman's odds for polyps 36 percent compared to those who didn't the drugs for a prolonged period"

Abstracts from this week:

Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Resveratrol through Classic Models in Mice and Rats - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:519756 - "these results indicated that RSV had potent analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities and could be a potential new drug candidate for the treatment of inflammation and pain" - See Reserveage Nutrition - Resveratrol with Pterostilbene 500mg, Cellular Age-Defying Formula, 60 veg capsules at Amazon.com.

Evaluation of the Effects and Mechanism of L-Citrulline on Anti-obesity by Appetite Suppression in Obese/Diabetic KK-Ay Mice and High-Fat Diet Fed SD Rats - Biol Pharm Bull. 2017;40(4):524-530 - "L-Cit induced significant reduction of food intake, body weight and fat tissue mass in obese/diabetic KK-Ay mice ... Our study suggests that L-Cit improves metabolic syndrome through decreased body weight by appetite suppression" - See BulkSupplements Pure L-Citrulline Powder.

Enhanced task related brain activation and resting perfusion in healthy older adults after chronic blueberry supplementation - Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2017 Mar 1 - "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] - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Interleukin 6 (IL-6)):