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Recent Longevity News for the week ending 5/10/17
Probiotic, Red Yeast Rice
Extract Combo May Cut Cholesterol - Medscape, 5/5/17 -
"Supplementation with the
probiotic Bifidobacterium longum BB536 added to
red yeast rice extract
improves lipid profiles in patients with moderate hypercholesterolemia ... A 26%
reduction in LDL was what was we had in WOSCOPS on pravastatin 40 mg. So it's a
very reasonable reduction ... Overall, compliance was excellent at 97% and no
adverse effects were reported" - See
red yeast rice at Amazon.com
Can the antioxidant resveratrol reduce artery stiffness in diabetics? -
American Heart Association, 5/4/17 - "As the body’s
largest artery, the aorta, becomes stiffer, the risk of heart attacks and
strokes increases. In the current study, researchers used a test called the
carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV) to measure aortic stiffness in 57
patients with Type-2 diabetes (average age 56 years, 52 percent female, 67
percent African-American and on average rating as obese on standard
height/weight charts). Tests were performed after patients consumed daily doses
of 100 mg/day of resveratrol for two weeks
followed by 300 mg/day of resveratrol for two weeks and after comparable placebo
dosing for a total of four weeks ... In a subset of 23 patients with high
arterial stiffness at the start of
the study, the 300 mg dose of resveratrol reduced aortic stiffness by 9.1
percent, the 100 mg lowered reduced aortic stiffness to a lesser extent, 4.8
percent, while stiffness increased with the placebo treatment ... We found that
resveratrol also activates the longevity gene SIRT1 in humans, and this may be a
potential mechanism for the supplements to reduce aortic stiffness" - See Reserveage Nutrition - Resveratrol with Pterostilbene 500mg, Cellular Age-Defying Formula, 60 veg capsules
at Amazon.com Common cold duration is shortened similarly by zinc acetate and zinc gluconate lozenges - Science Daily, 5/3/17 - "Three trials had used zinc acetate lozenges and found that colds were shortened on average by 40%. Four trials had used zinc gluconate lozenges and colds were shortened on average by 28%. The 12% difference between the average effects of the two kinds of lozenges was explained purely by random variation. Furthermore, one of the zinc gluconate lozenge trials was an outlier inconsistent with all the other six zinc lozenge trials. If that outlier trial was excluded, the difference between the three zinc acetate and the three zinc gluconate trials shrinked to just 2%, i.e., a 40% vs. 38% reduction in common cold duration. Thus, properly composed zinc gluconate lozenges may be as effective as zinc acetate lozenges" Statins: No increase in muscle-related side effects in patients who are unaware they are taking the drug, analysis finds - Science Daily, 5/2/17 - "cases of muscle pain and weakness are unlikely to be directly caused by statins, but may instead be due to the so-called nocebo effect, where the expectation of side effects can make patients more likely to report them ... During the blinded phase of the study, the rate of muscle-related symptoms was similar whether patients received a statin or placebo (2.03% per year vs. 2% respectively). However, during the non-blinded phase of the study, muscle-related symptoms were 41% more common among people taking statins compared to those who weren't (1.26% vs 1.00% per year respectively) ... The randomised, blinded phase of the trial found no difference between the statin and placebo groups for erectile dysfunction (1.86% vs 2.14% per year). Sleep disturbance was lower in the statins group compared to placebo (1.00% vs 1.46%) and there was an increase in renal and urinary side effects in the statins group compared to placebo (1.87% vs 1.51%), both of which require further investigation"
Widespread vitamin D deficiency likely due to sunscreen use, increase of chronic
diseases, review finds - Science Daily, 5/1/17 -
"chronic diseases like Type 2 Diabetes and those related to malabsorption,
including kidney disease, Crohn's and celiac disease greatly inhibit the body's
ability to metabolize vitamin D from food sources ... Symptoms for insufficient
or deficient vitamin D include muscle weakness and bone fractures ... SPF 15 or
greater decreases vitamin D3 production by 99 percent ... Research is ongoing to
determine whether vitamin D deficiency has a
role in multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disorders, infections, respiratory
disease, cardiometabolic disease, cancer, and fracture risk ... Currently,
insufficiency is defined as between 21 and 30 ng/ml and deficiency is considered
below 20ng/ml by the Endocrine Society" - See
vitamin D at Amazon.com Exercise and Vitamin D: A Heart-Healthy Combo - WebMD, 5/1/17 - "A combination of exercise and sufficient vitamin D levels may reduce the risk of serious heart problems more than either one alone" Abstracts from this week: Supplementation with a Polyphenol-Rich Extract, PerfLoad®, Improves Physical Performance during High-Intensity Exercise: A Randomized, Double Blind, Crossover Trial - Nutrients. 2017 Apr 24;9(4) - "Supplementation with PerfLoad® correlated with a significant increase in total power output (5%), maximal peak power output (3.7%), and average power developed (5%), without inducing more fatigue or greater heart rate. Instead, oxidative homeostasis was stabilized in supplemented subjects. Such results demonstrated that PerfLoad® is a natural and efficient solution capable of, similarly to training benefits, helping athletes to improve their physical performance, while balancing their metabolism and reducing exercise-induced oxidative stress" - [Nutra USA]
Effect of nut consumption on vascular endothelial function: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - Clin Nutr. 2017 Apr 20 - "Nut consumption significantly improved endothelial function. However, the beneficial effect was limited to walnuts"
Turmeric Supplementation
Improves Serum Glucose Indices and Leptin Levels in Patients with Nonalcoholic
Fatty Liver Diseases - J Am Coll Nutr. 2017 Apr 26:1-7 -
"Turmeric consumption
decreased serum levels of glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and leptin (by 1.22, 17.69,
19.48 and 21.33% respectively, p < 0.05 for all) over 12 weeks compared with
those variables in the placebo group" - See
curcumin products at Amazon.com
The omega-3
polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid inhibits proliferation and
progression of non-small cell lung cancer cells through the reactive oxygen
species-mediated inactivation of the PI3K /Akt pathway - Lipids Health Dis.
2017 May 3;16(1):87 - "The present study demonstrates
that DHA inhibits the development of non-small lung
tumors through an ROS-mediated inactivation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway"
- See
docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com
N-acetylcysteine versus
ascorbic acid or N-acetylcysteine plus ascorbic acid in preventing
contrast-induced nephropathy: a meta-analysis - Nephrology (Carlton). 2017
Apr 27 - "In conclusion, the prevention effect of
NAC administration and VC or NAC + VC
administration on CIN was similar in patients undergoing contrast
administration. But NAC administration was associated with a significantly lower
serum creatinine levels compared to VC and NAC + VC administration" - See
n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com Oxidative stress evoked damages on rat sperm and attenuated antioxidant status on consumption of aspartame - Int J Impot Res. 2017 Apr 27 - "Result suggest that there was a significant increase glutathione-s-transferase (GST), with a significant decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase activity (SOD), glutathione peroxidase levels (GPx), catalase activity (CAT) and glutathione reductase concentration. The increase in free radicals generation could have ultimately caused the lipid peroxidation mediated damages on the testis. Aspartame treated animals also revealed the reduced space in seminiferous tubules, which resulted in reduced Leydig cells when compared with control in histopathology. These findings demonstrate that aspartame metabolites could be a contributing factor for development of oxidative stress in the epididymal sperm"
Lutein Enhances Bone Mass
by Stimulating Bone Formation and Suppressing Bone Resorption in Growing Mice
- Biol Pharm Bull. 2017;40(5):716-721 - "Lutein is a
member of the xanthophyll family of carotenoids,
which are known to prevent hypoxia-induced cell damage in the eye by removing
free radicals ... When five-week-old male mice were orally administered lutein
for 4 weeks, the femoral bone mass was
clearly enhanced in cortical bone, as measured by bone mineral density in dual
X-ray absorptiometry and micro computed tomography (µCT) analyses. The present
study indicates that lutein enhances bone mass in growing mice by suppressing
bone resorption and stimulating bone formation. Lutein may be a natural agent
that promotes bone turnover and may be beneficial for bone health in humans"
- See
lutein at Amazon.com Hulu Live TV beta launches: $40 for 50+ channels and DVR - Engadget.com, 5/3/17 - If that $40 per month includes their basic $12 per month for commercial free basic, this sounds like a good deal. The Hulu website says “Hulu with Live TV” which implies that it does. To watch it on your TV (you can also watch it on your smart device), you can stream it to Chromecast or go with Roku. I’m making the switch to Roku. The Roku stick runs about $50. Costco has the 43 inch Roku TV for $279. It also puts everything in one place. For example, you can rip your movies to your computer or server using AnyDVD then watch them on Roku via the Plex app which also does photos and music. - [techcrunch] -Also see:
Screenshot of Roku. Hulu just added 70 live TV channels. Plex allows me to put my ripped movies (via AnyDVD and Nero Recode), home videos, my iTunes music library and picture albums on my server or computer and view them through Roku. I was already a member of Amazon Prime and their movie library is significant. Sling Vietnamese has the most popular channels in Vietnam. Synology servers will load the Plex software if you search for it. Plex also has a smart phone app so you can view the files on your smart phone but I'd ensure I was connected to a WiFi for the movies so you don't eat up your data.
Health Focus (C-reactive protein):
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