Recent Longevity News for the week ending 6/14/17

Type of sugar may treat atherosclerosis, mouse study shows - Science Daily, 6/7/17 - "a natural sugar called trehalose revs up the immune system's cellular housekeeping abilities. These souped-up housecleaners then are able to reduce atherosclerotic plaque that has built up inside arteries. Such plaques are a hallmark of cardiovascular disease and lead to an increased risk of heart attack"  - See trehalose at Amazon.com.  Note:  This article claims it's not absorbed but the below article says it is.

• Natural sugar may treat fatty liver disease - Science Daily, 2/23/16 - "a natural sugar called trehalose prevents the sugar fructose -- thought to be a major contributor to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease -- from entering the liver and triggers a cellular housekeeping process that cleans up excess fat buildup inside liver cells ... In general, if you feed a mouse a high-sugar diet, it gets a fatty liver ... We found that if you feed a mouse a diet high in fructose plus provide drinking water that contains three percent trehalose, you completely block the development of a fatty liver. Those mice also had lower body weights at the end of the study and lower levels of circulating cholesterol, fatty acids and triglycerides ... Trehalose is a natural sugar found in plants and insects ... We know the mice that received drinking water with three percent trehalose lost weight, and we suspect that weight loss was due to loss of fat, but we can't be certain that's the only effect"

Vitamin D Slows Colon Cancer Progression - Medscape, 6/7/17 - "in the high-dose group (n = 69), the median PFS, which was the primary endpoint, was 13.1 months, compared with 11.2 months for the low-dose group (n = 70). That translated into a 31% reduced relative risk for disease progression in the high-dose group ... Patients in the high-dose group received a loading dose of 8000 IU/day of vitamin D3 orally for 2 weeks followed by 4000 IU/day. Those in the low-dose group received a standard vitamin D3 dose of 400 IU/day ... The disease control rate in the high-dose group was 96% vs 84% in the low-dose group" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Higher alcohol consumption leads to greater loss of muscle tissue in postmenopausal women - Science Daily, 6/7/17 - "Both aging and menopause are known to affect sarcopenia, which is a loss of muscle mass and strength, which in turn affects balance, gait, and overall ability to perform tasks of daily living ... the prevalence of sarcopenia was found to be nearly four times greater for the high-risk, alcohol-drinking group than the low-risk group"

Red onions pack a cancer-fighting punch, study reveals - Science Daily, 6/7/17 - "the study involved placing colon cancer cells in direct contact with quercetin extracted from the five different onion varieties ... We found onions are excellent at killing cancer cells" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Eggs can significantly increase growth in young children - Science Daily, 6/7/17 - "Eggs significantly increased growth and reduced stunting by 47 percent in young children"

Prebiotics reduce body fat in overweight children - Science Daily, 6/7/17 - "Participants were randomly assigned to groups given either the prebiotic fiber -- oligofructose-enriched inulin -- or a placebo, once daily for 16 weeks. The prebiotic was provided as a white powder, mixed in water ... Powdered fiber, mixed in a water bottle, taken once a day is all we asked the children to change, and we got, what we consider, some pretty exciting results -- it has been fantastic ... Based on four-month intervention data, the annual projected body weight increase in the prebiotic group would be 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds), within the expected healthy range, whereas the projected increase in the placebo group was 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds), almost triple the expected yearly weight increase. Thus, supplementation with the prebiotic improved outcomes in children who were overweight or obese. Importantly, the researchers show that the prebiotic induced specific gut bacterial shifts compared to placebo" - [Abstract] - Note:  17.6 - 6.6 = 11 pounds difference or about a pound per month.  The abstract says they used 8 grams per day.  See inulin at Amazon.com.

Does consuming low-fat dairy increase the risk of Parkinson's disease? - Science Daily, 6/7/17 - "Those who consumed at least three servings of low-fat dairy a day had a 34 percent greater chance of developing Parkinson's than people who consumed less than one serving per day ... The study results do not show that dairy products cause Parkinson's disease -- they just show an association"

Even moderate drinking linked to a decline in brain health, finds study - Science Daily, 6/6/17 - "higher alcohol consumption over the 30 year study period was associated with increased risk of hippocampal atrophy -- a form of brain damage that affects memory and spatial navigation ... While those consuming over 30 units a week were at the highest risk compared with abstainers, even those drinking moderately (14-21 units per week) were three times more likely to have hippocampal atrophy compared with abstainers ... Higher consumption was also associated with poorer white matter integrity (critical for efficient cognitive functioning) and faster decline in language fluency (how many words beginning with a specific letter can be generated in one minute)"

Is white or whole wheat bread 'healthier?' Depends on the person - Science Daily, 6/6/17 - "About half the people had a better response to the processed, white flour bread, and the other half had a better response to the whole wheat sourdough"

Low Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Affects Facial Development - Medscape, 6/5/17 - "Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) ... The researchers found a consistent association between craniofacial shape and PAE at almost any level, regardless of whether exposure occurred only in the first trimester or throughout pregnancy"

Abstracts from this week:

Effect of Thyroxin Treatment on Carotid Intima-Media Thickness (CIMT) Reduction in Patients with Subclinical Hypothyroidism (SCH): a Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials - J Atheroscler Thromb. 2017 May 3 - "subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is related to an increased carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), a surrogate marker of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) ... After treatment with thyroxin in subjects with SCH (n=314), there was a statistically significant decrease in CIMT from pre- to post-treatment; the pooled WMD of CIMT decrease was [WMD －0.32; 95% CI (－0.47, －0.16), p=＜0.0001; I2=2%], and it was no longer different from EU controls [WMD 0.13 mm; 95% CI (－0.04, 0.30); p=0.14; I2=27%]. The total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were higher in SCH as compared to EU controls and decreased significantly after treatment with thyroxin"

Proton Pump Inhibitors and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017 Jun 7 - "Proton pump inhibitors were not associated with greater risk of dementia or of AD, in contrast to recent reports. Study limitations include reliance on self-reported PPI use and lack of dispensing data" - Note:  It contradicts pervious studies.  I'd be interested in who funded the study.  Also, I read two studies a while ago.  One said PPI's reduced growth hormone by 30%.  Another said lower growth hormone levels (IGF-1) was associated with increased Alzheimers.

Effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on psychophysiological symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in accident survivors: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial - J Affect Disord. 2016 May 30 - "A total of 83 participants received either omega-3 PUFAs (1470mg docosahexaenoic acid and 147mg eicosapentaenoic acid per day) or placebo within 10 days of the accidental injury. After 12-week supplementation, participants performed script-driven imagery of their traumatic event during monitoring of their heart rate and skin conductance ... Analysis revealed that heart rate during both rest and script-driven imagery was significantly lower in the omega-3 group than the placebo group, whereas baseline heart rate was comparable between the two groups" - [Nutra USA] - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

Effect of magnesium supplementation on plasma C-reactive protein concentrations: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - Curr Pharm Des. 2017 May 25 - "Results of the present meta-analysis indicated that magnesium supplementation reduces CRP levels among individuals with inflammation (CRP levels > 3 mg/dL). This finding suggests that magnesium supplements may have a beneficial role as an adjuvant for the management of low-grade chronic systemic inflammation" - [Nutra USA] - See Magtein at Amazon.com.

Targeting the gut microbiota with inulin-type fructans: preclinical demonstration of a novel approach in the management of endothelial dysfunction - Gut. 2017 Apr 4 - "inulin-type fructans (ITFs) supplementation ... ITF supplementation totally reverses endothelial dysfunction in mesenteric and carotid arteries of n-3 PUFA-depleted Apoe-/- mice via activation of the nitric oxide (NO) synthase/NO pathway. Gut microbiota changes induced by prebiotic treatment consist in increased NO-producing bacteria, replenishment of abundance in Akkermansia and decreased abundance in bacterial taxa involved in secondary BA synthesis. Changes in gut and liver gene expression also occur upon ITFs suggesting increased glucagon-like peptide 1 production and BA turnover as drivers of endothelium function preservation" - [Nutra USA] - See inulin at Amazon.com.

Variations in Echogenicity in Carotid and Femoral Atherosclerotic Plaques with Pycnogenol + Centella Asiatica Supplementation - Int J Angiol. 2017 Jun;26(2):95-101 - "Supplementation with the combination Pycnogenol-CA (centella asiatica) on the echogenicity of plaques was assessed at 6 months ... t 6 months, plasma free radicals were decreased with the supplements (17.64%; p < 0.05; vs <2% in controls). The plaque stability index increased from 11.22;2.3 to 22.4;1.1 (p < 0.05) with the supplements; no significant changes were seen in controls. Plaque echogenicity (% of "whiter" component in images) increased with supplementation from 16.7;1.7% to 34.2;2% (p < 0.05); no variations were observed in controls. The maximum plaque height decreased (p < 0.05) with the supplements. No significant variations were observed in controls. Plaque length was decreased (p < 0.05) in the supplement group with no changes in controls. The number of plaques (carotid, femoral bifurcations) decreased with supplementation; no significant changes were observed in controls" - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com and centella asiatica (Gotu Kola) at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Atherosclerosis):