Recent Longevity News for the week ending 8/9/17

Low Vitamin D Levels Increases the Risk for Chronic Headaches - Medscape, 8/3/17 - "In those with frequent headache, the average serum vitamin D concentration was 38.3 nmol/L; while in those without frequent headache, the average vitamin D concentration was 43.9 nmol/L ... The authors concluded that low serum vitamin D concentrations are associated with a markedly higher risk for frequent headaches in men" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Why running is so beneficial for older women - Washington Post, 8/1/17 - "Our bodies build bone mass when we apply stress along the full length of our bones, which is what happens when we run, according to sports medicine specialist and physical therapist Kevin McGuinness, who practices at Washington Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine. Bones build structure in response to the stresses applied to them, and for the weight-bearing bones, such as those in our legs and hips, you need to apply stresses while upright, working against gravity, in a weight-bearing fashion, he explained."

Heavy Cannabis Use Associated With Depression, Suicidality - Medscape, 7/31/17  - "among monozygotic twins, those who used cannabis were more than 100 times more likely to meet criteria for MDD and report suicidal ideation than their genetically identical twin who had never used cannabis or who had used it less frequently"

Muted stress response linked to long-term cannabis use - Science Daily, 7/31/17 - "The findings are consistent with a growing body of literature that indicates chronic cannabis use is associated with dulled adrenal and emotional reactivity ... the release of cortisol typically serves an adaptive purpose, allowing an individual to mobilize energy stores and respond appropriately to threats in the environment ... Thus, an inability to mount a proper hormonal response to stress could also have detrimental effects that could potentially be harmful to the individual"

Abstracts from this week:

Perinatal Brain Docosahexaenoic Acid Concentration Has a Lasting Impact on Cognition in Mice - J Nutr. 2017 Aug 2 - "Developmental deprivation of brain DHA by dietary ω-3 FA depletion in mice may have a lasting impact on cognitive function if not corrected at an early age" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

Sequential Therapy of Breast Cancer Cell Lines with Vitamin C and Quercetin Improves the Efficacy of Chemotherapeutic Drugs - Nutr Cancer. 2017 Jul 25:1-11 - "Prevention by antioxidant agents including vitamin C (VC) and quercetin (QU), which are nontoxic, cost effective, and physiologically bioavailable, is a promising approach in breast cancer handling ... Our results emphasized the importance of VC+QU in combination with the drugs to produce a synergistic antitumor effect in breast cancer cells" - See American Health Products - Ester C W/Citrus Bioflavonoids, 1000 mg, 180 veg tablets at Amazon.com and quercetin at Amazon.com.

Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate: The Prospective Targeting of Cancer Stem Cells and Preventing Metastasis of Chemically-Induced Mammary Cancer in Rats - Am J Med Sci. 2017 Jul;354(1):54-63 - "It was found that epigallocatechin-3-gallate exhibited significant chemopreventive effects and anti-cancer stem cell activity through several pathways, including a significant decrease in the size and number of tumors per rat, significant amelioration of the oxidative stress markers' alterations and significant inhibition of CD44, VEGF, Ki-67 and MMP-2 expression associated with a significantly increased expression of caspase-3 ... Additionally, the combination of epigallocatechin-3-gallate and paclitaxel significantly enhanced the later anticancer efficacy ... Epigallocatechin-3-gallate could be offered as an unprecedented curative strategy to eradicate cancer" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Vitamin D Status and the Risk of Recurrent Stroke and Mortality in Ischemic Stroke Patients: Data from a 24-Month Follow-Up Study in China - J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(7):766-771 - "Compared with the first quartile of serum 25(OH) D levels, the ORs for stroke recurrence and mortality were as follows: second quartile, 0.80 (95% CI, 0.63-0.93) and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.65-0.89); third quartile, 0.42 (95% CI, 0.31-0.55) and 0.39 (95% CI, 0.30-0.52); fourth quartile, 0.12 (95% CI, 0.07-0.19) and 0.10 (95% CI, 0.06-0.15), respectively" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Dehydroepiandrosterone supplementation in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology with poor ovarian response. A prospective case-control study - J Int Med Res. 2017 Jan 1:300060517720005 - "poor ovarian response (POR) ... DHEA supplementation in women with POR had a positive effect on hormonal profiles, the quality of the endometrium, the number of oocytes retrieved, the quality of embryos, and the pregnancy and live birth rates" - See Pure Encapsulations 7-KETO at Amazon.com.

Urtica thunbergiana prevents UVB-induced premature skin aging by regulating the transcription factor NFATc1: An in vitro and in vivo study - Journal of Functional Foods, September 2017 - "Urtica thunbergiana leaf extract (UT) ... Our data showed that UVB exposure decreased the level of phosphorylated NFATc1. One active component of UT, chlorogenic acid (CGA), regulated NFATc1 dephosphorylation to a similar extent as tacrolimus, a calcineurin inhibitor. Our results suggest that UT and its active component, CGA, have the potential to prevent UVB-induced premature skin aging by regulating NFATc1" - [Nutra USA] - See chlorogenic acid at Amazon.com.

B-vitamin and choline supplementation increases neuroplasticity and recovery after stroke - Neurobiol Dis. 2017 Jul;103:89-100 - "In supplemented diet mice, we report improved motor function after ischemic damage compared to mice fed a control diet after ischemic damage. Within the perilesional cortex, we show enhanced proliferation, neuroplasticity and anti-oxidant activity in mice fed the supplemented diet" - [Nutra USA] - See Citicholine at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Green Tea):