Recent Longevity News for the week ending 8/30/17

Antioxidant/zinc supplement cost saving and effective for degenerative eye disease - Science Daily, 8/23/17 - "A supplement that combines antioxidants with zinc and copper is a relatively inexpensive and effective means of halting the progression of a certain type of degenerative eye disease" - Note:  It talks about the same study as the WebMD article below but emphasizes zinc and copper.  My problem with the AREDS 2 formula is that it duplicates a lot of what you may already be taking.  Also, some studies claim that taking zinc can cause a copper deficiency.  See Jarrow Zinc Balance at Amazon.com.

Zinc May Help Against Vision Loss in Seniors - WebMD, 8/23/17 - "AREDS was "greatly cost-effective for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, specifically in people who have active wet, age-related macular degeneration in one eye and dry in the other ... Formula 1 has high doses of vitamins C and E, beta carotene, zinc and copper. Formula 2 has lutein and zeaxanthin instead of beta carotene ... both formulations were cost effective for treating patients with early stage disease, but they were even more cost effective for those with the condition in only one eye ... these patients would need nearly eight fewer injections of anti-VEGF therapies into their eye" - See AREDS 2 at Amazon.com.

Peanut Allergy: Is Oral Immunotherapy With Probiotic a Cure? - Medscape, 8/24/17 - "Four years after treatment stopped, 70% of patients who were desensitized via 18 months of treatment with combined probiotic and peanut oral immunotherapy (PPOIT) in a randomized controlled trial remain unresponsive to peanut protein despite no intervening therapy" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Lithium in Drinking Water May Lower Dementia Risk - Medscape, 8/23/17 - "Animal studies have shown that lithium improves learning and memory, and observational studies suggest lithium may reduce the risk for dementia in patients with bipolar disorder ... In addition, a randomized placebo-controlled trial showed that daily treatment with subtherapeutic doses (150 to 600 mg) of lithium has stabilizing effects in adults with mild cognitive impairment, while a separate controlled trial showed that a microdose (300 µg/d) of lithium stabilized cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease ... The hypothesis that a low lithium concentration in drinking water may protect against dementia is "mechanistically plausible" as lithium effects many biological pathways linked to neuroprogressive and neurodegenerative disorders" - See lithium supplements at Amazon.com.

• Fountain of youth from the tap? Environmental lithium uptake promotes longevity, scientists demonstrate in worms - Science Daily, 2/18/11 - "A regular uptake of the trace element lithium can considerably promote longevity ... even a low concentration of lithium leads to an increased life expectancy in humans as well as in a model organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans ... the Jena scientists analyzed the mortality rate in 18 adjacent Japanese municipalities in relation to the amount of lithium contained in tap water from the respective regions. "We found that the mortality rate was considerably lower in those municipalities with more lithium in the drinking water," Ristow explains the key finding. In a second experiment, the Jena scientists examined exactly this range of concentration in the model organism C. elegans. The result was confirmed: "The average longevity of the worms is higher after they have been treated with lithium at this dosage," ... we know already that a higher uptake of lithium through drinking water is associated with an improvement of psychological well-being and with decreased suicide rates"

Vitamin C regulates stem cell function, curbs leukemia development, scientists discover - Science Daily, 8/21/17 - "These findings have implications for older patients with a common precancerous condition known as clonal hematopoiesis. This condition puts patients at a higher risk of developing leukemia and other diseases, but it is not well understood why certain patients with the condition develop leukemia and others do not ... Our results suggest patients with clonal hematopoiesis and a Tet2 mutation should be particularly careful to get 100 percent of their daily vitamin C requirement ... Because these patients only have one good copy of Tet2 left, they need to maximize the residual Tet2 tumor-suppressor activity to protect themselves from cancer" - See American Health Products - Ester C W/Citrus Bioflavonoids, 1000 mg, 180 veg tablets at Amazon.com.

Yoga and meditation improve mind-body health and stress resilience - Science Daily, 8/22/17 - "participation in the retreat was associated with decreases in both self-reported anxiety and depression as well as increases in mindfulness. The research team observed increases in the plasma levels of BDNF, a neuromodulator that plays an important role in learning, memory and the regulation of complex processes such as inflammation, immunity, mood regulation, stress response and metabolism. They also observed increases in the magnitude of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) which is part of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA), suggesting improved stress resilience. Moreover, there was a decrease in inflammatory processes caused by an increase of the anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-10 and a reduction of the pro-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-12 after the retreat. "It is likely that at least some of the significant improvements in both HPA axis functioning as exemplified by the CAR as well as neuroimmunologic functioning as exemplified by increases in BDNF levels and alterations in cytokines were due to the intensive meditation practice involved in this retreat," says corresponding author Dr Baruch Rael Cahn (University of Southern California, USA)"

Serotonin Loss May Drive Cognitive Decline - Medscape, 8/22/17 - "In comparison with control participants, for patients with MCI, levels of serotonin transporters were lower in cortical and limbic areas that are typically affected by pathologic processes in AD. Levels were also lower in sensory and motor areas, the striatum, and the thalamus, which are relatively spared in AD" - Note:  So does that mean taking 5-HTP might help prevent Alzheimer's?  I don't think they know.

Abstracts from this week:

Supplementing Breakfast with a Vitamin D and Leucine-Enriched Whey Protein Medical Nutrition Drink Enhances Postprandial Muscle Protein Synthesis and Muscle Mass in Healthy Older Men - J Nutr. 2017 Aug 23 - "Supplementing breakfast with a vitamin D and leucine-enriched whey protein medical nutrition drink stimulated postprandial muscle protein synthesis and increased muscle mass after 6 wk of intervention in healthy older adults and may therefore be a way to support muscle preservation in older people" - [Nutra USA] - See leucine products at Amazon.com.

Resveratrol as a Natural Autophagy Regulator for Prevention and Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease - Nutrients. 2017 Aug 24;9(9) - "Although several underlying mechanisms for explaining the pathogenesis of AD are elucidated, the effective supplements or drugs for the intervention of AD are still limited. Recently, impaired autophagy associated with miRNA dysfunction has been reported to involve in aging and aging-related neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, the activation of autophagy through effectively regulating miRNAs may become a potential target for the prevention or treatment of AD. Mounting evidence from in vitro and in vivo AD models has demonstrated that resveratrol, one of polyphenolic compounds, can exert neuroprotective role in neurodegenerative diseases especially AD" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Ginseng Extract G115 Attenuates Ethanol-Induced Depression in Mice by Increasing Brain BDNF Levels - Nutrients. 2017 Aug 24;9(9) - "The decrease of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been reported in alcohol use disorder and major depression. The effective treatment of these comorbid diseases remains undiscovered ... Ginseng extract G115, the standardized extract of Panax ginseng, is a widely-used nutraceutical that is beneficial for various central nervous system disorders ... The results demonstrated that the increase of immobility time in depressant mice induced by ethanol was reversed by both G115 and amitriptyline treatment. A significant increase of BDNF levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex was observed in ethanol-treated mice receiving G115. Taken together, this study provides scientific information on the use of G115 as an antidepressant that could be further used as a dietary supplement in comorbid alcohol use and major depressive disorders" - See Panax ginseng at Amazon.com.

n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Promising Nutrients for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease - J Atheroscler Thromb. 2017 Aug 24 - "Taken together, n-3 PUFAs are comprehensively able to attenuate the atherogenic response. Therefore, n-3 PUFA intake is recommended to prevent cardiovascular events, particularly in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Coffee consumption after myocardial infarction and risk of cardiovascular mortality: a prospective analysis in the Alpha Omega Cohort - Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Aug 23 - "median follow-up of 7.1 y ... Coffee consumption was inversely associated with CVD mortality, with HRs of 0.69 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.89) for >2-4 cups/d and 0.72 (0.55, 0.95) for >4 cups/d, compared with 0-2 cups/d. Corresponding HRs were 0.77 (95% CI: 0.57, 1.05) and 0.68 (95% CI: 0.48, 0.95) for IHD mortality and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.71, 1.00) and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.98) for all-cause mortality, respectively. Similar associations were found for decaffeinated coffee and for coffee with additives"

Vasectomy and Risk of Prostate Cancer in a Screening Trial - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2017 Aug 22 - "The positive association between vasectomy and prostate cancer is likely related to increased detection of prostate cancer based on patterns of care rather than a biological effect of vasectomy on prostate cancer development"

Protective effects of astaxanthin on skin deterioration - J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2017 Jul;61(1):33-39 - "Participants were orally administered either a 6 mg or 12 mg dose of astaxanthin or a placebo. Wrinkle parameters and skin moisture content significantly worsened in the placebo group after 16 weeks. However, significant changes did not occur in the astaxanthin groups. Interleukin-1α levels in the stratum corneum significantly increased in the placebo and low-dose groups but not in the high-dose group between weeks 0 and 16. This study was performed in Japan from August to December, when changing environmental factors, such as UV and dryness, exacerbate skin deterioration" - [Nutra USA] - See astaxanthin at Amazon.com.  Note:  You'd have to eat 20 serving per day of wild pink salmon to get 12 mg of astaxanthin (click here).

Health Focus (Acetyl-L-Carnitine):