Recent Longevity News for the week ending 5/2/18

Melatonin for Migraine Headache Prophylaxis - Medscape, 4/30/18 - "Overall, the evidence supporting melatonin for migraine prevention is promising but still preliminary. Nonetheless, given the favorable tolerability and low risk for side effects, melatonin is an option that may be worth considering for reducing migraine frequency, severity, and duration in patients with frequent migraine headaches" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.

Higher aerobic fitness levels are associated with better word production skills in healthy older adults - Science Daily, 4/30/18 - "In our study, the higher the older adults' aerobic fitness level, the lower the probability of experiencing a tip-of-the-tongue state ... Importantly, our results also showed that the relationship between the frequency of tip-of-the-tongue occurrences and aerobic fitness levels exists over and above the influence of a person's age and vocabulary size"

Vitamin B6 helps people recall their dreams - Science Daily, 4/27/18 - "Lucid dreaming, where you know that you are dreaming while the dream is still happening, has many potential benefits. For example, it may be possible to use lucid dreaming for overcoming nightmares, treating phobias, creative problem solving, refining motor skills and even helping with rehabilitation from physical trauma ... In order to have lucid dreams it is very important to first be able to recall dreams on a regular basis. This study suggests that vitamin B6 may be one way to help people have lucid dreams" - See vitamin B-6 at Amazon.com.

Probiotics useful in the fight against Clostridium difficile infection - Science Daily, 4/26/18 - "probiotics reduced the odds of CDI by about two-thirds in both their non-adjusted and adjusted models (adjusting for age, sex, hospitalization status, use of multiple antibiotics, and exposure to high-risk antibiotics). Additionally, they found that compared to no probiotics, multi-species probiotics were more beneficial than single-species probiotics" - See Probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Is Alkaline Water Really Better for You? - NYT, 4/27/18 - "Blood is tightly regulated at around pH 7.4, while the stomach, which secretes hydrochloric acid to digest proteins and kill food-borne pathogens, is very acidic, with a pH of 1.5 to 3.5. If you drink water that is slightly alkaline, Dr. Fenton said, the hydrochloric acid in the stomach quickly neutralizes it before it’s absorbed into the blood"

• Treating Reflux With Diet - NYT, 9/7/17 - "85 patients with an average age of 60 treated with the P.P.I.s Nexium and Dexilant, and 99 treated with alkaline water and the Mediterranean diet, a regimen low in meat and dairy, and rich in olive oil, fish, beans, fruits and vegetables ... In the P.P.I. group, 54 percent achieved a clinically significant six-point reduction on the index, compared with 63 percent for the diet cohort"

Drinking water may help exercising seniors stay mentally sharp - Science Daily, 4/23/18 - "The normal hydration group showed noticeable improvement in the completion time of the trail-making test after cycling when compared to their pre-cycling test. The dehydration group also completed their post-cycling test more quickly, but the time reduction was not significant. "This suggests that older adults should adopt adequate drinking behaviors to reduce cognitive fatigue and potentially enhance the cognitive benefits of regular exercise participation," the researchers wrote"

Growing evidence that probiotics are good for your liver - Science Daily, 4/23/18 - "Saeedi and his colleagues focused their study on the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (known as LGG), a species common in many over-the-counter probiotic formulations. They gave mice food laced with LGG for two weeks and then examined how they responded to a high dose of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol®) ... mice receiving the probiotic treatment suffered less liver damage when presented with an overdose of acetaminophen compared with mice that did not receive probiotics ... Administration of the probiotic LGG to mice improves the antioxidant response of the liver, protecting it from oxidative damage produced by drugs such as acetaminophen ... Other studies in mice have previously shown that LGG can protect against alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Ibuprofen, acetaminophen more effective than opioids in treating dental pain - Science Daily, 4/17/18 - "The research found that, for adults, a combination of 400 milligrams of ibuprofen and 1,000 milligrams of acetaminophen was superior to any opioid-containing medications studied"

Experts challenge claims about medical marijuana's impact on teen recreational use and opioid deaths - Science Daily, 2/22/18 - "several recent studies have shown that chronic pain patients who use cannabis do not use lower doses of opioids"

Low total testosterone in men widespread, linked to chronic disease - Science Daily, 4/19/18 - "The researchers studied the prevalence of multimorbidity, or when two or more of the chronic conditions were present, among three age groups (young, middle-aged and older men) with and without testosterone deficiency. They found that low total testosterone was associated with multimorbidity in all age groups -- but it was more prevalent among young and older men with testosterone deficiency ... "We also found a large dose-response relationship between the age-specific low total testosterone and moderate total testosterone levels and multimorbidity, even after adjusting for obesity and muscle strength capacity," Peterson says. "Which means that men should be concerned about declining total testosterone, even if it has not reached a level to warrant a clinical diagnosis (<300 ng/dL [10.4 nmol/L]).""

Novel antioxidant makes old blood vessels seem young again - Science Daily, 4/19/18 - "Half took 20 milligrams per day of a supplement called MitoQ, made by chemically altering the naturally-occurring antioxidant Coenzyme Q10 to make it cling to mitochondria inside cells ... The other half took a placebo ... The researchers found that when taking the supplement, dilation of subjects' arteries improved by 42 percent, making their blood vessels, at least by that measure, look like those of someone 15 to 20 years younger. An improvement of that magnitude, if sustained, is associated with about a 13 percent reduction in heart disease, Rossman said. The study also showed that the improvement in dilation was due to a reduction in oxidative stress" - See MitoQ at Amazon.com.

Dementia diagnosis linked to unnecessary medication use - Science Daily, 4/19/18 - "medication use increases in newly diagnosed dementia patients, particularly unnecessary or inappropriate medications ... Potentially inappropriate or unnecessary medications included sleeping tablets, pain drugs, depression drugs and acid reflux drugs (proton pump inhibitors)"

Opioid Prescriptions See Largest Annual Drop in 25 Years - Medscape, 4/19/18 - "Factors driving the decline in opioid prescriptions include major clinical guideline shifts and payer reimbursement controls as well as regulatory and legislative restrictions" - Note:  Marijuana advocates keep pointing out that as pot is legalized, opioid prescriptions have been going down implying that the reason is that pot decreases the need for opioids. That's not the reason. People don't think again!!!!

BP Meds Tied to Pancreatic Cancer Risk in Women - Medscape, 4/18/18 - "those who had ever taken a short-acting calcium channel blocker (CCB) saw their pancreatic cancer risk shoot up by 66 percent ... short-acting CCBs are "the least effective" blood pressure drug available"

Smoke and Mirrors: Is Marijuana Actually Medicinal? - Medscape, 4/18/18 - "Cannabis' efficacy in treating cancer-related symptoms, chronic pain, and MS should alleviate concerns that clinicians were used simply as unwitting pawns in the campaign for legalization. Conversely, the string of indications where medical cannabis, at best, failed to show a benefit and, at worst, was associated with significant morbidity should serve as a counterpoint to the rose-colored outlook put forth by some of its more optimistic advocates"

Why spot reduction doesn’t work - Washington Post, 4/17/18 - "Genetics is the most important determinant for where fat is stored ... The best way to achieve 15 percent body fat? “Total body movements, high-intensity drills, adequate rest and a boring diet,”"

Abstracts from this week:

Effects of β-alanine supplementation during a 5-week strength training program: a randomized, controlled study - Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 25 April 2018 - "β-Alanine supplementation was effective at increasing power output when lifting loads equivalent to the individual’s maximal strength or when working at maximum power output" - [Nutra USA] - See beta-alanine at Amazon.com.

• β-Alanine Supplementation Improved Workload Capacity and Cognitive Function of Middle Age Individuals - FASEB Journal, Mar 2016 - "Sarcopenia, the age induced wasting of skeletal muscle, has been seen to be tightly associated with significantly decreased systemic carnosine stores. β-alanine supplementation has previously been shown to increase systemic carnosine concentrations in young adults. Increasing systemic carnosine may result in enhanced antioxidant and pH buffering capabilities within its main storage sites of skeletal muscle and brain tissue. This enhancement may result in improved submaximal endurance exercise capacity and in the prevention of exercise associated cognitive decline ... Before supplementation, average time-to-exhaustion (TTE) for the β-alanine group and Placebo group was 17.3±10.2 and 22.9±10.2 minutes, respectively. After supplementation, all subjects increased their TTE; with β-alanine supplemented subjects cycling significantly longer than those on Placebo (7.9±1.4 vs 0.9±2.5 minutes, respectively, P<0.01). Placebo subjects were 8.9±2.0 seconds slower in completing the Stroop Test at T4 compared to T3 (P=0.04), while the β-alanine group (1.9±2.0 seconds, P=0.8) was not slower at this time point" - [Nutra USA]
• β-alanine Efficacy for Sports Performance Improvement: From Science to Practice - Medscape, 5/17/17 - "β-alanine is a popular supplement among athletes with 61% of competitive team sport players recently surveyed reporting β-alanine use ... A ceiling on the supplement dosage amount stems from reported paraesthesia experienced in some individuals although slow release formulations are available that appear to alleviate this effect. Doses of 4–6 g/day, spread evenly over doses of 800 mg, for 4 weeks have elevated muscle carnosine levels by 64%[5] and extending the supplementation to 10 weeks has been shown to increase muscle carnosine by 80%"
• Beta-Alanine Boosts Performance in Female Masters Athletes - Medscape, 6/16/15 - "Beta-alanine, a nonessential amino acid, appears to function as a precursor to carnosine in muscle tissue. Carnosine buffers hydrogen ions, making muscle tissue less acidic and delaying fatigue ... randomly assigned 11 female masters cyclists to beta-alanine 800 mg and 11 to placebo four times a day for 28 days"

Quercetin conjugated with silica nanoparticles inhibits tumor growth in MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Apr 23 - "Quercetin is a plant polyphenol from the flavonoid group that plays a fundamental role in controlling homeostasis due to its potent antioxidant properties. However, quercetin has extremely low water solubility, which is a major challenge in drug absorption ... we described a simple method for the synthesis of quercetin nanoparticles. The quercetin nanoparticles had an average diameter of 82 nm and prominent yellow emission under UV irradiation ... Quercetin nanoparticles can inhibit cell growth by blocking the cell cycle and promoting apoptosis in MCF-7 cells more than quercetin. As a result, quercetin nanoparticles may be useful therapy or prevention on breast cancer" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Se-Methylselenocysteine Ameliorates Neuropathology and Cognitive Deficits by Attenuating Oxidative Stress and Metal Dyshomeostasis in Alzheimer Model Mice - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2018 Apr 24:e1800107 - "Se-methylselenocysteine (SMC) is a major selenocompound in selenium (Se) enriched plants such as garlic and broccoli florets. Se is vital for proper brain function, and Se-deficient is considered to be related with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease (AD) ... These results reveal that SMC is powerful in ameliorating AD-related neuropathology and cognitive deficits via modulating oxidative stress, metal homeostasis and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation" - See Se-methylselenocysteine at Amazon.com.

The effects of astaxanthin and docosahexaenoic acid-acylated astaxanthin on Alzheimer's disease in APP/PS1 double transgenic mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2018 Apr 25 - "The results of radial 8-arm maze and Morris water maze tests showed that AST-DHA exerted more significant effects than AST in enhancing learning and memory levels of APP/PS1 mice. Further mechanical studies suggested that AST-DHA was superior to AST in regulating the parameters of oxidative stress, reducing Tau hyper-phosphorylation, suppressing neuro-inflammation and regulating inflammasome expression and activation in APP/PS1 mice. The findings suggested AST-DHA attenuated cognitive disorders by reducing pathological features in APP/PS1 mice, suggesting AST-DHA might be a potential therapeutic agent for Alzheimer's disease" - See astaxanthin at Amazon.com and docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

The Effects of Beta-Hydroxy-Beta-Methylbutyrate Supplementation on Recovery Following Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - J Am Coll Nutr. 2018 Apr 20:1-10 - "The current evidence revealed a time-dependent effect of HMB in reducing LDH and CK serum levels among adults. HMB, therefore, may be seen as a priority muscle damage recovery agent in interventions" - See beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate at Amazon.com.

Maternal DHA Status during Pregnancy Has a Positive Impact on Infant Problem Solving: A Norwegian Prospective Observation Study - Nutrients. 2018 Apr 24;10(5) - "DHA status at three months was associated with the infants&rsquo; problem solving at 12 months. The results accentuate the importance for pregnant and lactating women to have a satisfactory DHA status from dietary intake of seafood or other sources rich in DHA" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

Improvement of penile neurogenic and endothelial relaxant responses by chronic administration of resveratrol in rabbits exposed to unpredictable chronic mild stress - Int J Impot Res. 2018 Jan 30 - "Chronic stress is an important public health problem known as a risk factor for depression, cognitive deficits, and also erectile dysfunction (ED). Resveratrol, a plant polyphenol, was reported to activate constitutive endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) ... Both the electrical field stimulation (EFS)-induced neurogenic and carbachol-induced endothelium-dependent relaxant responses significantly decreased in physiological stress and resveratrol treatment exhibited a marked improvement in these relaxation responses in vitro. Our results indicated that chronic psychological stress could lead to ED by reducing neurogenic and endothelium-dependent relaxations and resveratrol prevents impairment of the functional responses, suggesting a potential new treatment approach for treatment of ED during psychological stress" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Brain pathology is related to total daily physical activity in older adults - Neurology. 2018 Apr 25 - "Macroinfarcts, nigral neuronal loss, and white matter pathologies are related to total daily physical activity in older adults, but further studies are needed to explain its pathologic basis more fully"

L-Ascorbic Acid and α-Tocopherol Reduces Hepatotoxicity Associated with Arsenic Trioxide Chemotherapy by Modulating Nrf2 and Bcl2 Transcription Factors in Chang liver Cells - Nutr Cancer. 2018 Apr 26:1-13 - "Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) is a promising new regimen for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The induction of oxidative stress mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and excessive intracellular calcium influx are the main reasons behind As2O3 toxicity ... Cotreatment of antioxidant vitamins with As2O3 resulted in a significant reversal of oxidative stress markers. Our findings substantiate the effect of antioxidant vitamins in protecting the hepatocytes from oxidative stress which may be attributed through Nrf2 (Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) mediated upregulation of Bcl2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) expression" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com and vitamin E products at Amazon.com.

Effect of Eicosapentaenoic Acid on Body Composition and Inflammation Markers in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer from a Public Hospital in Mexico - Nutr Cancer. 2018 Apr 26:1-8 - "Supplementing with 2 g/day of EPA to head and neck cancer patient during antineoplastic treatment regulates serum pro-inflammatory cytokines, body weight, lean body mass, and improve quality of life" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Protective effects of astaxanthin on a combination of D-‍galactose and jet lag-induced aging model in mice - Endocr J. 2018 Mar 10 - "Oxidative stress caused free radical and mitochondrial damage plays a critical role in the progression of aging and age-related damage at the cellular and tissue levels. Antioxidant supplementation has received growing attention and the effects of antioxidant on aging are increasingly assessed in both animal and human studies. However, additional and more promising treatments that contribute to the expansion of anti-aging therapies are needed. Astaxanthin, a super antioxidant carotenoid and free radical scavenger, inhibits lipid peroxidation more potently than vitamin E ... After 6 weeks of treatment, astaxanthin administration tended to protect the liver weight loss in aged mice. It is probably by upregulating the mRNA expression of galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase, which contribute to the enhancement of D-galactose metabolism. Astaxanthin supplementation also improved muscle endurance of aged mice in a swimming test. These results were associated with reduced oxidative stress in serum and increased anti-oxidative enzymes activities and mRNA expression in vivo. Moreover, astaxanthin reversed the dysregulation of aging-related gene expression caused by the combination of D-galactose and jet lag in the liver and kidney of mice" - [Nutra USA] - See astaxanthin at Amazon.com.

Protein supplementation enhances cerebral oxygenation during exercise in elite basketball players - Nutrition. 2018 Feb 5;53:34-37 - "supplements with different whey protein contents ... resulted in a 16% longer cycling time (from 474 ± 49 s to 553 ± 78 s, P < 0.05), compared with the low-protein trial" - [Nutra USA] - See whey protein at Amazon.com.

Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis on gingival health, dental plaque, and periodontopathogens in adolescents: a randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial - Benef Microbes. 2018 Apr 10:1-10 - "Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12 ... Both groups received two probiotic-laced or placebo lozenges twice a day during a four-week period ... Probiotic lozenges significantly reduced levels of A. actinomycetemcomitans and F. nucleatum in saliva and plaque (P<0.05) and levels of P. gingivalis in plaque (P<0.05), while no significant changes were found in the control group. A significant reduction (P<0.001) was also noted in the total salivary bacterial counts of the test group. The short-term daily consumption of LGG and BB-12 probiotic lozenges improved the gingival health in adolescents and decreased the microbial counts of A. actinomycetemcomitans, and P. gingivalis. Hence probiotic supplements may serve as a simple adjunct to standard oral care for promoting the oral health in adolescents" - [Nutra USA] - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

Force of Nature cleaner and deodorizer - The sprayer (https://amzn.to/2HhCe0Z) gets 4.2 stars on Amazon. The capsules (https://amzn.to/2K68Bxh) get 4.7 stars. I bought one to give it a try. Here's why:

• Women who clean at home or work face increased lung function decline - Science Daily, 2/16/18 - "The study found that compared to women not engaged in cleaning: Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), or the amount of air a person can forcibly exhale in one second, declined 3.6 milliliters (ml)/year faster in women who cleaned at home and 3.9 ml/year faster in women who worked as cleaners ... Forced vital capacity (FVC), or the total amount of air a person can forcibly exhale, declined 4.3 ml/year faster in women who cleaned at home and 7.1 ml/year faster in women who worked as cleaners ... The authors found that the accelerated lung function decline in the women working as cleaners was "comparable to smoking somewhat less than 20 pack- years.""
• 50 Best New Cleaning Products - Family Circle - See #4.

Health Focus (Impotence):