Recent Longevity News for the week ending 12/12/18

Vitamin D Deficiency and Supplementation in Critical Illness - Medscape, 12/10/18 - "In cancer patients, the greatest benefit has been seen when patients with levels < 50 nmol/L are randomised to receive supplementation. However, there also appears to be benefit in increasing levels from 75 to 100 nmol/L.[64–66] ... As an example,[66] cancer incidence was lower in women supplemented with calcium and vitamin D compared to placebo control subjects (P < 0.03). With the use of logistic regression, the unadjusted relative risks (RR) of cancer incidence in the Calcium + D and Calcium-only groups were 0.402 (p = 0.01) and 0.532 (P = 0.06), respectively" - See vitamin D conversion (ng/nl vs. nmol/l) and vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Serum Testosterone and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in men and Women in the US - Medscape, 12/10/18 - "In this nationally representative sample of adults in the US, low total testosterone levels were associated with suspected non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in men and post-menopausal women independent of known risk factors"

Study links vitamin D-deficient older adults with greater risk of developing depression - Science Daily, 12/5/18 - "Study links vitamin D-deficient older adults with greater risk of developing depression ... the findings could be due to the potential direct effect of vitamin D on the brain. Given the structural and functional brain changes seen in late life depression, vitamin D may have a protective effect in attenuating these changes. Similarly, other studies have shown that vitamin D status has also been linked with neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia, Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Too Much Salt Might Help Spur A-Fib - WebMD, 12/7/18 - "Those with the highest levels of salt in their diet had a higher rate of atrial fibrillation than those with the lowest salt intake. After accounting for several other risk factors -- including age, body fat, blood pressure and smoking -- the researchers found that salt consumption was independently associated with the risk of atrial fibrillation"

Link between neonatal vitamin D deficiency and schizophrenia confirmed - Science Daily, 12/6/18 - "newborns with vitamin D deficiency had a 44 per cent increased risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia as adults compared to those with normal vitamin D levels" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Cumulative Antidepressant Use and Risk of Dementia in a Prospective Cohort Study - Medscape, 12/6/18 - "Individual antidepressant classes were not associated with differences in dementia risk, although paroxetine use was associated with higher risk of dementia for all TSDD categories than no use (0–90 TSDDs: hazard ratio (HR)=1.69"

An air fryer offers a healthier way to cook foods kids will love - Washington Post, 12/6/18 - "The air fryer makes the crispiest vegetables in half the time of roasting, turns traditionally unhealthful foods into healthful ones (think chicken wings or General Tso's chicken), reheats leftovers more efficiently than an oven and more tastily than a microwave, and perfects snack foods such as kale chips and crispy chickpeas ... You can cook traditionally fried foods with radically less oil; imagine french fries and wings without splattered grease and unhealthful trans fats. You can make almost anything in an air fryer that you would normally cook in an oven; many of the new models have settings to roast, bake and grill, too" - See air fryers at Amazon.com.

Are Eggs Healthy? Here’s What Experts Say - Time, 12/5/18 - "According to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, dietary cholesterol is no longer a nutrient of concern when it comes to raising a person’s blood cholesterol. “Risk factors that are more likely related to heart disease risk include genetics, lack of exercise and lifestyle choices like smoking and alcohol consumption,” Zeitlin says ... In fact, recent research found that people who ate about one egg a day had lower rates of heart disease and stroke, possibly because of eggs’ high levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, which can help fight fat buildup in blood vessels. Another study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also found that eating one egg a day wasn’t a problem for people who were at greater risk for heart and cholesterol problems."

Sex-specific effects of DHEA on bone mineral density and body composition - Science Daily, 12/4/18 - "Combining DHEA therapy with resistance exercise that imparts mechanical strain to bone may promote greater increases in muscle mass and BMD compared to either intervention alone," stated Jankowski. "The beneficial effects of DHEA replacement on body composition are to modestly increase fat-free mass in women and decrease fat mass in older men, a reversal of the usual age-related trends in muscle and fat." - See Pure Encapsulations 7-keto at Amazon.com.

More Fruits and Veggies in Midlife May Preserve Cognition - Medscape, 11/30/18 - "midlife dietary patterns predicted the risk of subjective cognitive complaints 18 to 22 years later"

Curry spice boosts exercise performance in mice with heart failure - Science Daily, 11/29/18 - "curcumin, a main ingredient in curry, may improve exercise intolerance related to heart failure ... the compound may prevent or limit muscle wasting associated with a number of health conditions, including heart failure ... One group of mice with heart failure received daily doses of curcumin for 12 weeks, and another group did not receive treatment ... expression of Nrf2 increased and levels of antioxidant enzymes improved in the animals with heart failure that were given curcumin. In addition, both groups that received curcumin -- even the animals without heart failure -- had improved exercise capacity when compared with the untreated groups"- See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Power Foods for the Brain | Neal Barnard | TEDxBismarck - 17 minute video. To prevent dementia, lay off the meat, butter, cheese, bacon, etc. Eat blueberries and grapes. Mixed vitamin E is good. I disagree with him on iron and copper. My iron has been low my entire life along with every other mineral checked. I haven’t specifically had copper checked but I doubt if that’s any different. Maybe I sweat it off exercising every day. I’m hoping the anti-oxidants I take counter the free radicals of the iron and copper.

What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's | Lisa Genova - 14 minute YouTube video.  Good info.  If you want to ward off dementia, keep learning news things so you keep building new synapses.

Cancer treatments may affect cognitive function by accelerating biological aging - Science Daily, 11/26/18 - "Treatments for breast cancer increase patients' risks for long-term and late toxicities, including persistent fatigue, pain, and cognitive dysfunction. Certain treatments, including radiation and some chemotherapeutic drugs, work by damaging the DNA of cancer cells, but they can also cause damage to DNA of normal cells, which can contribute to accelerated biological aging"

Abstracts from this week:

Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Oct 23 - "Impairment of the function of longevity proteins results in an insidious acceleration of the risk of diseases associated with aging. I also propose that nutrients required for the function of longevity proteins constitute a class of vitamins that are here named "longevity vitamins." I suggest that many such nutrients play a dual role for both survival and longevity. The evidence for classifying taurine as a conditional vitamin, and the following 10 compounds as putative longevity vitamins, is reviewed: the fungal antioxidant ergothioneine; the bacterial metabolites pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and queuine; and the plant antioxidant carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, α- and β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and the marine carotenoid astaxanthin. Because nutrient deficiencies are highly prevalent in the United States (and elsewhere), appropriate supplementation and/or an improved diet could reduce much of the consequent risk of chronic disease and premature aging" - [Nutra USA]

Fish Oil and Perioperative Bleeding - Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2018;11:e004584 - "Fish oil supplementation did not increase perioperative bleeding and reduced the number of blood transfusions. Higher achieved n-3-PUFA levels were associated with lower risk of bleeding. These novel findings support the need for reconsideration of current recommendations to stop fish oil or delay procedures before cardiac surgery" - [Nutra USA]

A Test of Dietary Monosodium Glutamate Developmental Neurotoxicity in Rats: A Reappraisal - Ann Nutr Metab. 2018;73 Suppl 5:36-42 - "In 1979, we tested dietary monosodium glutamate (MSG) for developmental neurotoxicity in rats. The study was recently cited for establishing a No Observable Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) for MSG as a food additive resulting in a change in the acceptable daily intake (ADI) ... Thus, it can be concluded, as was done in 1979 and by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who sponsored the study, that there is no evidence in these data that dietary MSG is developmentally neurotoxic, hence, the study provides no basis for the establishment of a NOAEL and changing the ADI for dietary MSG" - See monosodium glutamate (MSG) at Amazon.com.

The intestinal microbiome and its relevance for functionality in older persons - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2019 Jan;22 - "The intestinal microbiome composition represents a possible determinant of functional performance in older people, and a promising target for antiaging therapeutic interventions"

Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate and sarcopenia: from biological plausibility to clinical evidence - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2019 Jan;22(1):37-43 - "the consumption of protein sources enhanced with this essential amino acid, or its metabolite beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB), is assumed to give the greatest benefit in terms of maintenance of muscle mass and function during aging ... It is proposed that HMB may be utilized to protect or rebuild muscle mass in older people with reduced lean body mass" - See metabolite beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) at Amazon.com.

Higher dietary magnesium intake is associated with lower body mass index, waist circumference and serum glucose in Mexican adults - Nutr J. 2018 Dec 5 - "The results suggest that magnesium intake is associated with lower BMI, WC and serum glucose in Mexican population" - See magnesium supplements at Amazon.com.

Proton pump inhibitors use and risk of chronic kidney disease in diabetic patients - Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2018 Nov 27 - "DDD (defined daily dose) ... Proton pump inhibitors use is associated with 1.52-fold increased risk of chronic kidney disease in diabetic patients when the dosage is over 180 DDD in one year in Taiwan"

Resveratrol supplementation significantly influences obesity measures: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - Obes Rev. 2018 Dec 5 - "This study aimed to summarize earlier randomized controlled trials on the effects of resveratrol supplementation on body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and fat mass (FM) ... Taken together, the data suggest that resveratrol supplementation has beneficial effects to reduce BW, BMI and WC, but not FM" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Unsaturated Fatty Acid Intakes During Midlife Are Positively Associated with Later Cognitive Function in Older Adults with Modulating Effects of Antioxidant Supplementation - J Nutr. 2018 Dec 1 - "Whereas higher total MUFA and n-6 PUFA intakes may be generally beneficial for maintaining cognitive health during aging, a higher consumption of n-3 fatty acids may only be beneficial among individuals with an adequate antioxidant status. These findings underline the importance of not only focusing on specific nutrients for dementia prevention, but also considering the complex interaction between consumed nutrients"

Gut microbiota in common elderly diseases affecting activities of daily living - World J Gastroenterol. 2018 Nov 14 - "Gut microbiota are involved in the development or prevention of various diseases such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, and malignancy such as colorectal cancer, breast cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, atherosclerotic stroke and cardiovascular disease are major diseases associated with decreased activities of daily living (ADL), especially in elderly people. Recent analyses have revealed the importance of gut microbiota in the control of these diseases. The composition or diversity of these microbiota is different between patients with these conditions and healthy controls, and administration of probiotics or prebiotics has been shown effective in the treatment of these diseases. Gut microbiota may affect distant organs through mechanisms that include regulating the absorption of nutrients and/or the production of microbial metabolites, regulating and interacting with the systemic immune system, and translocating bacteria/bacterial products through disrupted mucosal barriers. Thus, the gut microbiota may be important regulators in the development of diseases that affect ADL" - [Nutra USA] - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Association between serum vitamin D levels and cardiorespiratory fitness in the adult population of the USA - Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2018 Oct 30 - "In unadjusted and adjusted linear regression, each 10 nmol/L increase in vitamin D level was associated with a significant increase in VO2 max" - [Nutra USA] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Rhodiola rosea):