Recent Longevity News for the week ending 5/15/19

A High Serum Cortisol/DHEA-S Ratio Is a Risk Factor for Sarcopenia in Elderly Diabetic Patients - Medscape, 5/9/19 - "A relative increase in cortisol may reflect the presence of stress and stimulate muscle catabolism, whereas a relative decrease in DHEA-S may cause a decrease in the anabolic action of DHEA on muscle; the combination of these factors may lead to sarcopenia" - See 7-keto DHEA at Amazon.com.

Broccoli sprout compound may restore brain chemistry imbalance linked to schizophrenia - Science Daily, 5/8/19 - "It's possible that future studies could show sulforaphane to be a safe supplement to give people at risk of developing schizophrenia as a way to prevent, delay or blunt the onset of symptoms ... The researchers used MRS again to monitor three brain regions for glutathione levels in the healthy volunteers before and after taking sulforaphane. They found that after seven days, there was about a 30% increase in average glutathione levels in the subjects' brains. For example, in the hippocampus, glutathione levels rose an average of 0.27 millimolar from a baseline of 1.1 millimolar after seven days of taking sulforaphane" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.

New treatment for severe dry eye disease promising in early clinical trials - Science Daily, 5/7/19 - ""In dry eye disease, several things happen," Jain explained. "There is an increase in the number of white blood cells called neutrophils that gather on the surface of the eye. Neutrophils release DNA which forms webs on the cornea called neutrophil extracellular traps, which cause inflammation of the ocular surface and attract additional neutrophils in a vicious cycle." ... Participants were given eye drops containing either DNase or a placebo formulation and instructed to administer one drop of the solution to each eye four times per day for eight weeks ... participants in the DNase group had a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in corneal damage at eight weeks compared with the placebo group. Questionnaire scores related to symptoms also reflected significant improvement among patients in the DNase group compared with placebo, who also had reduced amounts of corneal DNA webs and other material on the surface of the eye. ... DNase is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat cystic fibrosis ... There are currently only two approved drugs to treat dry eye, and they don't work for everyone, especially those with severe disease, so having a new drug that can treat the disease is very important"

Could Common Heart Meds Lower Prostate Cancer Risk? - WebMD, 5/3/19 - "a beta blocker called atenolol cut men's risk of intermediate-grade prostate cancer about in half, compared with men not taking a beta blocker ... It also appeared to significantly reduce the risk of low-grade prostate cancer, the findings showed"

Plant-based Diet Linked to Lower Heart Failure Risk - Medscape, 5/2/19 - "They found that the plant-based diet was associated with a 41% lower risk for incident HF with the highest vs lowest adherence, while the Southern diet was associated with a 71% higher risk for HF with higher vs lower adherence, after adjustment for potential demographic, lifestyle, and medical confounders"

Erectile dysfunction drug 'effective' as heart failure treatment - Science Daily, 5/1/19 - "The study of Tadalafil -- which is in the same class as Viagra -- proves that the drug is biologically effective as a treatment for heart failure in sheep ... When the animals had heart failure -- induced by pace makers -- which was sufficiently advanced to need treatment, the team administered the drug. Within a short period the progressive worsening of the heart failure was stopped and, importantly the drug reversed the effects of heart failure ... And the biological cause of breathlessness in heart failure- the inability of the heart to respond to adrenaline was almost completely reversed"

Abstracts from this week:

Cardiovascular Benefits of Fish-Oil Supplementation Against Fine Particulate Air Pollution in China - J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019 Apr 30;73(16):2076-2085 - "The authors observed beneficial effects of fish-oil supplementation on 5 biomarkers of blood inflammation, coagulation, endothelial function, oxidative stress, and neuroendocrine stress response in the fish-oil group at a false discovery rate of <0.05" - [Nutra USA] - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.

Association the 25(OH) Vitamin D status with upper respiratory tract infections morbidity in water sports elite athletes - J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2019 May 2 - "Study participants included 40 elite athletes and 30 control individuals ... VD insufficiency is quite pronounced among elite athletes engaged in synchronized swimming and swimmers. It is accompanied with a decrease of IFN-γ, increase of TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-6 level, and elevation of URTI morbidity. Seasonal monitoring and correction of the VD level for normalization of cytokine profile and decrease of URTI morbidity is definitely advised" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Use of statin medications following diagnosis in relation to survival among women with ovarian cancer - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2019 May 7 - "Over a mean follow-up of 2.2 years, 796 (36%) women died from ovarian cancer. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for ovarian cancer mortality comparing statin users to non-users was 0.74"

Benefits of Hesperidin for Cutaneous Functions - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 Apr 2;2019:2676307 - "Hesperidin is a bioflavonoid, with high concentration in citrus fruits. In addition to its well-known benefits for cardiovascular function, type II diabetes, and anti-inflammation, recent studies have demonstrated multiple benefits of hesperidin for cutaneous functions, including wound healing, UV protection, anti-inflammation, antimicrobial, antiskin cancer, and skin lightening. In addition, hesperidin enhances epidermal permeability barrier homeostasis in both normal young and aged skin. The mechanisms by which hesperidin benefits cutaneous functions are attributable to its antioxidant properties, inhibition of MAPK-dependent signaling pathways, and stimulation of epidermal proliferation, differentiation, and lipid production. Because of its low cost, wide availability, and superior safety, hesperidin could prove useful for the management of a variety of cutaneous conditions" - See hesperidin at Amazon.com.

Comparative effects of ACE inhibitors and ARBs on response to a physical activity intervention in older adults: results from Lifestyle Interventions for Elders (LIFE) study - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2019 May 9 - "Participants age 70-89 years were randomized to a physical activity (PA) or health education (HE) intervention. Outcomes included incident and persistent major mobility disability (MMD), injurious falls, Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), and gait speed ... Compared to ACEi users, ARB users had 28% lower risk (HR=0.72 [0.60-0.85]) of incident MMD and 35% (HR=0.65 [0.52-0.82]) lower risk of persistent MMD while no interaction between medication use and intervention was observed. Risk of injurious falls and changes in SPPB or gait speed were not different between ARB and ACEi users"

Safety and toxicity of silymarin, the major constituent of milk thistle extract: An updated review - Phytother Res. 2019 May 8 - "It is most commonly known for its hepatoprotective effect. Also, studies have shown other therapeutic effects such as anticancer, anti-Alzheimer, anti-Parkinson, and anti-diabetic, so its safety is very important. It has no major toxicity in animals ... Silymarin is safe in humans at therapeutic doses and is well tolerated even at a high dose of 700 mg three times a day for 24 weeks. Some gastrointestinal discomforts occurred like nausea and diarrhea. One clinical trial showed silymarin is safe in pregnancy, and there were no anomalies. Consequently, caution should be exercised during pregnancy, and more studies are needed especially in humans. Silymarin has low-drug interactions, and it does not have major effects on cytochromes P-450. Some studies demonstrated that the use of silymarin must be with caution when co-administered with narrow therapeutic window drugs" - See silymarin at Amazon.com.

Using trehalose to prevent and treat metabolic function: effectiveness and mechanisms - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2019 Apr 24 - "Trehalose and its analogues are promising cardiometabolic therapeutic agents with pleiotropic effects across tissue types. It is likely that we are only beginning to uncover the broad efficacy and complex mechanisms by which these compounds modulate host metabolism" - See trehalose at Amazon.com.

Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D increases cognitive impairment in elderly people - J Bone Miner Metab. 2019 Mar;37(2):368-37 - "The average subject age was 68.1 years, the average MMSE- J score was 25.9, and the average 25(OH)D level was 24.6 ng/mL. Significant ORs for cognitive impairment were observed for both high age and low serum 25(OH)D. The adjusted OR for the lowest versus highest serum 25(OH)D quartiles was 2.70 (95% confidence interval 1.38-5.28, P = 0.0110). Low serum 25(OH)D levels were independently associated with a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Theaflavin-3, 3'-digallate inhibits ovarian cancer stem cells via suppressing Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathway - J Funct Foods. 2018 Nov;50:1-7 - "Recent evidence indicates that ovarian cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for ovarian cancer recurrence and drug resistance, resulting in the low long-term survival rate of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. We aimed to study the inhibitory effect of theaflavin-3, 3'-digallate (TF3), a black tea polyphenol on ovarian CSCs. Here, we showed that TF3 inhibited the proliferation of A2780/CP70 and OVCAR3 tumorshpere cells by suppressing their cell viability and colony formation capacity. TF3 inhibited the tumorsphere formation capacity of A2780/CP70 and OVCAR3 CSCs in serum-free and non-adherent conditions. TF3 inhibited A2780/CP70 and OVCAR3 CSCs isolated from tumorspheres by decreasing their cell viability and upregulating the protein expression of caspase-3 and -7 in the cells. We also revealed that TF3 inhibited ovarian CSCs through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Our results suggested that TF3 could inhibit ovarian CSCs and might be a potential agent for eradicating ovarian cancer" - See black tea extract at Amazon.com.

Omega-3 intake is associated with attenuated inflammatory response and cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction - Nutr J. 2019 May 6;18(1):29 - "Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3) bear anti-inflammatory effects, which may mitigate the inflammatory response during MI ... The intake of ω-3 below the median (< 1.7 g/day) was associated with a short-term increase in hs-C-reactive protein [OR:1.96(1.24-3.10); p = 0.004], Interleukin-2 [OR:2.46(1.20-5.04); p = 0.014], brain-type natriuretic peptide [OR:2.66(1.30-5.44); p = 0.007], left-ventricle end-diastolic volume [OR:5.12(1.11-23.52)]; p = 0.036] and decreases in left-ventricle ejection fraction [OR:2.86(1.47-6.88); p = 0.017] after adjustment for covariates" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.

An omega-3 fatty acid plasma index ≥4% prevents progression of coronary artery plaque in patients with coronary artery disease on statin treatment - Atherosclerosis. 2019 Apr 13;285:153-162 - "EPA and DHA added to statins prevented coronary plaque progression in nondiabetic subjects with mean LDL-C <80 mg/dL, when an omega-3 index ≥4% was achieved. Low omega-3 index <3.43% identified nondiabetic subjects at risk of coronary plaque progression despite statin therapy. These findings highlight the importance of measuring plasma levels of omega-3 fatty acids early and at trial conclusion. Targeting an omega-3 index ≥4% maximizes cardiovascular benefit" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.

Association between depression and the risk of developing ventricular arrhythmias: A meta-analysis - Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2019 Apr 16 - "Overall, participants with depression, as compared to those who had no depression, experienced a significantly increased risk of developing ventricular arrhythmia (combined HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.02 - 1.73; p = 0.037). In a subgroup analysis, a statistically-significant relation between depression and risk of ventricular arrhythmia was observed in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and in studies with adjustment for confounding factors, with pooled HR at a 95% CI of 1.78 (1.31 - 2.42) and 1.52 (1.11 - 2.08), respectively"

Citrulline stimulates muscle protein synthesis, by reallocating ATP consumption to muscle protein synthesis - J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2019 May 8 - "Animal studies and clinical data support the interest of citrulline as a promising therapeutic for sarcopenia ... Under certain stress conditions, citrulline increases muscle protein synthesis by specifically reallocating mitochondrial fuel to the protein synthesis machinery" - See citrulline at Amazon.com.

Lactobacillus plantarum DR7 alleviates stress and anxiety in adults: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study - Benef Microbes. 2019 Apr 19 - "One hundred and eleven (n=111; DR7 n=56, placebo n=55) stressed adults were recruited based on moderate stress levels using the PSS-10 questionnaire. The consumption of DR7 (1×109 cfu/day) for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of stress (P=0.024), anxiety (P=0.001), and total psychological scores (P=0.022) as early as 8 weeks among stressed adults compared to the placebo group as assessed by the DASS-42 questionnaire. Plasma cortisol level was reduced among DR7 subjects as compared to the placebo, accompanied by reduced plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interferon-γ and transforming growth factor-α and increased plasma anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 10 (P<0.05). DR7 better improved cognitive and memory functions in normal adults (>30 years old), such as basic attention, emotional cognition, and associate learning (P<0.05), as compared to the placebo and young adults (<30 years old). The administration of DR7 enhanced the serotonin pathway, as observed by lowered expressions of plasma dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase accompanied by increased expressions of tryptophan hydroxylase-2 and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor-6, while stabilising the dopamine pathway as observed via stabilised expressions of TH and DBH over 12 weeks as compared to the placebo" - [Nutra USA] - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Effects of phytosomal curcumin on anthropometric parameters, insulin resistance, cortisolemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease indices: a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial - Eur J Nutr. 2019 Feb 22 - "Subjects were randomized to be treated with indistinguishable tablets (2 per day, to be taken after dinner) containing 800 mg phytosomal curcumin (Curserin®: 200 mg curcumin, 120 mg phosphatidylserine, 480 mg phosphatidylcholine and 8 mg piperine from Piper nigrum L. dry extract) for 8 weeks ... After 56-day treatment, the curcumin-treated group experienced a significant improvement in fasting plasma insulin (FPI), HOMA index, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides (TG), HDL-C, liver transaminases, gamma-GT, index of liver steatosis and serum cortisol compared to the baseline. FPI, TG, liver transaminases, fatty liver index and serum cortisol level also significantly improved compared with the placebo-treated group. Compared to the baseline, at the end of the study placebo group experienced an improvement only in FPG and TG ... supplementation with a phytosomal preparation of curcumin containing phosphatidylserine and piperine could improve glycemic factors, hepatic function and serum cortisol levels in subjects with overweight and impaired fasting glucose" - [Nutra USA] - See curcumin products at Amazon.com, phosphatidylserine at Amazon.com, phosphatidylcholine at Amazon.com and piperine extract at Amazon.com.

Fighting against Skin Aging - Cell Transplant. 2018 May; 27(5): 729–73 - "Stem Cell Therapy ... Stem cell transplantation is a promising therapy for the treatment of skin aging. Adipose tissue transplantation could improve skin quality at the recipient site in addition to increasing skin volume75. Further experiments demonstrate that adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) contribute to the regeneration of skin during aging76,77. In recent clinical tests, autologous fat grafting rejuvenates aging skin and enhances the volume of periocular and perioral skin in recipients with an average age of 50 years78,79. Data show that ADSCs produce a series of growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, TGF-β2, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), platelet-derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA), and placental growth factor (PGF)80, reminding us that ADSCs may influence surrounding cutaneous cells through these secretions. It seemed that ADSC may also transdifferentiate into epithelial stem cells that express epithelial stem cell marker p63 after fat grafting81. This work provides clues into the understanding of how fat grafts may rejuvenate overlying skin." - Note: It seems like all these doctors have a Jihad against supplements. They make claims that it doesn’t help or makes things worse. Where are these studies they talk about? There are a few but the overwhelming amount of studies show the opposite (http://qualitycounts.com/fpwrinkles.htm and http://qualitycounts.com/fpskincare.html). It just gets my goat when they accuse others of making claims based on scientific studies when they make the opposite claims without evidence to back it up. I'm betting that most doctors that make the negative claims have their heads buried in medical books on diseases and have spent little or no time reading the studies on supplements.  My wife keeps commenting on how I don’t have any wrinkles and I’ve been taking supplements all my life.

• Physicians and nurses use and recommend dietary supplements: report of a survey - Nutr J. 2009; 8: 29. - "The "Life...supplemented" Healthcare Professionals Impact Study (HCP Impact Study) found that 72% of physicians and 89% of nurses in this sample used dietary supplements regularly, occasionally, or seasonally ... Physicians and nurses are as likely as members of the general public to use dietary supplements, as shown by comparing the results of this survey with data from national health and nutrition surveys. Also, most physicians and nurses recommend supplements to their patients, whether or not the clinicians use dietary supplements themselves."

Neat Tech Stuff / "How 's":

AliveCor’s FDA-cleared 6-lead ECG aims to detect more than the Apple Watch - CNET, 3/13/19 - "The $150 iOS and Android-compatible KardiaMobile 6L is the only consumer-sold six-lead ECG (other portable devices, like AliveCor's nearly identical-looking KardiaMobile, can only record one lead). It can record heart activity on six different leads at once (I, II, II, aVL, aVR and aVF). It can detect atrial fibrillation (AFib), bradycardia (abnormally low heart rate) and tachycardia (abnormally high heart rate), but promises to also detect other arrhythmias that could indicate heart disease ... The little device has three electrodes, and requires thumbs from each hand to make contact, as well as an ankle or knee on the bottom. The completion of all of those contact points allows a 30-second timed reading that can be shared with a doctor afterward." - Note:  I don't see where Amazon has the 6L yet.  Here the one lead one:

Health Focus (BPH/Prostate Cancer):