Recent Longevity News for the two weeks ending 8/7/19

Statins Provide Heart Benefits Past Age 75 - NYT, 8/5/19 - "The retrospective study, published in the European Heart Journal, included 120,173 people who turned 75 while taking statins. None had any heart problems ... Over two years, 5,396 were hospitalized for cardiovascular disease and 17,204 stopped their pills. They stopped for various reasons, most often because they were hospitalized or admitted to a skilled nursing facility during the course of the study ... Compared with those who continued their medication, those who stopped had a 46 percent increased risk for a coronary problem like heart attack or heart failure, and a 26 percent increased risk for stroke."

Study Linking Paleo Diet to Increased Heart Disease Risk Strengthens Diet Industry Concerns - NBC, 8/2/19 - “[Scientists] showed that regardless of the diet they’re on, there’s no difference in blood pressure, systolic or diastolic, with these individuals,” Clayton said. “So right away, that tells me that the diet they’re on isn’t directly impacting their cardiovascular health.”

Long-Term Outcome in Patients With Heart Failure Treated With Levothyroxine - Medscape, 8/2/19 - "Ongoing and incident L-T4 treatment in patients with HF was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, and MACE. Increased risk of MI was observed for ongoing treatment, and reduced risk was observed for incident treatment"

Higher vitamin A intake linked to lower skin cancer risk - Science Daily, 7/31/19 - "People whose diets included high levels of vitamin A had a 17 percent reduction in risk for getting the second-most-common type of skin cancer, as compared to those who ate modest amounts of foods and supplements rich in vitamin A"

The CBD craze is getting out of hand. The FDA needs to act - Washington Post, 7/30/19 - "But many of the compound’s expansive benefits are fanciful, and in fact, the sale of much of the product is illegal under current law ... CBD has risks: It can cause damage to the liver at high doses, and it may have a cumulative effect"

Compound found in red wine opens door for new treatments for depression, anxiety - Science Daily, 7/29/19 - "the plant compound resveratrol, which is found in red wine, displays anti-stress effects by blocking the expression of an enzyme related to the control of stress in the brain ... Resveratrol may be an effective alternative to drugs for treating patients suffering from depression and anxiety disorders ... Corticosterone regulates the body's response to stress. Too much stress, however, can lead to excessive amounts of the hormone circulating in the brain and, ultimately, the development of depression or other mental disorders ... In a study on mice, researchers revealed that PDE4, induced by excessive amounts of corticosterone, causes depression- and anxiety-like behavior ... Resveratrol displayed neuroprotective effects against corticosterone by inhibiting the expression of PDE4" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Aerobic Exercise Performance and Muscle Strength in Statin Users - Medscape, 7/29/19 - "muscle pain (myalgia) ... The response rate for the survey was 51% and data showed a prevalence of statin-associated myalgia in 19% of responders using statins. The experimental study showed no difference between the groups in aerobic capacity (C, 29 ± 1 mL O2·min−1·kg−1; M, 27 ± 1 mL O2·min−1·kg−1; NM, 28 ± 1 mL O2·min−1·kg−1) or maximal fat oxidation (C, 247 ± 26 mg·min−1; M, 295 ± 24 mg·min−1; NM, 279 ± 17 mg·min−1). Measurements of strength were similar in all three groups including rate of force development (C, 795 ± 56 N·m·s−1; M, 930 ± 93 N·m·s−1; NM, 971 ± 57 N·m·s−1) and leg extension power (C: 2.6 ± 0.2; M: 2.3 ± 0.1; NM: 2.4 ± 0.1 W·kg−1)"

Vitamin D supplementation may slow diabetes progression - Science Daily, 7/25/19 - "Although only 46% of study participants were determined to have low vitamin D levels at the start of the study, supplementation with vitamin D significantly improved the action of insulin in muscle tissue of participants after six months" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Warm Bath Can Send You Off to a Sound Slumber - WebMD, 7/25/19 - "It should be warm. Not too hot or cold ... Actually, a too cold or too hot bath can have an effect opposite than that desired, causing an increase, rather than a decrease, in core body temperature, and disturbed sleep"

BPA Replacement Chemical May Not Be Safer for Kids - WebMD, 7/25/19 - "the replacement chemicals are structurally similar to BPA -- as implied by names like bisphenol S and bisphenol F, two of the most common BPA substitutes ... People may assume that a "BPA-free" label means a product is safe, Sargis noted, when, in fact, it often contains less-studied bisphenols"

Does an ARB a Day Keep Dementia at Bay? - Medscape, 7/26/19 - "Multiple studies show a statistical correlation between memory preservation and the use of ARBs in patients with hypertension. And although no large-scale prospective, randomized, controlled studies have defined the magnitude of cognitive decline (or preservation) with ARBs relative to other antihypertensive drugs, it seems prudent to start patients with hypertension or diabetes and a strong family history of dementia on therapy with ARBs versus ACEIs or other antihypertensive drugs. Unfortunately, the widespread recalls of popular ARBs contaminated with the potential carcinogen N-methylnitrosobutyric acid has limited the number of ARBs available for patients initiating or switching to this class. If this issue is resolved, it seems likely that the popularity of ARBs over ACEIs will continue to grow. However, any therapy should be individualized and tempered by other compelling concurrent disease state considerations."

"It's Not You, It's Me" - Is it Time to Break Up With Aspirin? - Medscape, 7/25/19 - "In summary, the three recent trials have confirmed the notion that the benefit of aspirin in modern primary prevention populations is small and for most individuals is probably not worth the risk in bleeding. However, for individuals who are at elevated CVD risk and low risk of bleeding, consideration for use of aspirin is reasonable and should be discussed in the context of shared decision making between the patient and their provider. Should we break up with aspirin for primary prevention? For many of us, the answer is yes, but we should understand that it isn't aspirin that's changed, we have"

These gut bacteria prevent mice from becoming obese -- what could that mean for us? - Science Daily, 7/25/19 - "healthy mice have plenty of Clostridia -- a class of 20 to 30 bacteria -- but those with an impaired immune system lose these microbes from their gut as they age. Even when fed a healthy diet, the mice inevitably become obese. Giving this class of microbes back to these animals allowed them to stay slim ... Mice experimentally treated so that Clostridia were the only bacteria living in their gut were leaner with less fat than mice that had no microbiome at all. They also had lower levels of a gene, CD36, that regulates the body's uptake of fatty acids ... These insights could lead to a therapeutic approach, Round says, with advantages over the fecal transplants and probiotics that are now being widely investigated as ways to restore a healthy microbiota ... Round points out that research by others have shown that people who are obese similarly lack Clostridia, mirroring the situation in these mice" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Benefits of US salt reduction strategy to US food industry - Science Daily, 7/24/19 - "We have shown that reducing the salt hidden in processed foods would have huge economic benefits because fewer people get high blood pressure which leads to strokes and heart attacks. That remains true even when just looking at people working in the food industry itself, because they cost their company less in healthcare, and they can continue working and looking after their families for longer."

Textured Breast Implants Recalled Because of Link to Rare Cancer - Time, 7/24/19 - "Health authorities first linked textured implants to cancer in 2011. The disease is not breast cancer but lymphoma that grows in the scar tissue surrounding the breasts. It grows slowly and can usually be successfully treated by surgically removing the implants."

Testosterone Therapy May Threaten the Heart - WebMD. 7/23/19 - "Those who took testosterone replacement therapy had a 21% higher risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke or mini-stroke than those who did not take the therapy"

Obstructive sleep apnea may be one reason depression treatment doesn't work - Science Daily, 7/23/19 - "That's true even when these individuals don't seem to fit the usual profile of obstructive sleep apnea, which includes males who are overweight, snore and complain of daytime sleepiness ... No one is talking about evaluating for obstructive sleep apnea as a potential cause of treatment-resistant depression, which occurs in about 50 percent of patients with major depressive disorder ... the new evidence already suggests that testing for obstructive sleep apnea should be part of the guidelines for managing treatment resistant depression."

Why You Should Always Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them - Time, 7/23/19 - "Nedorost says that sweating and friction can cause disperse dye to leach out of clothing. Synthetic workout gear—the shiny, stretchy, water-repelling materials that are so popular nowadays—are often the culprit when she treats people for allergic contact dermatitis. “If a patient comes in and has a rash around the back of the neck and along their sides around their armpits, the first question I ask is what they wear when they work out,” she says ... Allergic rashes aren’t the only health issue associated with clothing chemicals. In a 2014 study, a group of researchers from Stockholm University in Sweden tested 31 clothing samples purchased at retail stores, and that were “diverse in color, material, brand, country of manufacture, and price, and intended for a broad market.” They found a type of chemical compound called “quinoline” (or one of its derivatives) in 29 of the 31 samples, and the levels of this chemical tended to be especially high in polyester garments. Quinoline is used in clothing dyes, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified it as a “possible human carcinogen” based on some studies linking it to “tumor-initiating activity” in mice—though the agency also states that no human studies have been conducted to assess the cancer-causing potential of quinoline."

Arthritis Is Tied to Heart Disease Risk - NYT, 7/18/19 - "people with knee or hip osteoarthritis were almost 20 percent more likely than the rest of the population to die of chronic heart disease or heart failure. The risk increased with the duration of the disease, and was most apparent after nine to 11 years"

Abstracts from the last two weeks:

Pterostilbene restores carbapenem susceptibility in NDM-producing isolates via inhibiting the activity of NDM enzymes - Br J Pharmacol. 2019 Aug 2 - "Pterostilbene significantly inhibited NDM-1 hydrolysis activity in enzyme inhibition screening assays and effectively restored the effectiveness of meropenem in vitro with NDM-expressing isolates in antibacterial activity assays" - See pterostilbene at Amazon.com.

The effects of garlic supplementation on weight loss: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2019 Jul 30:1-13 - "Pooled analysis showed that garlic administration might significantly decrease WC (Weighed Mean Difference (WMD): -1.10 cm, 95% CI: -2.13, -0.07, P = 0.03, I2 = 0%). However, garlic intervention had no significant effect on body weight (WMD): -0.17 kg, 95% CI: -0.75 to 0.39, P = 0.54, I2 = 0%) and BMI (WMD: -0.17 kg/m2, 95% CI: -0.52, 0.16, P = 0.30, I2 = 44.5%) as compared to controls. From Subgroup analysis, it was ascertained that the effect of garlic supplementation on BMI was significant in trials with duration < 12 weeks (WMD: -0.58 kg/m2, 95% CI: -1.08, -0.08, I2 = 19.8%, P = 0.02) compared to those with higher duration (>12 weeks). The current meta-analysis results suggest that garlic supplementation seems to reduce waist circumference unlike body weight and BMI." - See aged garlic at Amazon.com.

Role of Resveratrol and Selenium on Oxidative Stress and Expression of Antioxidant and Anti-Aging Genes in Immortalized Lymphocytes from Alzheimer's Disease Patients - Nutrients. 2019 Jul 31;11(8) - "Oxidative damage is involved in the pathophysiology of age-related ailments, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Studies have shown that the brain tissue and also lymphocytes from AD patients present increased oxidative stress compared to healthy controls (HCs). Here, we use lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from AD patients and HCs to investigate the role of resveratrol (RV) and selenium (Se) in the reduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated after an oxidative injury ... AD LCLs showed higher ROS levels than those from HCs in response to H2O2 and FeSO4 oxidative insults. RV triggered a protective response against ROS under control and oxidizing conditions, whereas Se exerted antioxidant effects only in AD LCLs under oxidizing conditions. RV increased the expression of genes encoding known antioxidants (catalase, copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase 1, glutathione S-transferase zeta 1) and anti-aging factors (sirtuin 1 and sirtuin 3) in both AD and HC LCLs. Our findings support RV as a candidate for inducing resilience and protection against AD, and reinforce the value of LCLs as a feasible peripheral cell model for understanding the protective mechanisms of nutraceuticals against oxidative stress in aging and AD" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Lactobacillus reuteri V3401 Reduces Inflammatory Biomarkers and Modifies the Gastrointestinal Microbiome in Adults with Metabolic Syndrome: The PROSIR Study - Nutrients. 2019 Jul 31;11(8) - "Previous studies have reported that probiotics may improve clinical and inflammatory parameters in patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Lactobacillus (L.) reuteri V3401 has shown promising results on the components of MetS in animal studies ... 53 adult patients newly diagnosed with MetS. Patients were block randomly allocated by body mass index (BMI) and sex to receive a capsule containing either the probiotic L. reuteri V3401 (5 × 109 colony-forming units) or a placebo once daily for 12 weeks ... interleukin-6 (IL-6) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1) diminished by effect of the treatment with L. reuteri V3401. Analysis of the gastrointestinal microbiome revealed a rise in the proportion of Verrucomicrobia" - See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Eight Weeks of a High Dose of Curcumin Supplementation May Attenuate Performance Decrements Following Muscle-Damaging Exercise - Nutrients 2019, 11(7), 1692 - "Sixty-three physically active men and women (21 ± 2 y; 70.0 ± 13.7 kg; 169.3 ± 15.2 cm; 25.6 ± 14.3 body mass index (BMI), 32 women, 31 men) were randomly assigned to ingest 250 mg of CurcuWIN® (50 mg of curcuminoids), 1000 mg of CurcuWIN® (200 mg of curcuminoids), or a corn starch placebo (PLA) for eight weeks in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled parallel design ... When compared to changes observed against PLA, a 200-mg dose of curcumin attenuated reductions in some but not all observed changes in performance and soreness after completion of a downhill running bout. Additionally, a 50-mg dose appears to offer no advantage to changes observed in the PLA and 200-mg groups" - [Nutra USA] - See CurcuWIN® at Amazon.com.

Role of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Switching and Calcification in Aortic Aneurysm Formation - Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2019 Jul;39(7):1351-1368 - "Recently, it was shown that calcification of the vessel wall is involved in both the initiation and progression of aneurysms. Changes in aortic wall structure that lead to aneurysm formation and vascular calcification are actively mediated by vascular smooth muscle cells. Vascular smooth muscle cells in a healthy vessel wall are termed contractile as they maintain vascular tone and remain quiescent ... This process is called phenotypic switching and is often the first step in vascular pathology. Additionally, healthy vascular smooth muscle cells synthesize VKDPs (vitamin K-dependent proteins), which are involved in inhibition of vascular calcification. The metabolism of these proteins is known to be disrupted in vascular pathologies. In this review, we summarize the current literature on vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching and vascular calcification in relation to aneurysm. Moreover, we address the role of vitamin K and VKDPs that are involved in vascular calcification and aneurysm" - [Nutra USA] - See vitamin K2 at Amazon.com.

A Highly Bioavailable Curcumin Extract Improves Neurocognitive Function and Mood in Healthy Older People: A 12-Week Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - Current Developments in Nutrition, June 2019 - "Compared with placebo, there were a number of improvements in the curcumin group. The curcumin group had significantly better working memory performance at 12 weeks, as measured by Serial Threes, Serial Sevens and performance on a virtual Morris Water Maze. Curcumin was also associated with better performance on a pattern separation task. Curcumin was also associated with significantly lower fatigue scores on the Profile of Mood States (POMS) at both 4 and 12 weeks, and of tension, anger, confusion and total mood disturbance at 4 weeks only. There were no group differences in biomarker levels" - [Nutra USA] - See Longvida™ curcumin at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

The best electric razor - engadget, 7/28/19 - "Our pick: Braun Series 7" - Note: About $200 for the Braun series 7 and $310 for the series 9 both of which they claim is the best. You could get a lawnmower for that price.

Health Focus (Memory Loss):