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Recent Longevity News for the week ending 8/31/22

Dapagliflozin's HFpEF Benefit Recasts Heart Failure Treatment: DELIVER - Medscape, 8/27/22 - "A key finding of DELIVER, confirmed in several combined analyses also reported at the congress, was that the benefit of dapagliflozin treatment extended to patients with HFpEF in the highest ranges of ejection fraction ... Combined analysis of the DELIVER results with the findings from DAPA-HF in a prespecified analysis that included a total of 11,007 patients with heart failure across the full spectrum of ejection fraction values (with individual patients having values as low as less than 20% or as high as more than 70%) showed a consistent benefit from dapagliflozin treatment for significantly reducing the combined endpoint of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure by about 22%, compared with placebo, across the complete range of this ejection fraction continuum ... A second, prespecified combined analysis coupled the DELIVER findings with the results of a prior large trial that assessed empagliflozin in patients with HFpEF, EMPEROR-Preserved, which had shown similar findings but with an apparent diminishment of activity in patients at the highest range of preserved left ventricular function, with ejection fractions in excess of about 65%, a tail-off of effect not seen in DELIVER ... SGLT2 inhibitors are the bedrock of therapy for heart failure regardless of ejection fraction or care setting" - See dapagliflozin at reliablerxpharmacy.com.

• Do SGLT2 Inhibitors DELIVER in All Patients With Heart Failure? - Medscape, 8/27/22

Sacubitril/Valsartan Shows Cognitive Safety in Heart Failure: PERSPECTIVE - Medscape, 8/26/22 - "Treatment of patients with chronic heart failure with sacubitril/valsartan (Entresto), a mainstay agent for people with this disorder, produced no hint of incremental adverse cognitive effects during 3 years of treatment in a prospective, controlled, multicenter study with nearly 600 patients, although some experts note that possible adverse cognitive effects of sacubitril were not an issue for many heart failure clinicians, even before the study ran" - Note: There was concern early on that theoretically, Entresto could lead to Alzheimer's.

Metformin, Testosterone Replacement Linked to Reduced Cancer Risk - Medscape, 8/26/22 - "metformin and testosterone replacement therapy were independently and jointly associated with a reduced incidence of prostate cancer, with the greatest reduction with the combination of the two (joint odds ratio [OR],  0.44) ... The two drugs were also inversely associated with a high grade at prostate cancer diagnosis (joint OR, 0.36) and advanced cancer stage (joint OR, 0.47), after multivariate adjustment for factors including age, race/ethnicity, hypogonadism, hypertension, diabetes, insulin use, muscular wasting, and other factors ... Metformin and testosterone replacement therapy were also independently and in combination inversely associated with the incidence of colorectal cancers (joint OR, 0.47); however, the associations with higher grade and advanced stage were not consistent, the authors note" - Note: Good luck with that. Testosterone prescriptions are another one that's like getting a prescription for cocaine. Doctors seem locked in a previous era. See metformin at ReliableRX.

Abstracts from this week:

Nicotinamide mononucleotide alleviates osteoblast senescence induction and promotes bone healing in osteoporotic mice - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2022 Aug 29 - "Combating the accumulated senescent cells and the healing of osteoporotic bone fracture in the elderly remains a significant challenge. Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), a precursor of NAD +, is an excellent candidate for mitigating aging-related disorders. However, it is unknown if NMN can alleviate senescent cell induction and enhance osteoporotic bone fracture healing. Here we show that NMN treatment partially reverses the effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) on human primary osteoblasts (HOBs): senescent cell induction, diminished osteogenic differentiation ability and intracellular NAD + and NADH levels. Mechanistically, NMN restores the mitochondrial dysfunction in HOBs induced by TNF-α evidenced by increased mitochondrial membrane potential and reduced reactive oxidative species and mitochondrial mass. NMN also increases mitophagy activity by down-regulating P62 expression and up-regulating light chain 3B-II (LC3B-II) protein expression. In addition, the cell senescence protective effects of NMN on HOBs are mitigated by a mitophagy inhibitor (Bafilomycin A1). In vivo, NMN supplementation attenuates senescent cell induction in growth plates, partially prevents osteoporosis in an ovariectomized mouse model and accelerates bone healing in osteoporotic mice. We conclude that NMN can be a novel and promising therapeutic candidate to enhance bone fracture healing capacity in the elderly." - See NMN at Amazon.com.

Dapagliflozin for heart failure according to body mass index: the DELIVER trial - Eur Heart J 2022 Aug 27 - "Obesity is common in patients with HFpEF and is associated with higher rates of heart failure hospitalization and worse health status. Treatment with dapagliflozin improves cardiovascular outcomes across the spectrum of BMI, leads to greater symptom improvement in patients with obesity, compared to those without, and has the additional benefit of causing modest weight loss"

Vitamin D status and prevalence of metabolic syndrome by race and Hispanic origin in U.S. adults: findings from 2007-2014 NHANES - Am J Clin Nutr 2022 Aug 29 - "Serum Vitamin D in the lowest tertile (≤ 56 nmol/L) was significantly associated with increased odds of MetS compared to the highest tertile (> 77.9 nmol/L); fully adjusted model OR: 1.85 and 95% CI: 1.51, 2.27. Inverse associations were noted for all race-Hispanic origin groups: non-Hispanic White (OR: 2.24; and 95% CI: 1.67, 3.01), non-Hispanic Black (OR: 1.56; and 95% CI: 1.06, 2.29) and Hispanic (OR: 1.48; and 95% CI: 1.03, 2.14) adults" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Does Ashwagandha supplementation have a beneficial effect on the management of anxiety and stress? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - Phytother Res 2022 Aug 25 - "Ashwagandha supplementation significantly reduced anxiety (SMD: -1.55, 95% CI: -2.37, -0.74; p = .005; I2 = 93.8%) and stress level (SMD: -1.75; 95% CI: -2.29, -1.22; p = .005; I2 = 83.1%) compared to the placebo. Additionally, the non-linear dose-response analysis indicated a favorable effect of Ashwagandha supplementation on anxiety until 12,000 mg/d and stress at dose of 300-600 mg/d" - See ashwagandha at Amazon.com.

Effect of Entresto on Clinical Symptoms, Ventricular Remodeling, Rehabilitation, and Hospitalization Rate in Patients with Both Acute Myocardial Infarction and Acute Heart Failure - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2022 Aug 16 - "Totally 120 patients with AMI complicated with AHF admitted to our hospital between January 2017 and August 2019 were enrolled and randomly assigned to an observation group (obs group) and a control group (con group) (each n = 60). The obs group was treated with Entresto, while the other with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI). After treatment, the efficacy on both groups was evaluate ... After treatment, the obs group showed notably higher efficacy than the con group (P < 0.05). Before treatment, the two groups were not greatly different in LVESd, LVEDd, LVEF, IVST, LVMI, NT-pro BNP, CRP, and TNF-α (all P > 0.05), while after treatment, these indexes of both groups were improved, but the improvement in the obs group was more notable (P < 0.05). Additionally, the hospitalization time, treatment expense, readmission rate one year after discharge, and incidence of adverse events in the obs group were notably lower"

Relationship between Serum Levels of Selenium and Thyroid Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - Nutr Cancer 2022 Aug 22 - "Thyroid cancer is one of the most malignant tumors and a serious threat to human health. Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element that is critical for thyroid function ... From the 10 selected studies, pooled analysis indicated that thyroid cancer patients had lower serum levels of Se than healthy controls [standardized mean difference = -1.25, 95% confidence interval = (-2.07, -0.44), P = 0.003]. Our meta-analysis supports a significant relationship between serum levels of Se and thyroid cancer" - See se-methyl l-selenocysteine at Amazon.com.

Cocoa extract exerts sex-specific anti-diabetic effects in an aggressive type-2 diabetes model: A pilot study - Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2022 Aug 11 - "Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. Cocoa may slow T2D development and progression ... Acute cocoa reduced fasting hyperglycemia in females, but not males, after 2 weeks. Chronic cocoa supplementation (6-10 weeks) ameliorated hyperinsulinemia in males and worsened hyperlipidemia and hyperinsulinemia in females, yet also preserved and enhanced beta cell survival in females" - See dark Chocolate at Amazon.com.

Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Kidney Disease Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes-Post Hoc Analyses From the DECLARE-TIMI 58 Trial - Diabetes Care 2022 Aug 23 - "Dapagliflozin mitigated kidney function decline in patients with T2D at high cardiovascular risk, including those with low KDIGO risk, suggesting a role of dapagliflozin in the early prevention of diabetic kidney disease" - See dapagliflozin at reliablerxpharmacy.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

When all else fail, there's always plastic surgery but you still need the foundation. I had it done on Aug. 15th, included stem cell transplant. This is Day eight. The stitches were taken out of the eyes on day three and the sides on day seven There are still stitches that hold up the outside of my eyes. Those stitches stay there and rot away over time. Dr. Shuffett wants to see me one more time on 9/27. I think he just wants pictures to see if they’d be useful to new patients considering the surgery. I'll be 73 in September.

Whatever they put in the water at the YMCA swimming pool, it does a number on my hair. It completely removes the hair on my arms and legs, which are normally very hair, and leaves them bald. It's not good for the hair on my head either. If I replace the swimming pool with my treadmill for four weeks, it comes back. I'm going to give this a try:

Health Focus (Whole Grains):