Please help my newsletter get noticed by clicking on the Facebook "Like" in the upper right-hand corner or here:

Recent Longevity News for the week ending 11/23/22

Study: Popular dietary supplement increases breast cancer risk, brain metastasis - U. of Missouri, 11/14/22 - "While previous studies have linked commercial dietary supplements like nicotinamide riboside (NR), a form of vitamin B3, to benefits related to cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological health, new research from the University of Missouri has found NR could actually increase the risk of serious disease, such as development of breast cancer and brain metastasis ... The international team of researchers led by Elena Goun, an associate professor of chemistry at MU, discovered high levels of NR could not only increase someone’s risk of developing triple-negative breast cancer, but also could cause the cancer to metastasize or spread to the brain. Once the cancer reaches the brain, the results are deadly because no viable treatment options exist at this time, said Goun, who is the corresponding author on the study." - Note: It seems like a long stretch that because it shows up under a special light that it causes triple-negative breast cancer that metastasizes to the brain.

Chemicals in Household Plastics May Raise Risk for Fibroids - WebMD, 11/15/22 - “We detected the phthalate DEHP and its breakdown products in much higher quantities in the urine of women who also happen to have symptomatic uterine fibroid tumors. Then we asked the question whether this association was causal. And the answer was yes,”

Lung Damage Looks Worse in Pot Smokers - Medscape, 11/15/22 - "Scans of the lungs of pot users have turned up an alarming surprise: Regular smokers of marijuana appear to be at greater risk for lung damage than are people who smoke tobacco alone."

Abstracts from this week:

Curcuminoids, a major turmeric component, have a sleep-enhancing effect by targeting the histamine H1 receptor - Food Funct 2022 Nov 21 - "we conclude that curcuminoids reduce sleep latency and enhance the quantity of NREMS by acting as modulators of H1R, indicating their usefulness in treating insomnia" - See curcumin at Amazon.com.

Curcumol alleviates liver fibrosis through inducing autophagy and ferroptosis in hepatic stellate cells - FASEB J 2022 Dec - "To explore the effect of curcumol on autophagy and ferroptosis of hepatic stellate cells, and to clarify the molecular mechanism of its anti-hepatic fibrosis. In the present study, we report that curcumol promotes the death of activated HSCs and reduces the deposition of extracellular matrix. Interestingly, curcumol treatment can trigger ferroptosis to eliminate activated HSCs characterized by iron overload, lipid ROS accumulation, glutathione depletion, and lipid peroxidation. Curcumol promotes HSC autophagy, which may be the key mechanism for its induction of ferroptosis. It is worth noting that the upregulation of nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4) may play a key molecular mechanism. NCOA4 mediates the release of iron ions and induces the occurrence of ferroptosis. Overall, curcumol promotes autophagy in hepatic stellate cells, mediates the degradation of NCOA4 and FTH1 complexes, releases iron ions, leads to iron overload, and induces ferroptosis, which may be an important mechanism for its anti-hepatic fibrosis effect" - See curcumin at Amazon.com.

The potential benefit of metformin to reduce delirium risk and mortality: a retrospective cohort study - Aging (Albany NY) 2022 Nov 18 - "Metformin has been reported to improve age-related disorders, including dementia, and to lower mortality ... Prevalence of delirium was 36.0% in the DM-without-metformin group, and 29.2% in the DM-with-metformin group. A history of metformin use reduced the risk of delirium in patients with DM (OR, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.32 to 0.79]) after controlling for confounding factors. The 3-year mortality in the DM-without-metformin group (survival rate, 0.595 [95% CI, 0.512 to 0.669]) was higher than in the DM-with-metformin group (survival rate, 0.695 [95% CI, 0.604 to 0.770]) (p=0.035). A history of metformin use decreased the risk of 3-year mortality after adjustment for confounding factors (HR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.48 to 0.98]) ... Metformin use may lower the risk of delirium and mortality in DM patients" - See metformin at ReliableRX.

Systematic review with meta-analysis: branched-chain amino acid supplementation in liver disease - Eur J Clin Invest 2022 Nov 17 - "Dietary supplementation with branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) is often used in cirrhotic patients to improve nutritional status. We wanted to explore evidence for BCAA supplementation in chronic liver disease ... prophylactic BCAA supplementation appears safe and might improve survival in cirrhotic patients" -

Sex-specific differences in bone mineral density loss after sleeve gastrectomy - Front Med (Lausanne) 2022 Oct 26 - "High levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) have been documented to be a risk factor of bone mineral density (BMD) loss with different effects observed between sexes ... In the multivariate model, SHBG was significantly associated with total hip BMD loss in men (adjusted β = -0.533, P = 0.019) but not women while total estrogen was significantly associated with total hip BMD loss in women"

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

I've been using Betaine HCL + Pepsin along with apple cider vinegar for heartburn. The evidence on the vinegar is weak but the combo seems to work well for me.

Apple cider vinegar... for heartburn? - Harvard Health Publishing, 3/12/22 - "I’ve always thought it sounded counterintuitive to use an acid to alleviate indigestion, but the number of times I’ve heard people treat their symptoms of heartburn with apple cider vinegar is too large to count. So, I decided to look into whether this strategy works, and to do some investigation about the idea behind its use. To my surprise, there is no research published in medical journals that addresses using raw apple cider vinegar to treat heartburn, despite widespread use and recommendations from blogs and websites."

How Betaine HCL is Kicking Acid Reflux to the Curb for Good - Terra Health, 5.11.20 - "HCL supplements work by replenishing the HCL that should already be in your stomach. This will lead to an increased production of stomach acid and encourage your sphincter muscle to close properly after you eat, stopping acid reflux from occurring in the first place. There is a lot of research that shows that Betaine HCL significantly adjusts the stomach acid content to an appropriate level for optimal digestion. And, in combination with a diet rich in complex carbs, antioxidants, and healthy fats, adding a HCL supplement to your diet will also help you to get your stomach acid levels back to a healthy level."

Apple Cider Vinegar… For Acid Reflux? - Dr. Sten Ekberg, YouTube - Note: You can't always trust YouTube but this coincides with articles I've read.

Health Focus (Melatonin):