Recent Longevity News for the week ending 12/17/14:

Medical Marijuana May Worsen PTSD Symptoms, Increase Violence - Medscape, 12/15/14 - "A large observational study of more 2000 participants who were admitted to specialized Veterans Administration treatment programs for PTSD showed that those who never used marijuana had significantly lower symptom severity 4 months later than those who continued or started use after treatment. Veterans who were using marijuana at treatment admission but quit after discharge ("stoppers") also had significantly lower levels of PTSD symptoms at follow-up ... On the other hand, the highest levels of violent behavior were found in the so-called "starters," those who were not using the substance at admission but who started use after discharge"

Chemical Phthalates in Food Packaging Linked With Lower IQ in Kids - NBC News.com, 12/10/14 - "While the study doesn't show for sure that the phthalates damaged the kids' brains during development, the researchers say they did everything they could to filter out other possible effects and they still found the link between some — but not all — of the phthalates and IQ ... Phthalates (pronounced "THAL-ates") are a group of chemical compounds used to keep other products flexible. They make plastics bendier and are used almost everywhere, from plastic toys and bottles to vinyl flooring and dryer sheets ... The children of moms with the highest levels of those two chemicals scored on average four points lower on the IQ test than kids whose mothers had the lowest levels" - Note:  I never did understand the point of dryer sheets.  It's hard to get around many chemicals but do people really need those dryer sheets?  Plus they make your clothes spell like cheap perfume.  Personally I don't even use the dryer, I use three dryer racks.

Abstracts from this week:

Improvement of common cold with Pycnogenol®: a Winter registry study - Panminerva Med. 2014 Dec;56(4):301-8 - "All subjects used the "best management" for colds and one group added Pycnogenol® capsules (50 mg, bid/die) from day zero. The resulting registry groups were comparable ... The number of days with a perceived cold affecting the patients was reduced in the supplement group (3.1;0.4 days) in comparison with controls (4.2;0.2). Lost working days were significantly decreased in the supplement group (0.55;0.3 versus 0.67;0.3 in controls). The need to use any other compound (on demand basis; OTC products) to manage symptoms and the occurrence of any clinically significant complications were significantly lower in the Pycnogenol® group ... Pycnogenol® supplementation appears to make regression faster for all symptoms in comparison with controls" - [Nutra USA] - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com.

Periodontal disease associates with higher brain amyloid load in normal elderly - Neurobiol Aging. 2014 Nov 5 - "The accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques is a central feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) ... clinical attachment loss (≥3 mm), representing a history of periodontal inflammatory/infectious burden, was associated with increased PIB uptake in Aβ vulnerable brain regions (p = 0.002). We show for the first time in humans an association between periodontal disease and brain Aβ load. These data are consistent with the previous animal studies showing that peripheral inflammation/infections are sufficient to produce brain Aβ accumulations" - Note:  Here's a cut and paste from my dental page with my solution to periodontal disease in addition to dental cleaning and good hygiene:

• Periogard - Needs a prescription but is usually available at you dentist for around $10.
• GUM Go-betweens Proxabrush Cleaners Wide [3614] 8 Each (Pack of 3).  These are wide and will only word for the back four slots but that's where most of the problem lies.
• Put a few tablespoons of Periogard into a small glass.  Soak the brush in it and run it between your teeth.

Iodine deficiency in pregnant women in Austria - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014 Dec 10 - "In Austria, iodine deficiency has been considered to be eliminated owing to table salt fortification with iodine, but whether this also applies to pregnant women is unclear. Even mild iodine deficiency during gestation may lead to neurocognitive sequelae in the offspring ... Pregnant women in the Vienna area had a median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) of 87 μg/l. Only 13.8% of the cohort were in the recommended range of 150-249 μg/l ... doses of 100-150 μg per day are not sufficient to normalize iodine excretion. Sodium and iodine concentrations in the urine were tightly correlated (R=0.539, n=61), suggesting that low intake of iodized salt might contribute to insufficient iodine supply" -  Note:  I read somewhere that the salt in processed food isn't iodized.  Seems like the take-away message from this study is that if you're watching your health by avoiding table salt you're probably going to be deficient in iodine.  See iodine at Amazon.com.

The effect of monthly 50 000 IU or 100 000 IU vitamin D supplements on vitamin D status in premenopausal Middle Eastern women living in Auckland - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014 Dec 10 - "Monthly 100 000 IU vitamin D for 6 months is more effective than 50 000 IU in achieving serum-25(OH)D ⩾75 nmol/l; however, a third of women still did not achieve these levels" - Note:  100,00 IU per month is 3,333 IU per day.  See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Effects of Metformin on Energy Intake and Satiety in Obese Children - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2014 Dec 8 - "Compared with placebo, metformin treatment elicited significant reductions from baseline in adjusted mean energy intake after the pre-meal load (metformin: -104.7 ± 83.8 kcal vs. placebo: +144.2 ± 96.9 kcal; p = 0.034) independent of changes in body composition. Metformin also significantly decreased ratings of hunger (-1.5 ± 5.6 vs. +18.6 ± 6.3; p = 0.013) and increased ratings of fullness (+10.1 ± 6.2 vs. -12.8 ± 7.0; p = 0.01) following the pre-meal load" - See metformin at The Antiaging Store.

Vitamin B12 in obese adolescents with clinical features of insulin resistance - 2014 Dec 4;6(12):5611-8 - "Adolescents with borderline B12 concentrations had higher BMI z-scores compared to those with normal concentrations (2.50 ± 0.22 vs. 2.32 ± 0.30, p = 0.008) or those with low B12 concentration (2.50 ± 0.22 vs. 2.27 ± 0.226, p = 0.041). In conclusion, nearly a third of obese adolescents with clinical insulin resistance had a low or borderline serum B12 status. Therefore, further investigations are warranted to explore the cause and the impact of low B12 status in obese pediatric populations" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.

Exposure to Bisphenol A From Drinking Canned Beverage Increases Blood Pressure: Randomized Crossover Trial - Hypertension. 2014 Dec 8 - "We conducted a randomized crossover trial with noninstitutionalized adults, who were aged ≥60 years and recruited from a local community center. A total of 60 participants visited the study site 3 times, and they were provided the same beverage in 2 glass bottles, 2 cans, or 1 can and 1 glass bottle at a time ... The urinary BPA concentration increased after consuming canned beverages by >1600% compared with that after consuming glass bottled beverages. Systolic blood pressure adjusted for daily variance increased by ≈4.5 mm Hg after consuming 2 canned beverages compared with that after consuming 2 glass bottled beverages, and the difference was statistically significant"

Long-term oral resveratrol intake provides nutritional preconditioning against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury: involvement of VDAC1 down-regulation - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2014 Dec 9 - "Our data revealed that long-term oral intake of resveratrol sets nutritional preconditioning in coping with myocardial I/R injury" - See ReserveAge Resveratrol Vegetarian Capsules, 500 Mg, 60-Count at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Macular Degeneration).