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Recent Longevity News for the week ending 9/14/22

How Does Salt Intake Relate to Mortality? - Medscape, 9/9/22 - "Always adding salt to foods was associated with the lower life expectancy at the age of 50 years by 1.50 (95% CI, 0.72 – 2.30) and 2.28 (95% CI, 1.66 – 2.90) years for women and men, respectively, compared with participants who never or rarely added salt to foods" - See Morton Lite salt at Amazon.com.

Nothing seemed to treat their depression. Then they tried ketamine.- Washington Post, 9/12/22 - "In a year-long evaluation of more than 400 patients, including Anthony, at three MindPeace ketamine clinics in Virginia, researchers found a significant reduction in symptoms of depression, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry on Monday. Largely consistent with past studies, 72 percent of patients saw improvement in their mood and 38 percent were symptom-free after 10 infusions ... While the study has limitations, the findings appear to illuminate how ketamine could offer more than just brief relief to people whose depression is resistant to other medications. For many of the clinic’s patients who spoke to The Post, the drug’s achievements have been life-changing. A retired hospital technician wondered about the career he could have had if he had been able to look people in the eyes during conversations, which he can now. A teenage boy cracked jokes with his mother. Anthony, who said he never goes for a walk, finally stepped out onto the street of his cul-de-sac." - Note: Gifted article. You don't have to be a WaPo subscriber to read it.

Who should try ketamine therapy? What does it feel like? - Washington Post, 9/12/22 - "Is ketamine safe? ... When used under supervised conditions and with careful patient screening, most practitioners consider therapeutic ketamine to be generally safe, with the caveat that all medications carry some risks. They note that ketamine remains a controlled substance regulated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and is subject to strict safety controls because of its potential for abuse. Certain medications and conditions make ketamine therapy too risky for some patients, physicians say, so a full mental health and medical history is critical before embarking on such treatment ... The American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists & Practitioners advises people “not to drive, work, care for small children, or engage in stressful tasks for the rest of the day after a treatment.” ... An international group of experts on mood disorders last year published a paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry synthesizing the current evidence on esketamine and intravenous ketamine for managing treatment-resistant depression. They noted that the drugs offer “opportunity and hope” to patients, but that there is an “urgent need to clarify the long-term efficacy of these agents as well as significant unanswered questions with respect to safety.” - Note: Gifted article. You don't have to be a WaPo subscriber to read it.

Ketamine Promising for Rare Condition Linked to Autism - Medscape, 9/12/22 - "Using parent-report instruments to assess treatment effects, ketamine was associated with "nominally significant" improvement in a variety of domains, including social behavior, attention-deficit and hyperactivity, restricted and repetitive behaviors, and sensory sensitivities"

US life expectancy is in freefall — we can’t keep blaming COVID - Hill, 9/10/22 - "Life expectancy varies by more than 20 years across counties in the United States, with the least healthy counties experiencing life expectancies comparable with some of the poorest countries globally. There is an almost eight- to nine-fold difference between the least and most healthy counties in the United States for life expectancy, cardiovascular mortality, diabetes incidence and the prevalence of opioid use, and much of this variation is explained by social, economic and local contextual factors ... The United States is the only high-income nation to be experiencing a persistent decline in life expectancy for over a decade, now accelerated by the COVID pandemic. Confronting this adverse trend will require the acknowledgment of the systemic fault lines that favor narrow biomedical approaches over social determinants of health; prioritizing chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers and mental health and a new alignment of approaches, priorities and investments to address the complex role of biological and societal factors on health in a balanced manner." - Note: More people need to get of their lounge chairs and go to the gym.

Low-calories sweeteners might not be as good for us as we thought - National Geographic, 9/9/22 - "Scientists have long suspected a link between artificial sweeteners and obesity in humans, but until now that connection had only been shown in lab mice. Now, in a first of its kind trial, scientists in Israel have tested these chemicals in humans. Their results show that artificial sweeteners not only disturb the microbes living in the guts of humans—which are critical for supplying essential nutrients, synthesizing vitamin K, and digesting dietary fibers among other things—but some may impact how quickly the body removes sugar from the blood after a meal. The longer glucose stays in the blood, the greater the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease ... The disruption to the microbiome occurs because non-nutritional sweeteners, although zero or low calorie for humans, serve as nutrients for some microbes, which then proliferate. This causes an imbalance in microbial populations that can cause chronic intestinal inflammation or colon cancer"

Overall Survival Dips With Vitamin D Deficiency in Melanoma - Medscape, 9/8/22 - "Patients with melanoma who are deficient in vitamin D have significantly worse overall survival than those with higher levels ... Whereas the 5-year overall survival was 90% when vitamin D serum levels were above a 10 ng/mL threshold, it was 84% when levels fell below it. Notably, the gap in overall survival between those above and below the threshold appeared to widen as time went on" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

FDA OK’s anti-wrinkle drug, a longer-lasting Botox competitor - Hill, 9/8.22 - "The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the anti-wrinkle injection Daxxify, setting up competition for Botox, which has dominated the market for two decades ... Manufacturer Revance Therapeutics said its studies show the drug can temporarily improve moderate to severe frown lines for about six months, almost twice as long a period as Botox"

Abstracts from this week:

Potential roles of dietary zeaxanthin and lutein in macular health and function - Nutr Rev 2022 Sep 12 - "Lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin are three xanthophyll carotenoid pigments that selectively concentrate in the center of the retina. Humans cannot synthesize lutein and zeaxanthin, so these compounds must be obtained from the diet or supplements, with meso-zeaxanthin being converted from lutein in the macula. Xanthophylls are major components of macular pigments that protect the retina through the provision of oxidant defense and filtering of blue light. The accumulation of these three xanthophylls in the central macula can be quantified with non-invasive methods, such as macular pigment optical density (MPOD). MPOD serves as a useful tool for assessing risk for, and progression of, age-related macular degeneration, the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. Dietary surveys suggest that the dietary intakes of lutein and zeaxanthin are decreasing. In addition to low dietary intake, pregnancy and lactation may compromise the lutein and zeaxanthin status of both the mother and infant. Lutein is found in modest amounts in some orange- and yellow-colored vegetables, yellow corn products, and in egg yolks, but rich sources of zeaxanthin are not commonly consumed. Goji berries contain the highest known levels of zeaxanthin of any food, and regular intake of these bright red berries may help protect against the development of age-related macular degeneration through an increase in MPOD" - See

Berberine ameliorates depression-like behavior in CUMS mice by activating TPH1 and inhibiting IDO1-associated with tryptophan metabolism - Phytother Res 2022 Sep 11 - "Berberine, which is a potential antidepressant, exhibits definite efficiency in modulating the gut microbiota ... In conclusion, berberine improves depressive symptoms in CUMS-stimulated mice by targeting both TPH1 and IDO1, which are involved in tryptophan metabolism" - See berberine at Amazon.com.

Supplementation With Carotenoids, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and Vitamin E Has a Positive Effect on the Symptoms and Progression of Alzheimer's Disease - J Alzheimers Dis 2022 Sep 9 - "Following 12 months of supplementation, the active group (n = 50) compared to the placebo group (n = 27), demonstrated statistically significant improvements in skin carotenoid measurements, blood carotenoids, ω-3FAs, and vitamin E concentrations (p < 0.05, for all). The active group also performed better in objective measures of AD severity (i.e., memory and mood), with a statistically significant difference reported in the clinical collateral for memory" - See mixed carotenoids at Amazon.com, omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com and vitamin E at Amazon.com.

Probiotics Treatment Can Improve Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review - J Alzheimers Dis 2022 Sep 8 - "These results support the intervention with probiotics, especially as a preventive approach" - See probiotic supplements at Amazon.com.

Resveratrol reverses TGF-β1-mediated invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells via the SIRT3/AMPK/autophagy signal axis - Phytother Res 2022 Sep 9 - "Taken together, our study provided novel insight into the anticancer effects of Resv and revealed that targeting the SIRT3/AMPK/autophagy pathway can serve as a new therapeutic target against breast cancer" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Lutein ameliorates high-fat diet-induced obesity, fatty liver, and glucose intolerance in C57BL/6J mice - Phytother Res 2022 Sep 9 - "Obesity is a multi-factorial metabolic syndrome that increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. We recently demonstrated the antiadipogenic efficacy of lutein using a 3 T3-L1 cell culture model. This study aimed to examine the antiobesity efficacy of lutein on high-fat (60% kcal fat) diet-induced C57BL/6J obese mice model. Lutein (300 and 500 μM), Orlistat (30 mg/kg body weight - positive control), and its combination (orlistat, 15 mg/kg body weight+lutein, 300 μM) were administered in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice every other day for 24 weeks ... lutein administration and drug significantly reduced epididymal and abdominal adipose tissue weights. Further, lutein reduced the serum cholesterol and LDL-C concentration compared to the HFD group. The HFD-induced elevation in the hepatic triglycerides and cholesterol levels were significantly blocked by lutein and its combination with the drug. Similarly, lutein and its drug combination efficiently lowered the HFD-mediated elevated blood glucose levels. Lutein downregulated the expression of CEBP-α, PPAR-γ, and FAS in the epididymal adipose tissue. Thus, supplementation of lutein may control diet-induced obesity and associated complications in the human population" - See lutein at Amazon.com.

Association of Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acid Intake with Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Middle-Aged to Elderly Japanese Men and Women: The Toon Health Study - Nutrients 2022 Sep 3 - "Fish and omega-3 fatty acid consumption is known to be beneficial for cardiometabolic health. However, the related evidence for individuals with a relatively higher intake of fish or omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, e.g., Japanese individuals, is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association of fish and omega-3 fatty acid intakes with the carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) in the Japanese population. In total, 1803 Japanese men and women aged 30-84 years without a history of myocardial infarction or angina pectoris were included in the study. The fish and omega-3 fatty acid intakes were estimated using food frequency questionnaires. The C-IMT was measured using ultrasound imaging, and the participants were classified into three groups: normal, moderate (1.1 to 1.4 mm of maximum C-IMT), and severely increased C-IMT (≥1.5 mm) ... The omega-3 fatty acid intake was shown to be associated with lower odds of severely increased C-IMT. The multivariable-adjusted OR (95%CI) was 0.55 (0.31-0.97; p for trend = 0.04). We also found a borderline significant negative association between fish intake and the presence of severely increased C-IMT. In conclusion, omega-3 fatty acid intake might protect against the development of atherosclerosis in the Japanese population" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com.

Inverse association between baseline plasma selenium concentrations and risk of renal function decline in hypertensive adults - J Nutr 2022 Sep 9 - "The kidney has the highest level of selenium (Se) in the body, but the role of plasma Se in chronic kidney disease is uncertain ... The median follow-up duration from baseline to outcome was 4.4 years. After multivariate adjustment, there was an inverse association between plasma Se and rapid decline in renal function (per 10-unit increment; OR, 0.85; 95%CI: 0.73, 0.99). When baseline plasma Se was assessed as tertiles, compared to the lowest tertile (<74.5 μg/L), a lower trend of the primary outcome was found in the second tertile (74.5 to <89.4 μg/L; OR, 0.60; 95%CI: 0.34, 1.07) and the highest tertile (89.4 to <150 μg/L; OR, 0.42; 95%CI: 0.22, 0.80) (P for trend = 0.006). Furthermore, the Se-renal association was more pronounced among participants with folic acid treatment or with a higher baseline folate concentration (both P for interaction" - See se-methyl l-selenocysteine at Amazon.com.

Inverse Association between Serum Selenium Level and Severity of Liver Fibrosis: A Cross-Sectional Study - Nutrients 2022 Sep 2 - "Selenium has been well recognized for its important role in human health. Prior studies showed that low serum selenium was associated with various diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, infertility, and cognitive decline. Recent studies demonstrated an association between selenium deficiency and liver cirrhosis ... There was a significant linear decrease in liver stiffness measurement (LSM) values in male groups with increased serum selenium levels. The beta coefficient (β) = -1.045 in male groups. A significantly negative association was also observed in the group of age ≥ 60. In addition, those in the highest quartile of serum selenium had lower LSM values (β = -0.416). This is the first study using LSM to demonstrate the correlation between selenium deficiency and severity of liver cirrhosis. Our findings suggest that a high plasma selenium concentration is negatively correlated with the severity of liver cirrhosis and there are gender and age differences" - See se-methyl l-selenocysteine at Amazon.com.

The effect of taurine supplementation on delirium post liver transplantation: A randomized controlled trial - Clin Nutr 2022 Aug 7 - "Delirium is a prevalent complication of liver transplantation (LT). It may enhance the risk of morbidity and mortality. Taurine is considered to have antioxidant and neuroprotective activities ... Delirium rate within the first month was 23.08% and was significantly lower in taurine group (9.46%) compared with placebo (35.36%, P = 0.012). Length of ITU stay was significantly higher among delirious patients (P = 0.015) in this analysis ... Conclusion: we reached to the result that taurine can prevent post-LT delirium, dramatically" - See taurine at Amazon.com.

Statins' efficacy in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis - Clin Nutr 2022 Aug 8 - "Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely related with the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Currently there is no approved medication for NAFLD. Although it has been suggested that statins can be safely used by patients with elevated liver enzymes, their effect on NAFLD has not been clearly defined ... Statins effectively decrease liver enzymes and beneficially affect liver histology in NAFLD patients" - See red yeast rice at Amazon.com.

Impact of Sacubitril/Valsartan Compared With Ramipril on Cardiac Structure and Function After Acute Myocardial Infarction: The PARADISE-MI Echocardiographic Substudy - Circulation 2022 Sep 9 - "Patients randomized to sacubitril/valsartan had less LV enlargement and greater improvement in filling pressure"

Betaine ameliorates acute sever ulcerative colitis by inhibiting oxidative stress induced inflammatory pyroptosis - Mol Nutr Food Res 2022 Sep 7 - "Betaine rich in beet is used as an important source of human nutrition. Here we aimed to explore whether betaine supplementation can protect against acute sever ulcerative colitis (ASUC) and the underlying mechanism ... Betaine inhibits colonic oxidative stress induced inflammatory pyroptosis to alleviate ASUC, which shows therapeutic potential against colitis and other acute inflammatory disorder" - See betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com and beet root powder at Amazon.com.

Association between alcohol consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer: The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022 Sep 3 - "When the population was limited to men whose alcohol drinking habit remained unchanged from the baseline survey to the 5-year follow-up survey, a significant association was observed in drinkers with alcohol consumption of 1-299 g/week compared with non/occasional drinkers (multivariable-adjusted HR: 1.73"

Six-month intervention with wild blueberries improved speed of processing in mild cognitive decline: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial - Nutr Neurosci 2022 Sep 6 - "were randomized to consume either wild blueberry (n = 44) or placebo (n = 42) powder daily for 6 months ... Tests of specific cognitive abilities using the CANTAB showed speed of processing not only improved in the blueberry intervention group relative to the placebo group across the 6-month intervention, but blueberries also restored speed of processing to the level of the reference group. The ERP results also showed that, relative to those consuming placebo, speed of processing improved for those in the blueberry group; this improvement was most prominent in those 75-80y" - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

Gordon Ramsey claims Hexclad is what he prefers to use at home. I'm sure he's getting paid to say that but then again, he'd get paid for anything he claimed to use. I use this for scrambled eggs in the morning and love it. I spray the pan with avocado oil spray and heat it at about a seven on my induction stovetop. Two eggs, a quarter cup of milk, a heaping eighth teaspoon of Morton Lite salt.

Health Focus (Flavonoids):