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Products and Advancements in the Anti-Aging Marketplace.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is widely regarded as one of the most important hormones in the human body. HGH is commonly associated with the aging process and the many resulting conditions we experience as we age. HGH therapy has become increasingly popular throughout the world. The proposed link between higher HGH levels in the body and a potential “Fountain of Youth” has fueled this interest almost to a frenzy. With popularity however comes confusion. As the market becomes saturated, consumers are being overwhelmed and sometimes mislead as to HGH and its benefits.

HGH is produced naturally, in everyone, by the pituitary gland. After the age of 23, your natural HGH levels begin to decline and you may start to experience the affects of aging. This includes weight gain, decrease in energy, lack of sex drive, low endurance, muscle atrophy and more.

HGH therapy comes in several forms. The first is by injecting Human Growth Hormone directly into your bloodstream. This invasive procedure can only be prescribed by a physician. Injectable HGH therapy was originally intended for children with stunted growth but physicians soon correlated the benefits to be helpful in trying to offset or delay the aging process and resulting health risks associated with getting older. Doctors are now liberally distributing this substance to elderly patients seeking to slow the effects of aging. The main problem associated with injectable Human Growth Hormone is that it often costs upwards of $3000 a month. That’s $36,000 a year and it is not covered by insurance. Additionally, this invasive therapy comes with some health risks. Side effects such as allergic reactions, fever, and swelling are just a few of the risks associated with the injectable form of therapy.

Due to the steep costs and risks of certain side effects associated with this invasive form of therapy, explorations of alternatives have become popular. Alternative HGH therapies include “All-natural supplements, including capsules, powders, and sprays. There is one very important point to understand about these types of Human Growth Hormone therapy. They do not offer “actual” HGH. The only way to get actual Human Growth Hormone is by having it injected directly into your bloodstream via syringe, physician, and prescription. SupplementsSimplified has seen, in this crowded marketplace, several products promoting themselves as “HGH” in a spray. This is impossible because HGH is a large unstable molecule that cannot pass thru the membranes in the mouth. Furthermore, it is illegal to provide true-form HGH without a prescription. The goal of alternative therapies is to stimulate your own body’s pituitary gland to produce more Human Growth Hormone on its own. These all-natural therapies have several benefits. Whether the HGH therapy is termed “all-natural”, “homeopathic”, or spray form, the fact is that these alternatives are only around 2% of the cost of the injectable Human Growth Hormone.

What should I choose?

With HGH alternative supplements saturating the market, it is very difficult to make a decision as to what is right for you. What is the most effective, safe, practical, and affordable solution available? Sprays remain suspect because of the premise behind them. As stated earlier in our report, we have found that is impossible for a spray to deliver actual HGH sublingually. Furthermore, administering accurate doses sublingually presents a challenge for sprays. Additional drawbacks are the potential binders and fillers that are present in this form of therapy. Lastly, taste remains a concern with all sprays. Powders are less popular and prevalent on the market. Having to measure proper mixes and portions is a hassle that I would prefer not to deal with but may be a preference for those that find pills and capsules intolerable. Most of the “all-natural” capsules, pills, and tablets are similar in what they promise to offer.

The Longevity System

With higher HGH levels come improved elasticity of the skin, strengthened nails, and enhanced skin rejuvenation. One of the main ingredients in all the HGH releasing products mentioned is L-Arginine. L-Arginine is involved with the production of new skin and connective tissue. It is essential to the formation of collagen and boasts many benefits that relate to skin repair and rejuvenation.

If you can tolerate the costs and potential side effects of invasive HGH injections, this form of therapy may provide the quickest benefit of Human Growth Hormone. If you seek alternatives, sprays and powders have more limits than potential benefits. It is my opinion that a system of therapy, as provided by SupplementsSimplified, can provide the ultimate package for those seeking Antiaging benefits.

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Stem Cells and Aging

The role of stem cells in aging, as well as the changes in stem cell populations and capacities that come with aging, would seem to be the topic of the day. I've touched on it before; the presently ongoing research is fascinating to watch. For example, the debate over whether, how and how much changes in the surrounding environment and signaling of other cells is responsible for the decline in stem cell activity with age. Or is it that stem cell populations become worn out and decline in numbers? It's an important difference for those seeking to safely repair this age-related degeneration.

One hypothesis is that aging directly affects stem cells as a consequence of exhaustive proliferation. Alternatively, it is also possible that aging indirectly affects stem cells by acting on their microenvironment.
On this topic, a good post from Ouroboros today:

A good deal of recent work suggests that the environment in which a stem cell resides (the "niche") is at least as important to regenerative capacity as any property of the stem cell itself. A recent paper by Carlson and Conboy expands our knowledge of the deleterious effect of old niches on young cells; provides some tantalizing evidence of a mechanism, involving regulation of gene expression in the stem cells; and underscores the fundamental importance of studying the interaction between cells and their microenvironment.
Scientists on the "microenvironment matters and here's why" side of the debate look to be presenting their case ever more convincingly in the past year. As Chris Patil points out:

The most straightforward implication of Morgan and Conboy's findings is that we will need to address the tissue microenvironment/niche/cell-cell signaling issues in order to optimize the therapeutic potential of [human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)] introduced into an aged patient.
An obvious corollary is that identifying, targeting and inhibiting the "dominant" factors that decrease hESC pluripotency and proliferative capacity should be a major priority for scientists interested in developing stem-cell based solutions to the treatment of age-related disease.


You can't just drop stem cells into a patient and expect quality results if their local tissue is actively suppressing and sabotaging the rescuers.
 

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A Matter of Degree

The difference between you and a trained technician when it comes to a recalcitrant computer is just a matter of degree - the technician knows more about the internals than you do, and has the tools to get in and look around - but quite profound. Knowledge of the internal processes and mechanisms of any system brings with it a completely different way of viewing and resolving problems. You see confusing symptoms at the most obvious level, and perhaps you have one or two experience-taught tricks that might or might not help; the technician can dive in and obtain a true picture of the situation.

So too with medicine; where the scientists are today is a matter of degree distant from the near past and near future. The past few and next few decades form a transition from the non-technical to technical for the complex, drawn-out conditions and transitions that come with aging. Therapies move from chance discoveries that may or may not work for individuals to precise attempts to understand and address specific dysfunctions in the complex systems of your cells and tissues.

A good example of this process can be found in a recent release describing one strand of rheumatoid arthritis research:

Early on in the rheumatoid arthritis research game, when HLA popped out as a major genetic player in the condition in the 1980s, Dr. Gregersen discovered that there was a shared bit of DNA that traveled in the disease. What took two years to identify in the laboratory -- shared bands of genetic material -- would take two days today. And that speed is what excites Dr. Gregersen. "We have the tools to get at these genes rather quickly now," he said. "The more patients and controls that we have, the more power we will have to pull out new genes and make associations."
In another major breakthrough, scientists have discovered the importance of a substance called citrulline as a target for immune attack in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This immune system antibody associated with rheumatoid arthritis recognizes citrulline, which seems to be a key player in the condition. Indeed, the HLA associations with RA have now been shown by Dr. Gregersen and others to directly regulate the immune response to proteins containing citrulline. Citrulline is formed when a specific enzyme comes in contact with arginine, one of 20 common amino acids in proteins. When one of the enzymes is present, nitrogen is removed from the chemical structure of arginine and it converts into citrulline.

Laboratories have developed a test to measure for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody, or anti-CCP. It is now being used as a diagnostic for rheumatoid arthritis. Scientists are now finding that patients have CCP antibodies months or years prior to the illness, suggesting a way to identify the disease before it starts and perhaps offer treatments to stave off the symptoms. It turns out that those with these antibodies who also have a particular variety of HLA, a complex of genes that regulate immune function, have a 30 times higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis than those without these genetic risk factors.


This is, of course, one small sample of the wider space of work on arthritis. In the years ahead, the changes of aging will be laid open at the most fundamental level under the light of modern biotechnology - each moving piece available on the bench for study and manipulation.

Just how well you can repair an aging system is all a matter of degree - how much you know, the quality of your tools. Medicine and biotechnology are accelerating rapidly on all counts in these early days of the 21st century; the future is promising indeed. The flying cars may be late, but the life of years is coming down the line faster than many thought possible.

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Can an Omega-3 Fatty Acid Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease?
NIH-Supported Researchers Launch Nationwide Trial
 

Nutritionists have long endorsed fish as part of a heart-healthy diet, and now some studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids found in the oil of certain fish may also benefit the brain by lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. In order to test whether an omega-3 fatty acid can impact the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, will evaluate one in a clinical trial, the gold standard for medical research.

The study will be conducted nationwide by the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), a consortium of leading researchers supported by NIA and coordinated by the University of California, San Diego. The trial will take place at 51 sites across the United States and seeks 400 participants age 50 and older who have mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Joseph Quinn, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Oregon Health and Science University, is directing the study.

Researchers will be evaluating primarily whether the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), taken over many months, slows the progression of both cognitive and functional decline in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s. During the 18-month clinical trial, investigators will measure the progress of the disease using standard tests for functional and cognitive change.

“The evidence to date in observational and animal studies on omega-3 fatty acids and Alzheimer’s disease warrants further evaluation in a rigorous clinical trial,” says NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. “This study is one of a number we are undertaking in the next few years through the ADCS to test compounds that might play a role in preventing or delaying the symptoms of this devastating disease.”

“By participating in this study, volunteers will make an invaluable contribution to Alzheimer’s disease research progress,” says Quinn, the study’s principal investigator. “We are indebted to those who graciously volunteer to participate in clinical studies.”

The trial will use DHA donated by Martek Biosciences Corporation of Columbia, Md. Participants will receive either two grams of DHA per day or an inactive placebo pill. About 60 percent of participants will receive DHA, and 40 percent will get the placebo. Doctors and nurses at the 51 research clinic sites will monitor the participants in regular visits throughout the trial. To ensure unbiased results, neither the researchers conducting the trial nor the participants will know who is getting DHA and who is getting the placebo.

In addition to monitoring disease progression through cognitive tests, researchers will also evaluate whether taking DHA supplements has a positive effect on physical and biological markers of Alzheimer’s, such as brain atrophy and proteins in blood and spinal fluid.

To learn how to participate in the study, contact NIA’s Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center at 1-800-438-4380 or by email to adear@nia.nih.gov. To view a list of the research sites, go to http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers.

NIA leads the federal effort supporting and conducting research on aging and the medical, social and behavioral issues of older people, including Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline. For information on dementia and aging, please visit the NIA's ADEAR Center at www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers, or call 1-800-438-4380. For more general information on research and aging, go to www.nia.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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Prediction Markets for Longevity Medicine

Prediction markets, like all markets, are extremely useful in those places where they have taken root. In a manner of speaking, all markets perform the function of a prediction market: they measure the ever-changing opinions of the participants on a range of topics. Prediction markets in the present definition are slanted to the generation of specific, clear, useful - and therefore valuable - information.

James Miller suggests prediction markets for the reliability of presently available medical and health techniques wherein the science is still uncertain; distillation of confidence for any given outcome is a classic type of prediction market.

The chemical resveratrol might slowdown aging. Taking large doses of vitamin D supplements might drastically reduce your chances of contracting cancer. It's possible, however, that taking either supplement could worsen your health.
Some would argue that the prudent thing to do is wait for more research to be published. But, for example, if resveratrol really does slowdown aging then if I wait five years to take it I might lose two years of life. Similarly, if taking large quantities of vitamin D really does drastically cut the risk of cancer then waiting five years to start taking it in supplement form might cost me my life.

In ten years we will know far more about the health effects of taking these and many other supplements. What should we do in the meantime? What most of us are forced to do is rely on the advice of experts as presented in the popular press. Instead someone should create prediction markets in the benefits and costs of health supplements.

If resveratrol fulfills its promise then in ten years tens of millions of Americans will be taking it. We could therefore create a prediction market that predicts how many Americans will be taking resveratrol in ten years.


I'm in the prudent waiting camp, personally, but that's just my choice, and one I am fortunate enough to have the time to take.

I wouldn't be tracking opinions of the penny-ante medical technologies mentioned above were I participating in a prediction market on medical science. I'm more interested in using such a market to more accurately determine the change in awareness and support over time for ambitious research such as the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence. Why endlessly analyze the hypothetical performance of supplement A versus supplement B when neither is going to do much for you in the grand scheme of things, and when there are plausible paths forward to add decades to healthy life over the next few decades of research? Supplements and the possibility of a year here or a year there are not the future; overexamination of supplements is a good way to mire yourself in the past while missing the opportunities to help build the longevity medicine of tomorrow.
 

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The Obvious Future

The "obvious future," to my eyes, consists of those achievements in technology not barred by the known laws of physics and which lie that the end of paths already funded and commenced. The only uncertainty is when these achievements arrive, and whether they enjoy the popularity and demand needed for commercialization, widespread usage, and consequent improvement. The devil is in the detail - look at what came of visions of flying cars from the Gernsbeck 50s. Possible, plausible, presently existing, but still a curio rather than mass market of transport. Other achievements, such as the development of computing capacity, have far surpassed popular predictions, reshaping our lives and prospects along the way.

So to medicine, a technology like any other. Greatly increased healthy longevity and near-absolute control over disease is the obvious future of medicine. The laws of physics allow it, the research community is slowly turning to this goal, and all that scientists and medical engineers lack today is the necessary knowledge. The future of medicine is one of increasingly capable, fine-grained control over cells, biomolecules and genes - manipulation at these levels of detail will become ever more accurate and ever more automated. Some hints of that future:

The Future Biological:

Garage Biology and Open Source Biology: Twenty five years ago, kids flocked to computers, pushing the limits of what they could do. Similarly, the next generation of genetic engineers won't need laboratories or even PhD: they'll have laptops, cheap mail order DNA synthesis, and, thanks to Google and Wikipedia and open journals like PLOS Biology, access to mountains of free biological data. They'll work in basements, garages, and cafes, and they'll trade ideas and collaborate on genetic designs the same way open source programmers now write computer code. Keep in mind that it was only 30 years ago that a little company called Apple started out of a California garage.
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Engineered biology is going to allow us to make and test drugs far faster than ever before, particularly if they are based on DNA, RNA (a chemical cousin), or molecules that can be made by cellular factories. Examples of synthetic drugs already include RNAi-based therapeutics, aptamers, gene therapies, custom viruses, hormones, and monoclonal antibodies. As biotechnology booms, expect the drug pipeline to get a lot fatter and for bio-products become cheaper. A billion dollars to create a drug? That's just ludicrous. Life is cheap. The lower limit of bio-drugs should be the price of a sneeze.

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Immortality: Biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey argues that here's no absolute reason why biological machines should break down and die. Theoretically, bits and pieces that break down can be continually regenerated and replaced, like keeping a vintage car in showroom condition. As biological engineering becomes more powerful, expect a plethora of age modulation drugs and treatments to appear.


Nanotechnology: Toward matter programmable to atomic precision:

I view nanotechnology in the larger context of making our world physically programmable. Ultimately, this means that making individual atoms act and move exactly the way we like should be as simple as writing a computer program. As the physical world becomes more programmable, many problems of daily life, from fixing broken computer parts to keeping medical implants from corroding, should become more tractable.
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In recent experiments, I showed that the dielectrophoretic effect could be used to position, test, and assemble nanoelectronic devices into larger circuits. Such dielectrophoretic manipulation undermines the “fat fingers” argument against atomically precise nanosystems since field enhancement allows force field precision smaller than an electrode tip. In a computational study, I predict that certain diamond surfaces can locally raise the melting temperature of ice above human body temperature. Such surfaces may be useful in resolving the defrosting problem of cryonics, since they may enable atomically precise manipulation, in vivo, of biomolecules using “tweezers” of high-temperature ice.


The biotechnology of 2007 is much akin to the computational technology of 1957. There is a great road ahead of us, and even the nearest visible waystations promise gains in longevity and health unlike any seen before.
 

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Integrative Medicine Consult Service Established at the NIH Clinical Center

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has established an Integrative Medicine Consult Service at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, the world's largest hospital devoted to research. This service will provide physicians, nurses, and other members of the Clinical Center health care team the ability to discuss complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies with knowledgeable medical staff from the consult service and learn how various CAM practices might complement or interact with a patient's care as a research participant at the Clinical Center.

CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine, such as herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic manipulation and acupuncture. Integrative medicine combines treatments from conventional medicine and CAM for which there is high-quality evidence of safety and effectiveness.

The 2002 National Health Interview Survey showed that more than one-third of all American adults use some form of CAM. And a recent consumer survey of older Americans revealed that less than one-third of those who had used CAM discussed this information with their physicians. Since patients at the Clinical Center are participating in research studies, it is important to know what CAM therapies are being used and how they might affect the treatments being studied.

"Volunteers who participate in clinical research at the NIH Clinical Center are partners in medical discovery. We are committed to providing excellent care for them," said John Gallin, MD, director of the Clinical Center. "This new consult service will help enhance the care they receive and the research conducted here."

CAM is not a new concept at the NIH Clinical Center. The Clinical Center's Pain and Palliative Care Service and the Rehabilitation Medicine Department offer acupuncture, Reiki, hypnosis, guided imagery, massage therapy, acupuncture, tai chi and qi gong training. The Pharmacy Department consults on herbals and herb/drug interactions and has conducted research in these areas. The Integrative Medicine Consult Service will coordinate the resources of these existing services to meet the needs of the Clinical Center staff and its patients. In addition to offering clinical consultation regarding CAM therapies, the service will establish a research program embedded in NIH's clinical and translational research structure and provide CAM education for NIH staff, patients and their families.

The director of the consult service will be Patrick Mansky, MD, a clinical oncologist and researcher at NCCAM. In 2001, Dr. Mansky joined NCCAM as a staff clinician and clinical investigator leading the Oncology Program in NCCAM's Division of Intramural Research. He conducts research on the application of CAM interventions in the care and treatment of cancer patients and survivors, such as electroacupuncture for nausea from chemotherapy, use of mistletoe in combination with gemcitabine for treating advanced cancers, and effects of tai chi and exercise in cancer survivors.

"We are pleased with the creation of the Integrative Medicine Consult Service and the role we hope it will play in providing Clinical Center patients with the best possible integrated care," said Ruth Kirschstein, MD, acting director of NCCAM. "Dr. Mansky's blend of clinical and research experience at the crossroads of the CAM and conventional medicine fields makes him an excellent choice to lead this consult service."

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Does Age Affect A Pilot's Ability To Fly?

Older pilots performed better over time than younger pilots on flight simulator tests. Researchers say the findings, published in the February 27, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, show expert knowledge may offset the impact of old age in some occupations.

The study's results come as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers a proposal to raise the mandatory age of retirement for commercial airline pilots to 65 from the current age of 60.

For the study, researchers tested 118 non-commercial airline pilots, age 40 to 69, annually for three years. All pilots were currently flying, had between 300 and 15,000 hours of total flight time, and had a FAA medical certificate. Pilots were tested on accuracy of executing communications, traffic avoidance, scanning cockpit instruments to detect emergencies, and executing a visual approach landing.

The study found while older pilots initially performed worse than younger pilots, older pilots showed less of a decline in overall flight summary scores than younger pilots, and over time their traffic avoidance performances improved more than that of younger pilots. The study also found pilots with advanced FAA pilot ratings and certifications showed less performance decline over time, regardless of age.

"These findings show the advantageous effect of prior experience and specialized expertise on older adults' skilled cognitive performances," said study author Joy L. Taylor, PhD, with the Stanford/VA Aging Clinical Research Center in Palo Alto, California. "Our discovery has broader implications beyond aviation to the general issue of aging in the workplace and the objective assessment of competency in older workers."

Researchers suggest that pilots with advanced FAA pilot ratings may maintain performance over time due to a mechanism of preserved task-specific knowledge, known as crystallized intelligence, which is similar to what is seen in music or expert chess playing.

The study was supported by the Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, the Medical Research Service of the Department of Veteran Affairs, and the National Institute on Aging.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Academy of Neurology.

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Vitamins May Decrease Pancreatic Cancer Risk Among Lean People

Researchers exploring the notion that certain nutrients might protect against pancreatic cancer found that lean individuals who got most of these nutrients from food were protected against developing cancer. The study also suggests this protective effect does not hold true if the nutrients come from vitamin supplements.

In a study published in the June 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, investigators combined data from four large studies and found that people who were at or below normal body weight decreased their risk for developing pancreatic cancer if they took in high levels of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folate from food.

The study determined that their risk was 81 percent, 73 percent, and 59 percent lower, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folate respectively, compared with participants who did not eat as much of these nutrients or who weighed more. According to the researchers, that was the only statistically significant finding from the study, which is the largest yet to look at these nutrients and pancreatic cancer risk.

"All we can say is that a person who has reason to be concerned about their risk of developing this cancer, which is relatively rare but quite deadly, should maintain a normal weight and eat their fruit and vegetables," said the study's lead investigator, Eva Schernhammer, M.D., Dr.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The researchers also say that they uncovered another interesting trend that some people who received these nutrients from multivitamin pills had an increased risk of developing the disease. According to the researchers, individuals who said they used multivitamins, and whose blood showed traces of these nutrients, had a 139 percent increased relative risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

"This is a preliminary, but intriguing, finding because it suggests that something in the vitamins may fuel pancreatic cancer growth," Dr. Schernhammer said.

This isn't the first study to suggest that folate, and vitamin B6 and B12 -- so called one carbon nutrients -- are protective against pancreatic cancer if they come from food, but not if they come from multivitamins, Dr. Schernhammer said.

One large Finnish study found one carbon food nutrients were associated with a decreased risk of developing pancreatic cancer, but that vitamin pills were not helpful. Two other large American studies also found the food nutrients to be protective, but that vitamin use was associated with a higher, yet non-significant risk of developing the cancer.

In this study, researchers combined four large prospective cohort studies, The Women's Health Initiative, and three from the Harvard School of Public Health: the Nurses' Health Study, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and the Physician's Health Study. From this large database, they performed a prospective nested case-control study to examine plasma concentrations of the nutrients from participants who had donated blood and answered questionnaires about their food intake and vitamin use before any cancer developed. Their analysis included 208 pancreatic cancer cases and 623 cancer-free control cases.

No one knows why vitamin pills may not help ward off cancer, or why, in this study, it might have a deleterious effect, Dr. Schernhammer said, but some research in animals suggests that "if there is a dormant tumor, folate and other similar vitamins may stimulate growth." That might be especially true if a person did not take in enough of these nutrients consistently through diet, and then suddenly started taking multivitamins in an effort to become healthy, she said.

"People think that dietary intake of these nutrients reflects a lifelong healthy eating habit, and in those cases, these nutrients may be protective, but they could have an opposite effect if they are used in a person with an occult cancer," Dr. Schernhammer said. "It might all depend on whether a person is cancer-free at the time they start using these nutrients."

The same kind of association has been found with use of soy, which is an estrogen-rich food, she said. "Women who have eaten soy all their lives, such as people in Asia, have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer, but some studies have found that increased soy intake in women who have not eaten it before appears to be harmful."

The researchers say their study cannot definitively say that one carbon nutrients either pose a benefit or a hazard to most people, but they note that it is the best analysis that can be performed outside of a randomized clinical trial

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Association for Cancer Research.

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Soy Nuts May Improve Blood Pressure In Postmenopausal Women

Substituting soy nuts for other protein sources in a healthy diet appears to lower blood pressure in postmenopausal women, and also may reduce cholesterol levels in women with high blood pressure, according to a new research.

The American Heart Association estimates that high blood pressure (hypertension) affects approximately 50 million Americans and 1 billion individuals worldwide. The most common-and deadly-result is coronary heart disease, according to background information in the article. Women with high blood pressure have four times the risk of heart disease as women with normal blood pressure.

Francine K. Welty, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, assigned 60 healthy post-menopausal women to eat two diets for eight weeks each in random order. The first diet, the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet, consisted of 30 percent of calories from fat (with 7 percent or less from saturated fat), 15 percent from protein and 55 percent from carbohydrates; 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day; two meals of fatty fish (such as salmon or tuna) per week; and less than 200 milligrams of cholesterol per day. The other diet had the same calorie, fat and protein content, but the women were instructed to replace 25 grams of protein with one-half cup of unsalted soy nuts. Blood pressure and blood samples for cholesterol testing were taken at the beginning and end of each eight-week period.

At the beginning of the study, 12 women had high blood pressure (140/90 milligrams of mercury or higher) and 48 had normal blood pressure. "Soy nut supplementation significantly reduced systolic [top number] and diastolic [bottom number] blood pressure in all 12 hypertensive women and in 40 of the 48 normotensive women," the authors write. "Compared with the TLC diet alone, the TLC diet plus soy nuts lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure 9.9 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, in hypertensive women and 5.2 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, in normotensive women."

In women with high blood pressure, the soy diet also decreased levels of low-density lipoprotein ("bad") cholesterol by an average of 11 percent and levels of apoliprotein B (a particle that carries bad cholesterol) by an average of 8 percent. Cholesterol levels remained the same in women with normal blood pressure.

"A 12-millimeter of mercury decrease in systolic blood pressure for 10 years has been estimated to prevent one death for every 11 patients with stage one hypertension treated; therefore, the average reduction of 15 milligrams of mercury in systolic blood pressure in hypertensive women in the present study could have significant implications for reducing cardiovascular risk and death on a population basis," the authors write.

"This study was performed in the free-living state; therefore, dietary soy may be a practical, safe and inexpensive modality to reduce blood pressure. If the findings are repeated in a larger group they may have important implications for reducing cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women on a population basis," they conclude..

This research is detailed in a report in the May 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. (Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1060-1067.)

This study was funded by the Harvard Medical School's Center of Excellence in Women's Health (National Institutes of Health); a contract from the Office on Women's Health, Department of Health and Human Services; and in part by a grant to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center General Clinical Research Center from the National Institutes of Health.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by JAMA and Archives Journals.

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