LIFE EXTENSION NEWS

For years, clinical- trials have been conducted to assess the benefits of lowering L,DL cholesterol. As these- trials have been completed, the message has become clear: The lower that high-risk people can get their LDL cholesterol, the better they do. So new guidelines were released in the July 13 issue of Circulation, the American :Heart Association's journal

The emphasis. in treatment is on statin drugs, including Crestor, Lipltor, '"Zocor, Mevacor and Pravachol, which lower LDL cholesterol and also may help "stabilize" coronary disease that is already present.

These drugs are expensive and require monitoring, -because a small percentage of patients will develop side effects. But if you're in one of the higher risk heart categories, don't be afraid to use them. They are generally safe .and very effective.

A diet low in saturated fats and refined sugars can substantially improve cholesterol balance. Losing weight, exercising aerobically and quitting smoking all can raise "good" HDL cholesterol. Drugs should be taken in addition to, not instead of living a healthful lifestyle. AARP BULLETIN

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Doug Skrecky posted this edited message on Cryonet. From CIRCULATION:

A walnut diet improves endothelial function in hypercholesterolemic subjects: a randomized crossover trial.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies suggest that nut intake decreases coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. Nuts have a cholesterol-lowering effect that partly explains this benefit. Endothelial dysfunction is associated with CAD and its risk factors and is reversed by antioxidants and marine n-3 fatty acids. Walnuts are a rich source of both antioxidants and alpha-linolenic acid, a plant n-3 fatty acid.

METHODS AND RESULTS:

To test the hypothesis that walnut intake will reverse endothelial dysfunction, we randomized in a crossover design 21 hypercholesterolemic men and women to a cholesterol-lowering Mediterranean diet and a diet of similar energy and fat content in which walnuts replaced approximately 32% of the energy from monounsaturated fat.

Participants followed each diet for 4 weeks. After each intervention, we obtained fasting blood and performed ultrasound measurements of brachial artery vasomotor function.

Eighteen subjects completing the protocol had suitable ultrasound studies. Compared with the Mediterranean diet, the walnut diet improved endothelium-dependent vasodilation and reduced levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 . Endothelium-independent vasodilation and levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1, C-reactive protein, homocysteine, and oxidation biomarkers were similar after each diet.

The walnut diet significantly reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol Cholesterol reductions correlated with increases of both dietary alpha-linolenic acid and LDL gamma-tocopherol content, and changes of endothelium-dependent vasodilation correlated with those of cholesterol-to-HDL ratios.

CONCLUSIONS: Substituting walnuts for monounsaturated fat in a Mediterranean diet improves endothelium dependent vasodilation in hypercholesterolemic subjects. This finding might explain the cardioprotective effect of nut intake beyond cholesterol lowering.

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Avoid muffins: Instead of a banana nut muffin, choose a Nutri-Grain Banana Muffin Bar. It has half the fat (none of them trans) and calories of one of those giant bakery muffins.

Light side of dark chocolate: Instead of milk chocolate, choose dark chocolate. Richer tasting dark chocolate contains twice as many flavonoids, which neutralize free radicals. One ounce a day, about 150 calories is enough to get the benefit.

Ban the bagel. Instead of a bagel, choose an English muffin. A muffin is about half the size of a bagel, with fewer than half the calories. Choose whole wheat for more fiber.

Bar is best. Instead of Granola, choose a granola bar. The taste is nearly identical, but the bars provide automatic portion control. An open bag of granola can be dangerous! As long as it’s not filled with chocolate or candy, the bar is lower in calories and saturated fat.

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An old fashioned remedy may bring relief for an achy-joint condition that afflicts an estimated 21 million Americans A recent study found that cod-liver oil appears to slow cartilage damage in people who need knee-replacement surgery because of severe osteoarthritis.

Roughly 85 percent of patients who took the supplement for 10 to 12 weeks before surgery were found to have significantly reduced levels of enzymes (or none) known to cause damage, compared with 26 percent who took a vegetable-oil placebo. The fish oil group also showed a marked reduction in enzymes responsible for joint pain. Study coauthor Bruce Caterson, M.D., of Cardiff University in Wales, believes cod-liver oil can curtail the progression of osteoarthritis and reduce some of the factors that cause inflammation and pain.

But C. Kent Kwoh, M.D."professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, warns that it's unclear whether the oil can lessen symptoms of this disease. There are risks, too: Cod-liver oil can prevent blood from clotting, and new research has found increased amounts of flame retardants called PBDEs and other pollutants in supplements tested in Europe (American products weren't analyzed). HEALTH
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Puzzled by a health-related question? You may find an answer at www.aarp.org/healthguide. The new AARP Health Guide is a compendium of current information on medical conditions, tests, treatments, prescription drugs, Medicare rights and benefits, self help groups, clinical trials and alternative medicine.

This easy-to-use resource provides authoritative information from the world's largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, and from several other health-related sources. The guide can help people age 50 plus manage their health care. AARP cannot answer questions about specific cases, however, or make treatment recommendations. Those questions should be directed to a health care provider.

Finally, researchers in Queensland, Australia, report that women who drink more than one glass of red wine a day are almost seven times less likely to develop ovarian cancer than. women who never drink alcohol. (If you don't ordinarily drink alcohol, don't start without checking with your doctor.)

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Too much vitamin A might promote prostrate cancer, birth defects and bone loss. Too little makes you more prone to infections, vision problems and - yes, again, bone loss. What's the right dose?

It's confusing to describe, because food and supplements give you two forms of vitamin A: plant-derived beta carotene that the body converts into vitamin A, and "preformed" animal derived retinol.

Here's the latest on both types:

BETA CAROTENE. You can't depend on it for vitamin A activity. People convert from 0% to at best 11 % of beta carotene into vitamin A, says biochemist Betty Burri of the USDA and the University of California at Davis. Mega doses may promote cancer, notably in heavy smokers.

Bottom line: Smokers shouldn't take pure beta carotene supplements, Burri says. All others should avoid high doses (30 milligrams or more daily) except on the, advice of a health professional.

Instead, eat fruits and vegetables, especially carrots, spinach and sweet potatoes. Chop or mash them, and add a little fat to up the odds of absorption RETINOL. Too much is toxic, harms the liver and may promote birth defects.

Whether it weakens bones is a new controversy. In a Harvard study, getting more than 10,000 IU of vitamin A daily (as from liver, milk and supplements) hiked fracture risk 48% in older women, prompting advice to limit supplements to 5000 IU daily. However, two recent studies did not find a link between high intake of vitamin A and lower bone mineral density or increased fractures in older women.

Bottom line: Restrict intake to 10,000 IU daily, the upper "safe" limit set by the Institute of Medicine. Beware of liver: Eating just 1 ounce brings you to the limit.

We've all heard the old maxim, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," well, according to some research reported in FLORIDA TODAY, it can also keep the surgeon away. Apples may keep colon cancer at bay because they contain antioxidant properties that seem to protect mice from developing precancerous lesions, according to research presented' last week at the American Association for Cancer Research's Third Annual International Conference of Frontiers of Cancer Prevention Research, meeting in Seattle.

Researchers wanted to . study the role of polyphenols, or naturally occurring antioxidants found in the, skin of apples and in other kinds of foods. Specifically, the scientists wanted to compare the cancer prevention effects of two types of polyphenols called flavonoids and procyanidins.

When they exposed cancer cells from mice to flavonoids, the researchers noticed little effect on cancer cell growth. However, exposing cancer cells to procyanidins triggered apoptosis, or cellular suicide, which is crucial to preventing the spread of cancer.

"For now, our work suggests that eating the whole apple, including the skin, might offer some anti-cancer benefits," said Dr. Francis Raul, research director of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research and the study's lead investigator. "

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Surveys show consumers are paying more for pharmaceuticals than ever before. A recent report by the AARP found that manufacturers’ prices for nearly 200 of the most popular brand-name prescriptions used by older Americans jumped 7.2 percent in the year ending this March But American consumers can also save money by doing some comparison shopping. Pharmaceutical prices aren’t controlled by the government, and patients are often unaware that they may be able to save money by simply crossing town. MSNBC