By Dr. Robert Goldman & Dr. Ronald Klatz

Longevity News and Review provides readers with the latest information in breakthroughs pertaining to the extension of the healthy human lifespan.  These news summaries are compiled by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net), a non-profit medical society composed of 26,000 physician and scientist members from 120 nations, united in a mission to advance biomedical technologies to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process.   Dr. Ronald Klatz, M.D., D.O., A4M President, and Dr. Robert Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., D.O., FAASP, A4M Chairman, physician co-founders of the anti-aging medical movement, distill these headlines and provide their insightful commentary.

Anti-Aging = Anti-Cancer
Geoffrey C Kabat, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, USA), and colleagues completed a study involving 566,401 adults, ages 50 to 71 years at the study’s start, who were followed for nearly 14 years.  Subjects were stratified into groups based on adherence to the American Cancer Society guidelines. Data analysis revealed that those men who adhered most closely to the guidelines had a reduced overall risk of developing cancer of 10%, as compared to men with the lowest adherence. For women, the corresponding reduction in overall cancer risk was 19%. Men with the highest adherence had a reduced risk of dying from cancer of 25% for women, the reduction was 24%.  The researchers also examined the risk of developing cancer at 25 specific anatomic sites. They found 14 sites where people adhering most closely to the guidelines had reduced risks for developing cancer compared to those in the lowest-adherence group; most notably, gallbladder cancer (65% reduced risk, both sexes combined), endometrial cancer (60%), liver (48% among men) colon cancer (48% among men, 35% among women) and rectal cancer (40% among men, 36% amongv women).  As for the risk of dying from all causes including cancer, men who adhered most closely to the guidelines had a reduced overall mortality risk of 26%, and women who adhered most closely were at 33% reduced overall mortality risk.  The study authors submit that: “These data suggest that … adherence to a set of healthy behaviors may have considerable health benefits.”

Dr. Klatz observes: “The present guidelines for preventing cancer issued by the American Cancer Society recommended that people avoid smoking, achieve and maintain a healthy weight throughout life, be physically active, and eat a healthy diet emphasizing plant foods. As these guidelines overlap with tenets of the anti-aging lifestyle, following such recommendations not only  may reduce a person’s risks for certain cancers, but overall risk of death as well.”    

Salmon Compound May Enhance Sports Performance
In that physical exertion of sports is linked to an overproduction of free radicals in muscles and plasma, Tatiana G. Polotow, from Cruzeiro do Sul University (Brazil), and colleagues studied the effects of long-term supplamentation of astaxanthin on sports performance, in a lab animal model.  Administering astaxanthin to lab rats for 45 days, the team observed significant induction of mitochondria antioxidant defenses, which they submit resulted in “cytosolic glutathione peroxidase antioxidant responses in soleus muscles that, in turn, increased [glutathione] content during exercise, limited oxidative stress, and delayed exhaustion.”

Remarks Dr. Goldman: “Astaxanthin is a pink-orange carotenoid found in salmon and has been shown by some published studies to exert antioxidant effects.  This study suggests that astaxanthin boosts mitochondria antioxidant defenses, in a lab animal model.”

Cardiovascular Effects of Compound Unique to Black Tea    
Researchers from The Netherlands and Belgium investigated theaflavins – flavonoid compounds unique to black tea.  The team enrolled 24 healthy men and women, average age 63 years, in a six-day long study in which subjects received capsules with a single dose of catechins (500 mg), four varying doses of theaflavins (100 to 500 mg) or placebo.  Microcirculation was assessed at the start, and 2, 4, and 6 hours after ingestion of the capsule.  A single dose of 500 mg of theaflavins exerted “moderate effects … on peripheral microcirculation.”

Comments Dr. Klatz: “With an abundance of evidence suggests various health effects of green tea and flavonoids present in green tea, data is e merging as to the potential benefits of black tea.  These researchers report that theaflavins – flavonoids unique to black teea – may modestly boost microvascular function..”    

Anti-aging medicine is the fastest-growing medical specialty throughout the world and is founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.  It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans.  As such, anti-aging medicine is based on solid scientific principles of responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties.  The goal of anti-aging medicine is not to merely prolong the total years of an individual’s life, but to ensure that those years are enjoyed in a productive and vital fashion.  Visit the A4M’s World Health Network website, at www.worldhealth.net, to learn more about the A4M and its educational endeavors and to sign-up for your free subscription o Longevity Magazine™ e-Journal.