Monthly Archives: April 2012

The Paleo Answer is a book by Dr. Loren Cordain, the professor who gained fame for writing The Paleo Diet. This post has notes featuring the results of some of the studies cited in the book.

• A study showed that a group of Australian Aborigines lost 16.5 pounds and reduced their triglycerides by 72 percent when they returned to their traditional diet.

• A study found that the paleo diet was more satiating than the Mediterranean diet because it caused greater changes in leptin.

• A study showed that a group going on a paleo diet lost weight, reduced their waist size, and experienced reductions in blood pressure and plasminogen activator inhibitor.

• A study of inactive subjects showed that the paleo diet led to improvements in blood pressure, arterial function, insulin, and triglycerides.

• A study of patients with type 2 diabetes found that the paleo diet resulted in improved weight loss, waist size, blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose, and hemoglobin A1c.

• A study found that adding high-saturated-fat beef drippings to the diet improved the total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio.

• A meta-analysis found that when carbohydrates replaced saturated fats, carbs increased the risk for heart disease by increasing blood triglycerides and lowering HDL cholesterol levels.

• A meta-analysis found that red meat consumption was not associated with either heart disease or type 2 diabetes, whereas processed meats led to a 42 percent greater risk.

• The average dietary saturated fat intake of 229 hunter-gatherer societies was 15.1 percent of calories.

• If nitrites are present, morpholine is transformed into N-nitrosomorpholine, a cancer-causing agent.

• A series of population-based studies have demonstrated strong associations between artificial sweeteners and obesity.

• A study showed that rats consumed more food and gained more weight when artificial sweeteners were added to their diet.

• A series of experiments showed that even low doses of aspartame given to rats led to increased cancer rates.

• Animal experiments found that saccharin, acesulfame, and aspartame caused DNA damage in the bone marrow of mice.

• A study of 59,334 pregnant women in Denmark showed that consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks significantly increased the risk for pre-term delivery.

• Restriction of dietary advanced glycation end-products lowers markers of oxidative stress and inflammation.

• Fructose produces ten times more advanced glycation end-products than glucose.

• An analysis of 229 hunter-gatherer societies showed that 73 percent of them consumed 46 percent or more of their daily calories as animal food.

• A meta-analysis that compared overall death rates between 27,808 vegetarians and 48,364 meat eaters showed no significant differences between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in mortality from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, or all other causes combined.

• An analysis of 33,883 vegetarians showed that mortality from circulatory diseases and all causes was not significantly different between vegetarians and meat eaters.

• A study of ninety-five vegetarians showed that 77 percent of lacto/ovo vegetarians and 92 percent of vegans were deficient in vitamin B12.

• A study of 231 lacto/ov vegetarians and 232 vegans showed that 73 percent of the vegans and 24 percent of the lacto/ovo vegetarians had vitamin B12 deficiencies.

• A study found that long-term lacto/ovo vegetarian diets impair vitamin B12 status in pregnant women, which can cause deficiencies in the fetus and nursing infant.

• Studies of vegetarians and vegans show that the less animal food they eat, the higher their blood concentrations of homocysteine are.

• A meta-analysis showed that for each 5 micromol/L rise in blood homocysteine levels, the risk for cardiovascular disease events increased by approximately 20 percent.

• A study of 268 lifelong Indian vegetarians with cardiovascular disease showed that heart disease was higher in vegetarians and that they had lower blood levels of vitamin B12.

• A review of 1,627 articles on high blood levels of homocysteine and low blood levels of vitamin B12 concluded that high homocysteine is a risk factor for dementia.

• A study found that a high dietary intake of folate makes B12 deficiencies worse by increasing blood concentrations of homocysteine.

• A study of 9,420 vegetarians and 1,126 vegans found that vegans had a higher fracture risk.

• More than a dozen studies have identified low B12 or high homocysteine blood levels as risk factors for osteoporosis.

• A study of 559 elderly women in Japan showed that supplementation of vitamin B12 and folate (not folic acid) reduced the number of hip fractures.

• A study of 172 men and 223 women who were unable to conceive showed that 36 percent of men and 23 percent of women had vitamin B12 deficiencies.

• A study found that within only six weeks of consuming a vegetarian diet, 78 percent of normally cycling women ceased ovulating.

• A study in Europe showed that 80 percent of vegans and 25 percent of lacto/ovo vegetarians suffered from iodine deficiency.

• A meta-analysis showed that moderate childhood iodine deficiency lowered IQ by 13.5 points.

• A study of 9,420 vegetarians and 1,126 vegans showed that blood concentrations of vitamin D were highest in meat eaters and lowest in vegans and vegetarians.

• A study of ninety-three German vegans found that 58 percent suffered from vitamin B6 deficiencies.

• Epidemiological studies show that vegans who do not supplement with omega-3 fatty acids are deficient in both EPA and DHA.

• Randomized clinical trials in patients with preexisting heart disease show that omega-3 fatty acid supplements significantly reduce cardiovascular events.

• Studies of vegans show that their blood taurine levels are 22 percent lower than in meat eaters.

• A study showed that eight weeks of EPA and DHA supplementation restored normal platelet function in a group of eighteen lacto/ovo vegetarians.

• A ranking of foods containing the thirteen nutrients that are usually deficient in the diets of the American population (from most nutrient-dense to least nutrient-dense):

1. Fresh vegetables

2. Seafood

3. Lean meats

4. Fresh fruits

5. Whole milk

6. Whole grains

7. Nuts and seeds

• A study found that peptic ulcer patients following the Sippy Diet (a diet focusing on regular intake of milk and cream) had a fatal heart attack rate of 42 percent.

• An epidemiological study involving forty countries demonstrated that milk had the highest relationship with cardiovascular death rates for any food or nutrient examined.

• A meta-analysis involving twenty-six studies of more than twenty-thousand participants showed that calcium supplementation significantly increased the risk for heart attacks and sudden death.

• A study showed that high dietary calcium-to-magnesium ratios are a better predictor of heart disease than high calcium intake by itself.

• Studies of hunter-gatherers show that the dietary calcium-to-magnesium ratio was close to 2:1, while milk has a much higher ratio of 12:1

• A study involving 24 eight-year-old boys found that a high-milk diet worsened their insulin response by almost 100 percent.

• An experiment in Australia showed that low-glycemic-index, high-protein diets reduced symptoms of acne.

• Epidemiological studies have identified cow’s milk as a major risk factor for type 1 diabetes.

• Fifteen epidemiological studies show that milk elevates IGF-1 in the bloodstream. Meta-analyses show that high blood levels of IGF-1 strongly increase the risk for prostate and breast cancer.

• Studies show that milk drinking increases the risk of ovarian cancer.

• Cow’s milk contains estrone sulfate, which can raise the blood concentration of female hormones in men.

• A study found that 50 percent of all infants and young children who were allergic to milk later developed allergies to a wide variety of other foods before puberty.

• A study showed that infants whose mothers drank milk became colicky.

• A meta-analysis showed that men who consumed the highest quantities of dairy products had an 80 percent greater risk of developing the disease than did men who ate the lowest amounts.

• A study of Japanese men showed that those who consumed more than 16 ounces of milk daily had a 130 percent greater risk of Parkinson’s disease than those who did not drink milk.

• Epidemiological studies show that lactose and galactose are involved in premature cataract formation.

• A series of studies in Iran showed that excessive consumption of whole wheat flatbread caused zinc deficiency in boys, which resulted in dwarfism.

• Animal experiments show that whole-grain oats and wheat worsen health even more than refined grains.

• A study showed that people who consumed 60 grams of wheat bran daily for thirty days had an increased elimination of vitamin D from the intestines.

• Experiments show that the wheat germ agglutinin found in wheat can bypass the gut barrier and disrupt cellular function.

• Animal and human studies indicate that chia seed products may promote leaky gut and chronic systemic inflammation.

• Amaranth contains a lectin called ACA that is a potent promoter of intestinal cancer cell growth.

• Quinoa has a high saponin content, which increases intestinal permeability.

• Experiments have shown that buckwheat can cause damaging skin reactions.

• Studies show that raw or undercooked red kidney beans can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, muscle weakness, or inflammation of the heart.

• Raw kidney beans are toxic to rats when fed at more than 37 percent of their daily calories.

• Laboratory experiments show that the lectins found in beans pass through the gut barrier and can disrupt normal cell function.

• Studies in animals and human tissue show that legume saponins can cause ruptures in red blood cells.

• A study showed that when subjects with an average age of sixty-one were given 30 grams of soy daily for three months, they developed symptoms of low thyroid function.

• A meta-analysis of forty-seven studies demonstrated that soy or soy isoflavone consumption in women caused follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone to fall by 20 percent.

• A research paper indicates that soy isoflavones may be risk factors for autism due to their ability to impair iodine metabolism and thyroid function.

• Lima beans and cassava contain cyanogenetic glycosides, which are turned into poisonous hydrogen cyanide when digested.

• Peanut oil causes arterial plaques to form in rats and primates.

• Potatoes contain glycoalkaloid saponins that may aggravate intestinal bowel diseases.

• Two human studies have shown that diets high in potato consumption increase the inflammatory marker IL-6.

• Alfalfa sprouts contain L-canavanine, which can cause lupus.

• Foamy soft drinks contain quillaja extract, which can worsen autoimmune diseases.

• Tomatoes contain saponins, which can cause leaky gut and worsen autoimmune conditions.

• Chili peppers contain capsaicin, which causes intestinal leakage.

• A meta-analysis showed that high blood folate levels were associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.

• A study of 70,656 postmenopausal women showed that dietary folate intake was positively associated with breast cancer risk.

• A study of 1,021 men and women over a ten-year period found that folic acid was associated with higher risks of having three or more cancers.

• A meta-analysis of 118,765 people and nine randomized controlled trials showed that vitamin E increased the risk of hemorrhagic stroke by 22 percent.

• Low vitamin D status increases the risk for sixteen cancers, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, mental illness, osteoporosis, and infectious diseases.

• Chlorine combines with organic matter to produce trihalomethanes, which increase the risk of bladder and colorectal cancers.

• A study involving 1,455 adults showed that even low blood levels of BPA increased the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

• Very high protein diets (187 to 270 grams per day in men and 134 to 246 grams per day in women) can lead to protein toxicity.

• High maternal protein intake increases the risk of fetal mortality.

• A study showed that low-glycemic-index diets led to a 50 percent reduction in the number of women who required medication to control their blood sugar during pregnancy.

• Studies suggest that sufficient consumption of fish during pregnancy may help prevent postpartum depression.

• An analysis of cancer rates in the Inuit from 1950 to 1980 found that breast cancer was absent before 1966.

• A meta-analysis of ten studies involving more than 575,000 subjects showed that high-glycemic-diets increase the risk for developing breast cancer.

• Animal experiments show that omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils stimulate breast cancer growth, while omega-3 fatty acids inhibit breast cancer growth.

• A large meta-analysis showed that omega-3 fatty acids help prevent breast cancer.

• A randomized trial involving 773 subjects demonstrated that high-protein/low-glycemic-index diets were the most effective in keeping weight off.

• A study of 827 children showed that those assigned to low-protein/high-glycemic diets became significantly fatter, whereas overweight and obese children assigned to high-protein/low-glycemic diets lost significant amounts of weight.

• Research has found that diets that avoid wheat and dairy can help reduce symptoms of schizophrenia.

• An epidemiological analysis found that populations eating little or no wheat/rye/barley had very low rates of schizophrenia.

• A review of seven trials found that elimination of wheat and dairy could reduce symptoms of autism.

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living is a book written by kinesiology professor Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney, a physician and low carb researcher. The authors also co-authored The New Atkins for a New You. This post has notes featuring the results of some of the studies cited in the book.

• Examples of low carbohydrate nomadic cultures include the Masai herdsmen in Central Africa, the Bison people of the North American Great Plains, and the Inuit in the Arctic.

• A study showed that fat supplied almost all of the energy used by high caliber cyclists after they had adapted to a ketogenic diet.

• Three recent studies have demonstrated no connection between saturated fat intake and either the frequency of heart attack or death.

• Keto-adapted humans maintain better glucose levels across feeding, fasting, and extremes of exercise than when fed a low fat, high carbohydrate diet.

• Inflammation is a potential underlying cause of insulin resistance and there is also evidence that insulin is associated with inflammation.

• A study demonstrated that highly unsaturated fatty acids in muscle membrane phospholipids are tightly correlated with insulin sensitivity. Studies show that very low calorie ketogenic diets raise the HUFA content in serum phospholipids.

• A study showed that every one of 16 indicators of inflammation went down in a group on a low carbohydrate diet, while none of the markers were significantly lower in the low fat group.

• A study found that women who were insulin resistant lost almost four times as much weight when dietary carbohydrates were restricted.

• A study of type 2 diabetics who cut dietary carbohydrates to 20 grams per day for just 2 weeks showed a dramatic reduction in insulin resistance.

• Insulin sensitivity improved in a study of subjects with metabolic syndrome who were assigned to a low carb diet.

• Data from the Women’s Health Initiative showed that dietary fat restriction in post-menopausal women reduced LDL-C but had no effect on cardiovascular disease outcomes after 8 years.

• A study showed that serum triglycerides declined 51% in people eating a low carbohydrate diet for two weeks, compared to a reduction of only 19% in the low fat group.

• Serum palmitoleic acid predicts the subsequent development of type 2 diabetes.

• An analysis of 87 weight loss studies found that diets lower in carbohydrate were associated with greater fat loss.

• A study found that men who switched from their habitual diet (48% carbohydrate) to a ketogenic diet (12% carbohydrate) for 6 weeks significantly decreased fat mass and increased lean body mass.

• A study showed that the decrease in whole body fat mass was 1.5-fold greater after twelve weeks of a low carbohydrate diet than a low fat diet.

• An overfeeding experiment involving twins showed that the variance between twin pairs in upper body fat or abdominal visceral fat was six times greater than within twin pairs.

• A study found that spontaneous nutrient intake dropped from 3100 to 2100 calories when subjects limited their total daily carbohydrate intake to 20 grams.

• A study showed that leptin (which has proinflammatory effects) declined 42% in response to a low carbohydrate diet.

• Experiments involving seven closely monitored obese insulin-using type 2 diabetics showed that very low carbohydrate ketogenic diets allowed subjects to be withdrawn from insulin therapy in an average of 7 days after starting the VLCKD.

• The mean weight loss of 49 severely obese people in a study in Kuwait was 26kg after 56 weeks.

• There is no evidence that protein intakes above 2.5 g/kg body weight lead to greater accumulation of lean tissue.

• Having different genes would increase or decrease your fitness by as much as 50%.

The book “What is Intelligence?” is written by Dr. James Flynn, a psychology professor and namesake of the Flynn Effect. This post has notes featuring the results of some of the research mentioned in the book.

• The ten subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children ranked from the lowest IQ gains over time to the highest are: Information, Arithmetic, Vocabulary, Comprehension, Picture Completion, Block Design, Object Assembly, Coding, Picture Arrangement, Similarities

• Americans gained 24 points on the Similarities subtest between 1947 and 2002, 4 points on Vocabulary, and only 2 points on Arithmetic and Information.

• In the Netherlands, a huge rate of IQ gain escalated decade after decade from 1952 to 1982.

• Performance among British schoolchildren on conceptualizing volume and heaviness declined by 0.8 SDs between 1975 and 2003.

• From 1971 to 2002, American fourth and eighth graders made a reading gain equivalent to almost 4 IQ points. By the twelfth grade, the reading gain drops off to almost nothing.

• From 1973 to 2000, fourth and eighth graders made mathematics gains equivalent to almost 7 IQ points. By the twelfth grade, the gain drops off to nothing.

• Trends for French 14-year-olds on a test that measures Piagetian tasks put 35 percent of them at the formal level in 1967 and 55 percent in 1996.

• An analysis of twenty-three tests found that Matrices and Similarities had virtually identical loadings as measures of fluid intelligence.

• An analysis concluded that IQ differences between adults are overwhelmingly determined by genetic differences.

• Children fluent in both English and Chinese do only 80 percent as well when given the Digit Span subtest in English as they do when it is administered in Chinese.

• Black Americans gained 5.5 IQ points on white Americans between 1972 and 2002.

• A comparison of the brains of younger and older adults showed that people are often in their early fifties before dendrites reach their greatest number and complexity.

• Research found cases in which damage to the frontal cortex impaired fluid cognition, but not other skills such as Information, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.

• Cognition is linked to brain structures that underlie emotional reactions. Evidence shows that physical trauma to these structures and early childhood emotional trauma can undermine an individual’s problem-solving skills.

• Rhythmic use of large muscle groups stimulates the production of chemicals that cause primitive brain cells to develop into neurons.

• A study found that students who had played video games were extraordinarily quick at counting the number of objects flashed on a screen and at correctly identifying two objects flashed in quick succession.

• A study found that children’s capacity for self-control has twice the weight of their IQs in predicting their grades.

• A study found that what distinguished star performers from average performers at Bell Labs was effective interpersonal strategies.

• Research found that non-cognitive factors (like self-esteem and the degree of control people feel they have over their fate) are just as important, if not more important than, cognitive skills for a wide range of outcomes.

• Data suggest that reproductive patterns may have cost America about one IQ point per generation. Further research argues that most other nations are similar.

• IQ gains are still robust in America but have stopped in Scandinavia.

• A study in Brazil found that the IQ gap between urban children and rural children was 31 IQ points on Raven’s Progressive Matrices and 15 points on the WISC.

• Recent data show that the Sudan joins Kenya and Dominica as developing countries that are making IQ gains.

The Omega Diet is a book by Dr. Artemis Simopoulos, a physician and researcher who conducted research on omega 3 fatty acids and popularized the Mediterranean diet and its use for improving health. This post has notes featuring the results of some of the research mentioned in the book.

• A fifteen-year study showed that men from Crete were healthier than the 12,000 men surveyed in seven other countries (Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Yugoslavia, Japan, and the USA).

• Some wild plants contain more omega-3 fatty acids than cultivated plants.

• A study found that patients on the Crete diet had a 76 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or suffering heart failure, heart attack, or stroke compared to people on the AHA diet.

• A study showed that volunteers on a diet composed of 40 percent fat manufactured little to no triglycerides. The bodies of volunteers on a diet composed of only 10 percent fat manufactured much greater quantities of saturated fat and triglycerides.

• A study found that volunteers reported feeling hungrier on days when they ate foods containing fat substitutes.

• A study found that oils high in omega-6 fatty acids send a message to genes to produce more of the cancer-promoting protein ras p21. By contrast, omega-3 fatty acids make this protein inactive.

• The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids that reduces the risk of cancer and heart disease is a ratio of less than 4 to 1.

• Research shows that the flesh of a wild Cape buffalo that forages in its natural habitat contains nearly six times more omega-3 fatty acids than a similar cut of meat from a grain-fed steer.

• A study of a corn-oil diet showed that it increased the risk of dying from heart disease.

• A study in a veterans’ hospital showed that the group of men assigned to a diet high in omega-6 oils had twice the number of cancer deaths as those on a more traditional diet.

• A study found that omega-3 fatty acid supplements reduced pain from menstrual cramps.

• Fish lowers homocysteine levels.

• A study showed that the blood pressure of women who switched to cooking with olive oil for a month declined from an average of 161/94 to 151/85.

• A study found that men who were given fish oil supplements had a 43 percent increase in nitric oxide production.

• A study revealed that men with the highest levels of inflammation were three times as likely to have a heart attack and twice as likely to have a stroke as men with the lowest levels.

• A study showed that men who ate fatty fish on a regular basis were 42 percent less likely to die from a heart attack than men who did not eat fish.

• A study in rats found that when tumors were infused with omega-3 fatty acids, their growth rate was slowed. When the tumors were infused with omega-6 fatty acids, they grew at a faster rate.

• Multiple experiments show that feeding lab animals linoleic acid makes their tumors grow faster while feeding them omega-3 fatty acids slows tumor growth.

• At least fourteen human studies have linked omega-6 fatty acids with a higher risk of cancer and omega-3 fatty acids with a lower risk.

• A study found that omega-3 fatty acids reduced the proliferation of cells in patients with precancerous colon polyps.

• A study found that omega-3 fatty acids reduced the size of metastatic tumors implanted into animals.

• A study of cancer patients recovering from major gastrointestinal surgery showed that they had a 50 percent reduction in the number of postoperative infections when taking omega-3 supplements.

• A study found that placing mice on a fish oil diet makes chemotherapy ten times more effective.

• A study found that 50 percent of mice on a 5 percent corn oil diet died from chemotherapy toxicity, but there were no deaths in the fish oil group.

• A study found that EPA helped cancer patients with cachexia gain weight.

• A study showed that the difference in weight between mice fed a soybean-oil diet and mice fed a fish-oil diet is comparable to the difference in weight between a 225-pound man and a 150-pound man.

• A study found that people whose muscle cells contain low levels of omega-3 fatty acids and high levels of omega-6 fatty acids are more likely to be insulin resistant and obese.

• A study involving 55 people who were diagnosed with Syndrome X showed that after a year of eating more fish and fewer omega-6 fatty acids they had less insulin resistance, lower body weight, lower blood pressure, and lower triglyceride levels.

• A study found that rats raised on safflower oil made the right choice in a maze test only 60 percent of the time, compared with a 90 percent success rate for rats whose diet contained an adequate amount of omega-3 fatty acids.

• A study found that breast-fed babies and those supplemented with fish oil have similar scores, while those given a standard infant formula have significantly lower scores.

• A study of one hundred boys between the ages of six and twelve found that the children with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids had the fewest learning problems.

• A study of elderly adults found that those who had the lowest levels of DHA at the beginning of the study had a 160 percent greater chance of becoming senile.

• A study in Japan showed that 70% of older patients with cerebro-vascular dementia showed significant signs of improvement after taking 700 to 1,400 mg of DHA every day for six months.

• The traditional Japanese diet contains approximately fifteen times more omega-3 fatty acids than the American diet. Japanese people have only one-tenth the rate of depression of Americans.

• A study found that Australian mental patients whose blood was relatively high in omega-6 fatty acids and low in omega-3 fatty acids were more likely to be severely depressed than those with a more balanced ratio.

• A study found that phosphatidylserine improved mood in elderly depressed women.

• A study found that boys with ADHD have significantly lower levels of both EPA and DHA than those without the disorder. The boys with the most abnormal behavior have the lowest levels of DHA.

• A study found that violent criminals had lower levels of DHA than people without a history of violence.

• A study showed that feeding male monkeys a diet with a high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids resulted in more slapping, pushing, and biting.

• A study found that fish oil helped relieve both positive symptoms and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

• More than a dozen studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids can help relieve symptoms of arthritis.

• A study showed that adults who eat fish at least once a week have better lung function than those who do not eat fish.

• A study showed that asthmatics who took one gram of omega-3 fatty acids a day had a greater improvement in lung capacity than those who took placebos.

• A study of 900 elderly men in the Netherlands found that men whose diets were highest in linoleic acid were most likely to have dementia, while those who ate the most fish had the best mental function.

• A study of 8,960 smokers or former smokers found that people who ate the most fish were 40 percent less likely to have chronic bronchitis and 60 percent less likely to have emphysema.

• A study showed that 59 percent of Crohn’s disease patients in remission who took fish oil supplements were still in remission a year later, compared with only 26 percent of the placebo group.

• A study showed that omega-3 supplements allowed patients with ulcerative colitis to cut their steroid medications in half.

• A study found that patients with IgA nephropathy who started taking 12 grams of fish oil a day had better kidney function than those who did not take fish oil. Four years later, only 10 percent of the fish oil group had died or developed end-stage kidney disease, compared with 40 percent of those in the placebo group.

• A study of nineteen patients with lupus found that replacing omega-6 oils with saturated fat reduced the number of patients with active cases from eleven to three after a year.

• A study showed that 82 percent of patients with active lupus were markedly improved when taking omega-3 supplements, compared to only 28 percent when they were taking placebos.

• A study found that gamma-linolenic acid promotes tumor growth in animals.

• A study showed that patients who took six grams of EPA plus DHA on a daily basis for seven years had no apparent side-effects.

• A study found that vegetarians have only one-half the amount of omega-3s in their tissues as omnivores.

This post links to studies that have used neuroimaging and other tests of brain activity in patients with panic disorder. Antidepressants or benzodiazepines are also typically used to treat panic. Some natural treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, magnesium, and inositol. Neither the pharmaceutical nor the natural solutions are perfect, and anxiety disorders are widespread in the world, so any company that develops a better treatment for panic and other anxiety disorders could earn incredible amounts of money.

• A cerebrospinal fluid study of the pathophysiology of panic disorder associated with alcoholism. (Link)

• A focal brain abnormality in panic disorder, a severe form of anxiety. (Link)

• A key role for orexin in panic anxiety. (Link)

• A new paradigm (Westphal-Paradigm) to study the neural correlates of panic disorder with agoraphobia. (Link)

• A subtle grey-matter increase in first-episode, drug-naive major depressive disorder with panic disorder after 6 weeks’ duloxetine therapy. (Link)

• Abnormal brain hemodynamic responses during passive orthostatic challenge in panic disorder. (Link)

• Abnormal regional benzodiazepine receptor uptake in the prefrontal cortex in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Altered auditory processing in patients with panic disorder: a pilot study. (Link)

• Altered cerebral gamma-aminobutyric acid type A-benzodiazepine receptor binding in panic disorder determined by [11C]flumazenil positron emission tomography. (Link)

• Altered cingulate white matter connectivity in panic disorder patients. (Link)

• Amygdalar atrophy in panic disorder patients detected by volumetric magnetic resonance imaging. (Link)

• An fMRI motor activation paradigm demonstrates abnormalities of putamen activation in females with panic disorder. (Link)

• Anterior cingulate cortex volume reduction in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Association of the functional -1019C/G 5-HT1A polymorphism with prefrontal cortex and amygdala activation measured with 3 T fMRI in panic disorder. (Link)

• Asymmetry of prefrontal cortex activities and catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met genotype in patients with panic disorder during a verbal fluency task: near-infrared spectroscopy study. (Link)

• Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence for altered processing of anxiety-related words in panic disorder. (Link)

• Brain blood flow in anxiety disorders. OCD, panic disorder with agoraphobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder on 99mTcHMPAO single photon emission tomography (SPET). (Link)

• Brain correlates of an unexpected panic attack: a human positron emission tomographic study. (Link)

• Brain perfusion abnormalities in drug-naive, lactate-sensitive panic patients: a SPECT study. (Link)

• Brainstem auditory evoked potentials of panic disorder patients. (Link)

• Brainstem evoked potentials in panic disorder. (Link)

• Caudate regional cerebral blood flow in obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder and healthy controls on single photon emission computerised tomography. (Link)

• Cerebral blood flow changes during sodium-lactate-induced panic attacks. (Link)

• Cerebral blood flow velocity in untreated panic disorder patients: a transcranial Doppler ultrasonography study. (Link)

• Cerebral glucose metabolic differences in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Cerebral glucose metabolism associated with a fear network in panic disorder. (Link)

• Cerebral glucose metabolism in women with panic disorder. (Link)

• Cerebrospinal fluid gamma-aminobutyric acid in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites and neuropeptides in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Changes in cerebral glucose utilization in patients with panic disorder treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. (Link)

• Changes in electrical brain activity in patients with panic disorders. (Link)

• Changes of brain activation pre- post short-term psychodynamic inpatient psychotherapy: an fMRI study of panic disorder patients. (Link)

• Cognitive functions and nonspecific brain systems in patients with panic disorders. (Link)

• Common limbic and frontal-striatal disturbances in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder and hypochondriasis. (Link)

• Correlation of severity of panic disorder and neuroanatomical changes on magnetic resonance imaging. (Link)

• CSF cholecystokinin concentrations in patients with panic disorder and in normal comparison subjects. (Link)

• CSF diazepam-binding inhibitor concentrations in panic disorder. (Link)

• Current findings of fMRI in panic disorder: contributions for the fear neurocircuitry and CBT effects. (Link)

• Damage to the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex induces panic disorder. (Link)

• Decreased benzodiazepine receptor binding in panic disorder measured by IOMAZENIL-SPECT. A preliminary report. (Link)

• Decreased blood flow of temporal regions of the brain in subjects with panic disorder. (Link)

• Decreased brain GABA(A)-benzodiazepine receptor binding in panic disorder: preliminary results from a quantitative PET study. (Link)

• Decreased duration and altered topography of electroencephalographic microstates in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Decreased GABA levels in anterior cingulate and basal ganglia in medicated subjects with panic disorder: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) study. (Link)

• Decreased left temporal lobe volume of panic patients measured by magnetic resonance imaging. (Link)

• Decreased neurokinin-1 (substance P) receptor binding in patients with panic disorder: positron emission tomographic study with [18F]SPA-RQ. (Link)

• Differential activity of subgenual cingulate and brainstem in panic disorder and PTSD. (Link)

• Disorder-specific neuroanatomical correlates of attentional bias in obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and hypochondriasis. (Link)

• Dopamine transporter binding in females with panic disorder may vary with clinical status. (Link)

• Dopaminergic function in panic disorder: comparison with major and minor depression. (Link)

• Duloxetine’s modest short-term influences in subcortical structures of first episode drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder and panic disorder. (Link)

• EEG abnormalities in patients with atypical panic attacks. (Link)

• EEG power modifications in panic disorder during a temporolimbic activation task: relationships with temporal lobe clinical symptomatology. (Link)

• Electrophysiological evidence for an inverse benzodiazepine receptor agonist in panic disorder. (Link)

• Elevated cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels in women with comorbid depression and panic disorder. (Link)

• Enlarged frontal P300 to stimulus change in panic disorder. (Link)

• Evaluation of cerebral blood flow volume using color duplex sonography in patients with untreated panic disorder. (Link)

• Evaluation of regional cerebral blood flow changes in panic disorder with Tc99m-HMPAO SPECT. (Link)

• First episode drug-naïve major depressive disorder with panic disorder: gray matter deficits in limbic and default network structures. (Link)

• fMRI of fearful facial affect recognition in panic disorder: the cingulate gyrus-amygdala connection. (Link)

• Focal paroxysmal EEG changes during atypical panic attacks. (Link)

• Frontal brain asymmetry as a biological substrate of emotions in patients with panic disorders. (Link)

• Frontal brain hypoactivity as a biological substrate of anxiety in patients with panic disorders. (Link)

• Frontal CSF enlargement in panic disorder: a qualitative CT-scan study. (Link)

• Frontal regional homogeneity increased and temporal regional homogeneity decreased after remission of first-episode drug-naïve major depressive disorder with panic disorder patients under duloxetine therapy for 6weeks. (Link)

• Functional MRI changes during panic anticipation and imagery exposure. (Link)

• Gray matter deficits in panic disorder: a pilot study of meta-analysis. (Link)

• High-energy phosphate metabolism in the frontal lobes of patients with panic disorder detected by phase-encoded 31P-MRS. (Link)

• High frequency of EEG and MRI brain abnormalities in panic disorder. (Link)

• Hypofrontality in panic disorder and major depressive disorder assessed by multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy. (Link)

• Impaired GABA neuronal response to acute benzodiazepine administration in panic disorder. (Link)

• Increased benzodiazepine receptor density in the prefrontal cortex in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Increased brainstem volume in panic disorder: a voxel-based morphometric study. (Link)

• Increased left posterior parietal-temporal cortex activation after D-fenfluramine in women with panic disorder. (Link)

• Increased prevalence of white matter hyperintensities in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Independent component analysis applied to pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging (phMRI): new insights into the functional networks underlying panic attacks as induced by CCK-4. (Link)

• Influence of the catechol-O-methyltransferase val158met genotype on amygdala and prefrontal cortex emotional processing in panic disorder. (Link)

• Midbrain volume increase in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• MRI for brain structure and function in patients with first-episode panic disorder. (Link)

• Neural correlates of spontaneous panic attacks. (Link)

• Neuroanatomic correlates of CCK-4-induced panic attacks in healthy humans: a comparison of two time points. (Link)

• Neurobiology in panic states. (Link)

• Neurobiology of panic disorder: from animal models to brain neuroimaging. (Link)

• Neuroelectrical activity related to panic disorder. (Link)

• Panic disorder: is the PAG involved? (Link)

• Parahippocampal gray matter density in panic disorder: a voxel-based morphometric study. (Link)

• Patients with panic attacks and abnormal EEG results. (Link)

• Pituitary volume in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Prediction of panic response to a respiratory stimulant by reduced orbitofrontal cerebral blood flow in panic disorder. (Link)

• Prefrontal cortical gamma-aminobutyric Acid levels in panic disorder determined by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. (Link)

• Preliminary application of magnetic resonance spectroscopy to investigate lactate-induced panic. (Link)

• Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy investigation of hyperventilation in subjects with panic disorder and comparison subjects. (Link)

• Putaminal gray matter volume decrease in panic disorder: an optimized voxel-based morphometry study. (Link)

• Qualitative evaluation of brain structure in CT in panic disorders. (Link)

• Quantitative EEG correlates of panic disorder. (Link)

• rCBF differences between panic disorder patients and control subjects during anticipatory anxiety and rest. (Link)

• Recognition of happy facial affect in panic disorder: an fMRI study. (Link)

• Reduced brain serotonin transporter binding in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Reduced gamma-aminobutyric acid(A)-benzodiazepine binding sites in insular cortex of individuals with panic disorder. (Link)

• Reduced levels of creatine in the right medial temporal lobe region of panic disorder patients detected with (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy. (Link)

• Reduced serotonin type 1A receptor binding in panic disorder. (Link)

• Reductions in occipital cortex GABA levels in panic disorder detected with 1h-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. (Link)

• Regional cerebral metabolic asymmetries replicated in an independent group of patients with panic disorders. (Link)

• Regional gray matter abnormalities in panic disorder: a voxel-based morphometry study. (Link)

• Relationship between the prefrontal function during a cognitive task and the severity of the symptoms in patients with panic disorder: a multi-channel NIRS study. (Link)

• Relaxation-induced EEG alterations in panic disorder patients. (Link)

• Serotonin 5-HT1A receptor binding in people with panic disorder: positron emission tomography study. (Link)

• Sexually dimorphic gray matter volume reduction in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• Shared neural activity in panic disorder and undifferentiated somatoform disorder compared with healthy controls. (Link)

• Single-voxel 1H-MRS investigation of brain metabolic changes during lactate-induced panic. (Link)

• Smaller amygdala is associated with anxiety in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• SPECT [I-123]iomazenil measurement of the benzodiazepine receptor in panic disorder. (Link)

• Temporal lobe abnormalities in panic disorder: an MRI study. (Link)

• Temporal lobe volume in panic disorder–a quantitative magnetic resonance imaging study. (Link)

• The application of positron emission tomography to the study of panic disorder. (Link)

• The change of regional brain metabolism (18FDG PET) in panic disorder during the treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy or antidepressants. (Link)

• The effect of doxapram on brain imaging in patients with panic disorder. (Link)

• The study of panic disorder using positron emission tomography. (Link)

• Tonic arousal and activity: relationships to personality and personality disorder traits in panic patients. (Link)

• Two-dimensional proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging of brain metabolic changes during lactate-induced panic. (Link)

• Unstable prefrontal response to emotional conflict and activation of lower limbic structures and brainstem in remitted panic disorder. (Link)

The future of medicine is an exciting occasion that provides opportunities to cure diseases and improve human health in other ways. The ideas and trends presented in this post aren’t necessarily predictions, but rather possibilities.

Facebook and Regenerative Medicine:

The Facebook IPO could boost investment in regenerative medicine thanks to Peter Thiel’s early investment in the social networking company through his hedge fund Clarium Capital. Thiel is a supporter of organizations that promote longevity, such as the SENS Foundation. Some of his prizes through Breakout Labs have gone to support young researchers working on techniques to extend lifespan.

IT Executives and Health Research:

Speaking of information technology executives and biotechnology research, more tech CEOs could get involved in healthcare investment and innovation as they begin to realize that everything they’ve worked on in their careers is ultimately pointless if they’re going to die anyway. I wrote about this belief in my post Medical Research Gives Life Meaning. When Steve Jobs was in the hospital before his death, he spent time sketching out ideas to improve healthcare delivery. Some examples of technology CEOs becoming involved in health companies as investors or founders are: former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz and CareZone, former AOL CEO Steve Case and Revolution Health, Google executive Sergey Brin and 23andMe, and former Netopia CEO Alan Lefkof and SweetSpot Diabetes Care.

Solving the Ultimate Pain Point:

Venture capitalists often want to know the specific “pain point” that a startup solves for customers. This term refers to the biggest problem or problems faced by customers in a specific industry. Most of the redundant consumer web startups that get mentioned on sites like TechCrunch don’t seem to be reducing pain for their users, or even adding any pleasure to their life. A real pain point is the problem of chronic pain. Millions of people suffer from chronic pain and have to take dangerous medications. There are opportunities for companies that make pharmaceuticals, medical devices, or supplements to solve the problem of chronic pain.

Doctor Watson:

IBM is testing the Watson supercomputer in medical settings. The use of computers in medicine could lead to greater accuracy as well as a greater focus on evidence-based medicine to replace the use of informal medical folk knowledge in diagnosing patients. The automation that has improved productivity and eliminated jobs in other industries may be coming soon to healthcare.

Medical Apps are the Best App Opportunity:

Browsing the Apple or Android app stores shows that most apps are redundant, simplistic, or don’t add any value to the lives of users. Medical apps are superior in at least two ways. First, they can potentially save lives. Medical apps also tend to have a much higher profit margin than other apps, even accounting for the increased quality assurance and verification of accuracy these types of apps require.

Beyond Paleo:

The paleo diet is arguably the most scientifically valid human diet whether you measure it in terms of fat loss, reduction in disease risk, or benefits to health in general. Sadly, even though paleo followers may be aging at a somewhat slower rate than people who eat processed foods, they are still growing older. Expect more paleo researchers to focus on the use of supplements, bioidentical hormones, and medications with a beneficial risk/reward ratio. The future of the primal lifestyle is combining science-based nutrition with science-based medical research.

Nutrigenomics and Paleo Nutrition:

I wonder how many studies on epigenetics are adversely influenced by study subjects eating a standard modern diet instead of the paleo diet. It will be interesting to find out if paleo interventions can favorably alter gene expression in humans.

The Biosphere Diet

An idea for nutrition research is to conduct an experiment that involves study subjects living a biosphere-type environment and eating certain diets depending on whether they participate in the control group or the experimental group. Some nutrition studies (typically called metabolic ward studies) have already been conducted in this manner. The idea here would be to pit the two most newsworthy diets – the paleo diet and the vegan diet – head to head and find how they change certain biomarkers of health and disease throughout the study.

Paleo Wellness Programs:

Most corporate wellness programs are based on obsolete and/or unscientific information. As paleolithic nutrition increases in popularity, health startups could have opportunities to create more effective wellness programs.

Food Addiction:

More researchers (but probably not the public, who likes to cling to outdated and unscientific ideas about personal responsibility) will realize that food addiction shares many commonalities with addiction to drugs and alcohol. Treating food addiction like other addictive behaviors could reduce the global obesity rate.

Water and Public Health:

There will be a growing recognition that water could be the most important global health strategy. Clean water has a role in preventing the tropical diseases that kill or maim millions of people each year.

Stem Cells to Heal Pets Then Humans:

Stem cell therapies from companies such as Vet-Stem, VetCell, and ViaGen are applying regenerative medicine in veterinary settings. Orthopedic injuries in horses and dogs can be successfully treated in ways that give the animals more years free of disability. After regenerative medicine therapies have been used in animals without adverse effects, they could be transferred to humans.

Military Regenerative Medicine:

The government and military are responsible for injuries that American warfighters have sustained in the line of duty. Instead of spending vast sums of money policing the world, the government has a responsibility to restore veterans to full health through the use of tissue engineering, medical devices, and better psychiatric medications.

People as Brains:

Hundreds of studies that touch on the areas of neuroscience, neurology, or genetics indicate that the condition of the brain determines many important outcomes in a person’s life. Thinking of a person as a brain rather than thinking of them as part of a certain demographic group is a more scientific approach to understanding people.

Save the Brain, Save the World:

Most societal problems occur as a result of human brains being incapable of adapting to specific environments. These brain problems result from heredity and problems in infancy or early childhood. Eugenics isn’t necessary. Science-based technologies in the form of more effective medications, stem cell treatments, or gene therapies could repair human brains in ways that allow people to have more fulfilling lives and make useful contributions to the world.

Adjusting Neurochemistry in a Changing World:

Patterns of thinking that may have led to wealth and social success decades ago may no longer be as effective in new situations. Depending on things like how much the amygdala gets activated or how much neuropeptide Y someone has, an individual can live in a peaceful community and be frightened, or live in a dangerous area and feel perfectly fine. Taking specific medications depending on specific situations could improve social and intellectual functioning. Many people already do this with alcohol or caffeine. The key is to develop more precise medications that allow people to accomplish certain tasks with better effectiveness than previous pharmaceutical solutions.

Neurocareers:

Most students pick jobs based on preferences learned from family members or the media. Or they choose a job based on projected salary figures. Maybe they will even take a personality test. All of these career choice techniques are not very precise when compared to making use of a brain scan or genetic analysis.

Outsmarting the Brain:

If the condition of the brain determines important outcomes in life, then people don’t have true free will, since their decisions are constrained by neurological traits in addition to environmental factors. An interesting area of research would focus on finding ways of changing the brain in ways that give people greater power to make successful decisions.

Cryosurgery and Near Death Experiences:

The near death experience is a spiritual phenomenon reported by some survivors of heart attacks or other traumatic experiences such as near-drownings. Some companies are working on cryosurgery and suspended animation techniques that would reduce the impact of trauma and give patients a greater chance of surviving while being transported to a hospital. It will be interesting to find out if more patients report near death experiences after being preserved in this way and then revived.

Older but Stronger Bodybuilders:

With more older men legally obtaining prescriptions for testosterone, they have the opportunity to become stronger than younger males who live unhealthy lifestyles and who can’t obtain restricted hormones. People like Dr. Jeffry Life (a physician who lifts weights) and Nelson Vergel (a bodybuilder who has been HIV-positive for over 25 years) who have the opportunity to use male hormones for legal medical purposes can become stronger than many younger men.

Beyond Bro Science:

“Bro science” is a pejorative term for bodybuilding and strength training recommendations that are based on anecdotal experiences rather than evidence-based studies. As knowledge of how to use PubMed and Google Scholar propagates through bodybuilding forums, maybe the fitness world will focus on scientific studies rather than obsolete knowledge that was never accurate in the first place.

Diabetes in India:

India is becoming one of the most important nations in the global economy. Unfortunately, the health of Indians faces major threats. India combines the typical dangers of infectious diseases in a developing country with modern conditions such as type 2 diabetes and other problems associated with metabolic syndrome. Wealthy Indians would be healthier if they ate more fish and fewer refined carbohydrates. Poor Indians would be healthier if they ate in a way described in the post Perfect Vegetarian Nutrition, which would naturally vary depending on the particular region of India. Supplements such as chromium picolinate, alpha lipoic acid, and vitamin D would also be helpful. Of course, this advice glosses over significant challenges in agriculture and transportation.

Personal Medical Research Consultants:

When people are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease they typically rely on their family doctor and a specialist, such as an oncologist. If the patient is wealthy, sometimes they pay multiple specialists for advice and treatment. A potential new occupation would be a hybrid of a patient advocate and a medical researcher. This person would use Pubmed.org and Clinicaltrials.gov to identify promising evidence-based research and then advocate on behalf of their patient to get the doctor to prescribe certain treatments based on new scientific studies.

Self Monitoring:

Monitoring vital signs while outside of the hospital can provide patients and doctors with a continuous stream of valuable information about health stats. Monitoring devices are getting smaller and cheaper.

The Dividing Line of Science:

Most arguments will turn out to be pointless, since something is either scientific (meaning that it has better explanatory and predictive power than other theories) or it’s not. Many people are genetically and environmentally predisposed to believe in certain things, so attempting to change their mind is pointless until more advanced evidence-based persuasion techniques become available.

Building Brains:

There seem to be several major approaches to building a brain from scratch: reverse-engineering the human brain by sending nanobots through the bloodstream to scan every cell and protein and collecting data, reverse-engineering a “good enough” brain based on current knowledge of neuroanatomy and neurotransmitters, using information in the human genome to build a brain, or building an artificial intelligence based on a set of rules that continuously evolves. Some of the most interesting projects involved with studying the human brain in detail include the Allen Human Brain Atlas, Blue Brain Project, Brains in Silicon, DARPA SyNAPSE, Fast Analog Computing with Emergent Transient States, Human Connectome Project, and Ray Kurzweil’s upcoming “The Mind and How to Build One.”

Preventing Violence by Treating the Brain:

Most angry people are still capable of reining in their violent impulses. They’re able to understand that committing violent acts would lead to being taken away from their family and friends. Some people don’t have that governing system in the brain. The brain is involved in everything a person does in life. Improving neural health is key to preventing violence. A few causes of violent behavior include neurotransmitter imbalances, brain abnormalities, and brain damage. Improving brain health would have one of the largest returns on investment for spending by governmental or charitable organizations. People with traumatic brain injuries or dementia who are currently stuck in prison or nursing homes could be returned to health and start contributing to their families and communities again. Many if not most criminals have ineffective brains due to abuse, toxins, and bad nutrition. Brain scans could be useful to locate people with biological tendencies toward violence.  Instead of infringing on civil liberties, a potential scenario might look like this: A mother recognizes that she has a family history of criminality. She also understands that her child’s father has violent impulses. She wants to break the cycle of violence with her child. Genetic tests and brain scans indicate the child has the possibility of having problems with impulsiveness and criminal behavior. The mother is then able to use counseling, medication, omega-3 supplements, vitamin D, and meditation training to help her child’s brain develop in healthier ways.
It makes sense for governments to invest in brain-based strategies and therapies. The initial cost of improving a population’s neurological health would be paid back many times over since fewer people would end up in prisons, people would have more years of disability-free living, and country focused on brain health would out-compete all of its rivals.

Making a New Source of Protein:

There are efforts going on to create a replacement for meat, including organizations like New Harvest and PETA’s $1 Million Challenge. Scientists are publishing papers in the field of in vitro meat. Emulating meat is a tough problem and it’s hard to recreate the result of veins and muscles in replicated meat. I still think it’s a worthy goal. If you really want to develop protein that can enhance the brains of people – especially the brains of children in poor places without access to good nutrition – it might make sense to develop an entirely new type of food rather than copying meat. What if a new source of protein was genetically engineered?  This could take the form of a large protein-rich nut. This would also benefit parts of the world where meat is too expensive for people to afford. It would expand the accessibility of protein, which is very important to human growth and health.

How to Get Free Will:

I’m very skeptical of free will. It’s still important to understand that even though something doesn’t currently exist, it could still be created at some point in the future. While people are heavily influenced by genes and environment, it may be possible to help people achieve greater freedom of choice through brain training. Practice and feedback might allow people to gain more control over their actions. Enhancing activity in the prefrontal cortex might finally give impulsive people a way to think before they act. Even though free will probably doesn’t exist, it might be possible with the right technology.

Freedom Doesn’t Matter if You’re Dead:

Discussions about how to organize societies should focus on how decisions impact human lifespan, not amorphous qualities like civil liberties or economic freedom. neither constitutional amendments nor expansion of government surveillance matter if a person is dead. Discussions should focus on identifying the private citizens, corporations, governments, and other organizations that pose the biggest threat to human life. The next step is quarantining them or using other techniques to prevent them from harming people. Medical and scientific evidence should be prioritized over legal opinion. People like the feeling of autonomy, so leaders should give their followers the illusion of having choices in life.

Finding Medical Information with Today’s Technology:

This last idea isn’t necessarily a trend, but a useful technique for finding medical information. The intitle search operator is a useful advanced search option for finding sites that discuss specific medical conditions or news about certain biotechnology companies or medical research organizations. Google Scholar is also a helpful resource in addition to PubMed. You can look up the title of a specific medical paper on Google Scholar to find later papers that cited it. If you have some favorite scientific papers, this is a good way to track how other researchers respond to them.

The book “Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever” is a book written by Ray Kurzweil and Dr. Terry Grossman about strategies for health and longevity. The authors went on to write the book Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever. This post has notes describing some of the research cited in the book.

• When the body’s limited supply of alkaline buffers is defeated, toxic acidic waste products accumulate in the body, causing significant health damage.

• Routine consumption of soft drinks containing phosphoric acid is a a risk factor for bone loss.

• Of the three sources of calories (carbohydrates, fat, and protein) carbohydrates are the only one not necessary for survival.

• Eliminating high-glycemic-index foods from the diet leads to fewer carbohydrate cravings and better appetite control.

• High glycemic load diets are strongly associated with blood markers of metabolic syndrome such as elevated triglycerides.

• Reducing the amount of high glycemic load carbohydrates in the diet prevents metabolic syndrome from turning into type 2 diabetes.

• Reducing glucose consumption helps prevent cancer cells from turning into tumors.

• Aspartame can cause an imbalance of amino acids and neurotransmitters in the brain.

• Omega-6 fats encourage inflammation, while omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory.

• Research shows a possible link between a high level of consumption of alpha-linolenic acid and the incidence of prostate cancer.

• When oils are heated to very high temperatures (above 320 degrees Fahrenheit), toxic chemicals such as acrylamides and cyclic monomers are formed.

• Trans-fatty acids raise triglyceride levels, interfere with the body’s detoxification systems, raise levels of the heart disease risk factor Lp(a), decrease testosterone levels, and increase insulin resistance.

• Supplementing 6 to 9 grams of arginine per day reduces atherosclerosis and improves blood vessel health.

• Supplements such as enteric-coated peppermint oil and Seacure can help treat irritable bowel syndrome.

• A study found that drinking at least two cups of tea a day reduces the risk of dying from a heart attack by 44 percent.

• The carcinogen acrylamide is formed when carbohydrate-rich foods are prepared with high-temperature cooking processes such as baking and frying.

• Elevated blood glucose leads to the formation of aged glycation end products, which accelerate the aging process.

• A study found that one out of three individuals in the highest third percentile for insulin levels suffered an adverse clinical event such as a heart attack or stroke over the six years of the study, compared with a complete absence of such clinical events among people in the lowest third.

• Alpha lipoic acid improves insulin-stimulated glucose disposal.

• Fish oil enables insulin to move glucose into cells more effectively.

• Biotin may combat insulin resistance when administered with chromium picolinate.

• Arginine helps reduce insulin resistance.

• Metformin may offer anti-aging benefits.

• Testosterone supplementation may prevent or treat insulin resistance in men.

• Silent inflammation is a potent cardiovascular risk factor.

• The herpes simplex type 1 virus in combination with Apo E4 can be a trigger for Alzheimer’s disease.

• A study of more than 14,000 women showed that those who took aspirin regularly had less than half the rate of the most common type of lung cancer.

• Consuming sugar or high-glycemic carbohydrates increases the insulin level, which stimulates production of arachidonic acid and the amount of inflammation in the body.

• Consuming fish and fish oil is a way to decrease inflammation.

• A stud found that chronic exposure to stress significantly raises levels of the inflammatory compound interleukin-6.

• An analysis of 11 studies showed that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation alone decreased mortality in patients with heart disease.

• Infections and inflammation of gum tissues are potential risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

• Research found that men in the top third of C-reactive protein have over twice the rate of heart attacks as men in the lowest third.

• A study of nearly 15,000 male physicians found that men in the upper percentiles of homocysteine were three times more likely to experience a heart attack.

• Patients with the highest homocysteine levels have up to four and a half times the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Supplementation with vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folic acid can lower homocysteine levels and help prevent the diseases that result from elevated levels.

• A meta-analysis of 12 studies found that homocysteine levels could be lowered 33 percent with a combination of 500 to 5,000 micrograms of folic acid, plus 500 micrograms of vitamin B12.

• The European Concerted Action Project found that each 5-point increase in homocysteine level was associated with an increased cardiovascular risk of 35 percent in men and 42 percent in women.

• A study showed that houseplants can reduce airborne toxins such as benzene and formaldehyde.

• Heavy metals and fat-soluble toxins may be partially excreted in sweat.

• Golf course superintendents have an increased incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain and prostate cancer, and neurological illness.

• Oil refinery workers suffer increased rates of mortality from several different types of cancers.

• Chimney sweeps suffer excess mortality from numerous diseases.

• Electromagnetic radiation can cause DNA damage.

• Arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, and nickel can cause tumor development and inhibit the body’s ability to repair damaged DNA.

• Children in Inuit communities who eat a diet very high in seafood suffer a higher incidence of neurobehavioral problems from mercury exposure.

• Mercury has negative effects on immune-system function.

• Larger fish have a much higher mercury content and should not be eaten.

• Studies have found that angioplasty and bypass surgery do not prevent further coronary events.

• HDL cholesterol provides protection by interfering with the inflammatory process.

• Very low cholesterol levels can increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

• A study found that over a four-week period, gugulipid reduced triglycerides by 16.8 percent and increased HDL by 60 percent.

• A study of 1,000 male heart patients found that vitamin E reduced heart attacks by 75 percent.

• Phosphatidylcholine can remove cholesterol from artery plaque.

• A study of 10.874 men showed that people with stage 1 hypertension had a 50 percent higher risk of dying of coronary heart disease.

• Excessive levels of fibrinogen increase the likelihood of a clot forming when the fibrous cap of a vulnerable plaque ruptures.

• There is a strong link between hypothyroidism and heart disease risk factors.

• Enhanced external counterpulsation reduces angina pain and improves cardiac function in patients with heart failure.

• A study that followed 261 bypass patients over five years found significant and lasting decline in mental status.

• A study of more than 22,000 people in Greece found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet had a 24 percent decrease in total incidence of cancer.

• Lycopene is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer.

• Cancer cells utilize sugar as their predominant food for growth.

• A study found that a high-glycemic-load diet significantly increased the risk of colon cancer in women.

• Lower mortality rates are seen with higher amounts of UV B exposure for cancers of the bladder, esophagus, kidney, lung, pancreas, rectum, and stomach.

• Increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids and decreased consumption of omega-6 fatty acids can be protective against melanoma.

• Agricultural workers are at higher risk of cancers.

• Vitamin C combined with selenium can induce cells to remain benign instead of turning cancerous.

• Curcumin can help prevent colon cancer.

• A review of 27 studies showed that melatonin is an anticancer substance.

• A review of 34 studies showed a direct link between low folic acid levels and cancers of the colon and breast.

• A study in Canada found that middle-aged and older individuals who engage in intellectually stimulating and challenging products are less likely to suffer declines in cognitive functioning.

• Supplements that improve or maintain cognitive function include vinpocetine, phosphatidylserine, acetyl-L-carnitine, ginkgo biloba, fish oil, and phosphatidylcholine.

• Men with higher DHEA levels are less likely to die of cardiovascular disease.

• DHEA can lower the levels of inflammatory substances such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha.

• Research shows that DHEA can block the ability of cells to divide uncontrollably, a hallmark of cancer cells.

• Double-blind placebo-controlled studies show that melatonin supplementation can improve sleep patterns in people over 55.

• A study found that bio-identical estrogen replacement therapy helped with osteoporosis prevention in women over 65.

• A study demonstrated that 83 percent of women who used 20 milligrams of bio-identical progesterone skin cream daily experienced improvement or complete resolution of their hot flashes.

• A study found that whereas topical estradiol cream increased breast-cell growth by 230 percent, topical progesterone caused a 400 percent decrease.

• Indole-3-carbinol reduces the level of estradiol in men.

• A double-blind placebo-controlled study showed that inflammation was reduced by 32 percent if patients simply took a multivitamin each day.

• More than 50 genetic disease have been identified involving defective vitamin-cofactor binding sites that can be corrected by aggressive nutritional supplementation.

• A study of 150 consecutive patients who complained of nonspecific musculoskeletal aches and pains found that 93 percent had low levels of vitamin D.

• Grapeseed proanthocyanidin extract enhances the growth of healthy cells while simultaneously attacking several types of malignancies.

• Carnosine may reduce the rate of aging.

• Lutein and other bioflavonoids can help prevent or delay the occurrence of age-related macular degeneration.

• Saw palmetto treats benign prostatic hyperplasia.

• Garlic extract can lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

• A study found that obese yet fit men were less likely to die of heart disease and other causes than lean yet unit men.

• A study reported that people who become angry easily have a threefold increase in risk of a heart attack or sudden cardiac death.

• A study of 118 lawyers found that those who had had higher scores for hostility during law school 25 years earlier had a death rate from heart disease that was more than four times higher over the following 25-year period than those with low scores.

• A 25-year follow-up study of 255 physicians showed that hostile physicians were six times more likely to die than those who had low hostility scores.

• A study found that meditation lowered blood pressure, improved sleep patterns, improved gastrointestinal function, and improved blood flow.

• A study of elderly people found that regular meditation reduced mortality rates and improved mental acuity.

Bypassing Bypass Surgery is a book by Dr. Elmer Cranton. The book describes the benefits of chelation therapy for treating cardiovascular problems. This post has notes featuring information from some of the studies mentioned in the book.

• A study showed that EDTA chelation therapy led to a highly significant increase in blood flow to the brain in patients with atherosclerosis.

• A report showed that a 29-year-old woman who had a history of anginal-type chest pain had no plaque and a completely normal left coronary artery, without any evidence of atherosclerosis or other mechanical obstruction.

• A review of studies showed no correlation between blood cholesterol levels and extent of atherosclerosis observed at autopsy or during surgery.

• A study of 1,250 persons who died suddenly and unexpectedly of heart disease found that sudden-death victims had participated less in high-intensity leisure time exercise than a matched group who were more active and had a lower sudden-death incidence.

• A study of 2,779 Los Angeles policemen and firemen found that the incidence of heart attack can be dramatically lowered with twenty or thirty minutes of vigorous exercise three or four times a week.

• A study in Italy showed that when heart muscle was starved for circulation in coronary artery disease, intracellular levels of zinc increased by 300 percent, cobalt increased 600 percent, chromium increased 800 percent, and iron increased 500 percent.

• A study found high accumulations of aluminum in the brains of patients from Guam who had died of either amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Parkinsonism dementia.

• A study showed that deferoxamine, an iron chelating agent, led to improvements in intelligence and memory in Alzheimer’s patients. The untreated control group did not improve.

• A study showed that mortality from cancer decreased by 90 percent during an eighteen-year follow-up of 59 patients treated with EDTA chelation therapy.

• A study in Japan found that EDTA injected intravenously into mice increased the blood concentration of interferon anywhere from four to twelve times.

• A study of four patients with gangrenous lower extremities showed that EDTA chelation therapy protected them from amputation and improved their ability to walk pain-free.

• A study in Denmark found that chelation therapy led to improvement in 90 percent of 265 patients with coronary artery disease and narrowing of blood vessels. 58 of 65 candidates who had been referred for bypass surgery before chelation were able to avoid surgery with the help of chelation therapy. Of 27 patients awaiting foot or leg amputation, 24 were able to avoid surgery.

• A retrospective study in Brazil of 2,870 patients with atherosclerosis and related degenerative conditions showed that chelation led to marked improvement in 77 percent of patients, good improvement in 17 percent of patients, and partial improvement in 4 percent of patients.

• A meta-analysis of 22,765 patients treated with chelation therapy showed that 87 percent of those patients experienced favorable outcomes.

• A report found that nineteen out of twenty patients suffering from chest pain had a remarkable improvement in symptoms after EDTA chelation.

• The results of the Harvard Nurses Health study showed that women who ate the equivalent of four or more teaspoons of margarine daily had a 66 percent greater risk of developing heart disease than women whose consumption was very low or who didn’t consume the synthetic butter substitute at all. There was no indication that butter itself led to any increased cardiovascular risk.

• A study in Sweden of men who survived a first heart attack found that those who quit smoking had nearly half the death rate of those who continued to smoke.

• An analysis of 1,101 consecutive patients with coronary heart disease showed that there was no significant difference in the survival rate between those who who were treated surgically and those who were treated nonsurgically.

• A study of 686 patients with stable angina who were followed for twenty-two years showed that long-term survival rates were comparable in both treatment groups.

• The Coronary Artery Surgery Study, which followed 780 patients for more than twelve years, showed that 92 percent of surgical patients and 90 percent of nonsurgical patients were still alive after six years. The researchers concluded that tens of thousands of bypass operations every year were unnecessary and could be eliminated.

• A study showed that in 32 percent of readings by radiologists, their second evaluation of an image differed from the first evaluation of that same image.

• Data shows that patients whose conditions are stable after a myocardial infarction and who are nonetheless treated with angiography and invasive procedures have a 71 percent higher mortality rate at hospital discharge, a 60 percent increase in death rate thirty days after discharge, and a 30 percent increased death rate at forty-four months’ follow-up, compared to myocardial infarction patients treated conservatively.

• A study of 1,018 patients who were randomized into two groups found that death and nonfatal myocardial infarction occurred in 6.3 percent of patients who received percutaneous transluminal coronary balloon angioplasty, compared with only 3.3 percent of nonsurgically treated patients.

Disease Prevention and Treatment is an incredibly detailed book from the Life Extension Foundation. This post lists supplements that have scientific evidence backing their use in preventing or treating various conditions. The book also lists medications and lifestyle changes that can help in treating medical conditions. The effectiveness of some of these supplements are based on studies involving cells or mice rather than human beings, so it’s a good idea to check PubMed for further research. For updated information on the treatment of these conditions, please see the LEF Protocols.

Acetaminophen Poisoning: N-acetylcysteine, milk thistle, polyenylphosphatidylcholine

Acne: vitamin B5, vitamin E, zinc, chromium

Addison’s Disease: DHEA

ADHD: essential fatty acids, DMAE, multivitamin, zinc, magnesium, American ginseng, ginkgo biloba, spirulina

Age-Associated Mental Impairment: acetyl-L-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, glycerylphosphorylcholine, coenzyme Q10, fish oil, DHEA, B vitamins, vitamin C, beta-carotene, vinpocetine, ginkgo biloba, phosphatidylserine, piracetam

Alcohol Damage: vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, N-acetyl-cysteine, SAMe, probiotics, magnesium, silibinin (milk thistle extract), polyenylphosphatidylcholine

Allergies: essential fatty acids, coenzyme Q10, vitamin E, flavonoids, N-acetyl-cysteine, magnesium, ginkgo biloba, probiotics, bifido bacteria, fructo-oligosaccharides, L-glutamine

Alzheimer’s Disease: vitamin E, ginkgo biloba, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, flavonoids, curcumin, essential fatty acids, vitamin B12, folate, SAMe, phosphatidylserine, inositol, vitamin K, idebenone, melatonin, DHEA, thiamine pyrophosphate, pyridoxamine, carnosine, huperzine A, Kami-Untan-To

Amnesia: phosphatidylcholine, ginkgo biloba, vitamin B12, picamilon, pregnenolone, DHEA

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: methylcobalamin, SAMe, antioxidants, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, zinc, copper, N-acetyl-cysteine, vitamin C, vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid, vitamin B12, acetyl-L-carnitine, genistein, coenzyme Q10, creatine, magnesium, vitamin D, calcium, thiamin, ginseng

Anemia/Thrombocytopenia/Leukopenia: vitamin B12, folic acid, melatonin

Anesthesia and Surgical Precautions: coenzyme Q10, L-arginine, L-ornithine, glutamine

Anxiety and Stress: theanine, Asian ginseng

Arthritis: nettle leaf, SAMe, nexrutine, ginger, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin E, selenium, gamma linolenic acid, MSM, copper, curcumin

Asthma: selenium, magnesium, vitamin E, vitamin C, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, glutathione, curcumin, milk thistle, lycopene, quercetin, ginkgo leaf, omega 3 fatty acids

Atherosclerosis: folic acid, vitamin B12, trimethylglycine, vitamin B6, creatine, choline, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, omega 3 oils, curcumin, garlic, ginger, ginkgo biloba, green tea extract, policosanol

Autoimmune Diseases: fish oil, vitamin E, DHEA

Bacterial Infections: lactoferrin, oregano oil, bromelain, arginine, honey, bee propolis, zinc, goldenseal, garlic

Breast Cancer: indole-3-carbinol, curcumin, green tea, conjugated linoleic acid, caffeine, melatonin, methylselenocysteine, coenzyme Q10, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D, vitamin E succinate, tocotrienols

Cancer: alpha lipoic acid, carotenoids, coenzyme Q10, conjugated linoleic acid, berberine, feverfew, ginger, green tea, curcumin, omega 3 fatty acids, garlic, glutamine, inositol hexaphosphate, lactoferrin, melatonin, modified citrus pectin, N-acetyl-cysteine, resveratrol, selenium, milk thistle, soy, theanine, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin D, whey protein, caffeine, aloe vera, bindweed, proteolytic enzymes, chlorophyllin, se-methylselenocysteine, folic acid

Candida: probiotics, oregano oil, lactoferrin

Cardiovascular Disease: fish oil, DHEA, vitamin K, nettle leaf extract, green tea, ginkgo, garlic, vitamin E, vitamin A, beta carotene, folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, vitamin C, trimethylglycine, coenzyme Q10, alpha lipoic acid, L-arginine, artichoke extract, calcium, carnitine, carnosine, chondroitin sulfate, chromium, conjugated linoleic acid, curcumin, ginger, citrus pectin, gugulipid, hawthorn, magnesium, policosanol, polyenylphosphatidylcholine, potassium, flavonoids, selenium, taurine, thiamine

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: vitamin B6

Catabolic Wasting: fish oil, glutamine, whey protein, conjugated linoleic acid

Cataracts: bioflavonoids, carotenoids, vitamin C, garlic, N-acetylcysteine, melatonin, vitamin E, acetyl-L-carnitine, carnosine, alpha lipoic acid

Cerebral Vascular Disease: L-arginine, piracetam, carnosine, CDP-choline, ginkgo biloba, alpha linolenic acid, fish oil, vitamin C, alpha lipoic acid, calcium, magnesium, selenium, SAMe, policosanol, garlic, vitamin A, B vitamins, melatonin, vinpocetine, theanine, resveratrol

Cervical Dysplasia: vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin B6, vitamin C, indole-3-carbinol, folic acid, lycopene, alpha-carotene, selenium, zinc

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: B vitamins, essential fatty acids, coenzyme Q10, NADH, carnitine, magnesium, DHEA, whey protein

Chronic Pain: phenylalanine, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, melatonin, vitamin B1, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, magnesium, boron, ashwaganda, curcumin, Devil’s claw, feverfew, ginger, fish oil, GLA

Colorectal Cancer: calcium, folate, vitamin D, vitamin C, multivitamin, selenium, curcumin, green tea, selenium, resveratrol, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin E, tocotrienols, modified citrus pectin

Common Cold: vitamin C, zinc gluconate, astragalus, black elderberry, shiitake, maitake, melatonin, garlic, andrographis, lactoferrin

Constipation: pantothenic acid, psyllium, vitamin C

Crohn’s Disease: omega 3 fatty acids, DHEA

Cushing’s Syndrome: DHEA, melatonin

Depression: SAMe, St. John’s Wort, omega 3 fatty acids, Asian ginseng, DHEA, B vitamins, inositol, vitamin D, vitamin C

Diabetes (Type 2): alpha lipoic acid, bilberry, biotin, carnitine, carnosine, chromium, coenzyme Q10, conjugated linoleic acid, DHEA, omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, silymarin, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K

Digestive Disorders: artichoke leaf extract, radish extract, phosphatidylcholine

Disease Prevention: folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin A, beta-carotene, multivitamin, vitamin E, garlic, selenium, alpha-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, acetyl-L-carnitine, lipoic acid, DHEA, ellagic acid, apigenin, luteolin, coenzyme Q10, nettle leaf extract, benfotiamine, carnosine, essential fatty acids, quercetin, vinpocetine, vitamin D, SAMe, indole-3-carbinol, resveratrol, melatonin

Emphysema and COPD: vitamin A

Epilepsy: B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, selenium, zinc, saiko-keishi-to, taurine, alanine

Esophageal Reflux: deglycyrrhizinated licorice

Exercise Enhancement: vitamin C, vitamin E, whey protein, fish oil, creatine

Fibrocystic Breast Disease: conjugated linoleic acid, essential fatty acids, evening primrose oil, pancreatic enzymes

Fibromyalgia: fish oil, MSM, melatonin, B vitamins

Gingivitis: coenzyme Q10, calcium, folic acid, green tea

Glaucoma: coleus forskohlii, magnesium, alpha lipoic acid, thiamine, vitamin C, omega 3 fatty acids

Hearing Loss: alpha lipoic acid, ginkgo biloba, vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, copper, iodine, arginine, carnitine, methionine, glutathione, taurine, coenzyme Q10

Heavy Metal Toxicity: vitamin C, vitamin E, alpha lipoic acid, glutathione, lactoferrin, selenium, cilantro, garlic, glycine, chlorella, rutin, SAMe, silibinin

Hemochromatosis: black tea, vitamin E, calcium

Hepatitis B: vitamin E, selenium, milk thistle

Hepatitis C: polyenylphosphatidylcholine, milk thistle, licorice root extract, lactoferrin

Herpes: garlic, lactoferrin, L-lysine, melissa officinalis cream, monolaurin, probiotics, propolis, proteolytic enzymes, thymus extract, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, turmeric

HIV/AIDS: vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin E, selenium, zinc, vitamin C, N-acetyl-cysteine, alpha lipoic acid, whey protein, SAMe, beta-carotene, lactoferrin, coenzyme Q10, L-carnitine, olive leaf extract, boxwood, DHEA, melatonin

Hyperparathyroidism: calcium, vitamin D, magnesium

Hypertension: essential fatty acids, B vitamins, arginine, coenzyme Q10, vitamin C, vitamin E, garlic, potassium, magnesium

Immune Enhancement: vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, zinc, selenium, probiotics, lactoferrin, echinacea, grape seed extract, whey protein, L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, DHEA, melatonin

Inflammation: fish oil

Influenza: melatonin, black elderberry, lactoferrin, echinacea, alpha lipoic acid, green tea, garlic, curcumin, whey protein, vitamin C, zinc, selenium

Insomnia: melatonin, passionflower, folate

Irritable Bowel Syndrome: enteric coated peppermint oil, caraway oil, probiotics

Jet Lag: melatonin

Kidney Disease: potassium/magnesium citrate, calcium, folic acid, vitamin B12, trimethylglycine, vitamin B6, vitamin E, L-carnitine, curcumin, ginkgo biloba, grape seed extract, green tea, taurine

Leukemia and Lymphoma: vitamin A, vitamin D, genistein, curcumin, green tea, essential fatty acids, DHEA, alpha lipoic acid, shark liver oil, resveratrol

Liver Cirrhosis: B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, zinc, coenzyme Q10, N-acetyl-cysteine, SAMe, polyenylphosphatidylcholine, alpha lipoic acid, acetyl-L-carnitine, taurine, branched chain amino acids, silymarin, green tea, artichoke leaf extract

Liver Degenerative Disease: zinc, acetyl-L-carnitine, vitamin C, coenzyme Q10, N-acetyl-cysteine, alpha lipoic acid, SAMe, phosphatidylcholine, silymarin, branched chain amino acids

Lupus: fish oil, DHEA

Macular Degeneration: lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin E, omega 3 fatty acids, N-acetyl-carnosine

Male Health: zinc, saw palmetto, nettle extract, chrysin, muira puama

Menopause: soy, black cohosh, glycyrrhetic acid, chaste tree berry, natural progesterone cream, indole-3-carbinol, fish oil, vitamin E

Migraine: feverfew, magnesium, riboflavin, coenzyme Q10, butterbur root, melatonin

Multiple Sclerosis: essential fatty acids, vitamin D, selenium, vitamin B12, magnesium, curcumin, acetyl-L-carnitine

Muscle Building: DHEA, alpha lipoic acid, glutamine, creatine, HMB, conjugated linoleic acid

Muscular Dystrophy: vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, selenium, B vitamins, creatine

Myofascial Syndrome: SAMe

Nail Health: zinc, biotin

Neuropathy: alpha lipoic acid, taurine, carnitine, essential fatty acids, N-acetyl-cysteine, vitamin B12, vitamin E, zinc

Obesity: conjugated linoleic acid, guarana, essential fatty acids, chromium, magnesium, fiber

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: inositol, tryptophan, vitamin B6

Osteoporosis: soy, magnesium, calcium, vitamin K

Pancreatic Cancer: vitamin C, green tea, folate, lycopene, selenium, pancreatic enzymes, monoterpenes, gamma linolenic acid, fish oil, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D, quercetin, selenium, beta-carotene, mistletoe

Parkinson’s Disease: coenzyme Q10, tyrosine, tryptophan, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B6, octacosanol, coffee

Phobias: DHEA, melatonin, inositol, theanine

Premenstrual Syndrome: calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B6, vitamin E, evening primrose oil, chasteberry

Prostate Cancer: lycopene, selenium, vitamin E, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D

Prostate Enlargement: saw palmetto, nettle root extract, pygeum

Retinopathy: vitamin E, vitamin C, L-carnitine, lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin B12, green tea, silibinin

Scleroderma: DMSO, essential fatty acids, vitamin E, boswella, centella asiatica

Seasonal Affective Disorder: tryptophan, vitamin D

Sjogren’s Syndrome: essential fatty acids, DHEA, zinc

Skin Aging: topical vitamin C, alpha lipoic acid cream, DMAE cream, topical vitamin A, topical DHEA, topical melatonin

Thrombosis Prevention: policosanol, aged garlic, inositol hexa-nicotinate, ginkgo biloba, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin E, vitamin K, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, curcumin, DHEA, quercetin, catechin, green tea, lycopene, grape juice, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, onion

Thyroid Deficiency: iodine, selenium

Tinnitus: ginkgo biloba, melatonin, B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, vinpocetine

Trauma: piracetam, vitamin E, pregnenolone, vitamin C, selenium, N-acetyl-cysteine, fish oil, arginine, vitamin A, DHEA

Urinary Tract Infection: cranberry juice, probiotics

Vertigo: ginkgo biloba, vinpocetine, coenzyme Q10, piracetam

Wound Healing: arginine, vitamin C, zinc, gotu kola, aloe vera, glutamine, copper, vitamin B5, bromelain, curcumin

Ulcerative Colitis: fish oil, butyrate, glutamine, folate

The Life Extension Revolution is a book written by Dr. Philip Lee Miller, founder of the Los Gatos Longevity Institute. This post has notes featuring information from some of the studies mentioned in the book.

• A study found that mothers caring for children with severe disabilities had DNA which resembled the DNA of much older women.

• A study found that DHEA supplementation increased bone mineral density in both men and women after just six months.

• A study of DHEA replacement therapy involving about 300 men and women between the ages of 60 and 80 showed that DHEA supplementation greatly improved the color, tone, thickness, and hydration of the subjects’ skin.

• The DHEAage study in France showed that DHEA reduced body fat and increased lean body mass in both men and women.

• Research in Germany found that DHEA reduces feelings of anxiety and depression in women with adrenal dysfunction.

• A study in Italy found that DHEA therapy helped significantly with mood and emotional symptoms common in postmenopausal women.

• A study involving elderly but otherwise healthy men showed that DHEA supplementation led to dramatic increases in several areas of immune function, including T-cell activity, natural killer cell activity, B-cells, and monocytes.

• Studies found that progesterone therapy reduced fibrous breast lumps.

• A study in Germany found that 92 percent of women using estriol got relief from hot flashes, with hot flashes completely eliminated for 71 percent.

• Over two hundred published studies show that low testosterone levels due to aging are a risk factor for disease, disability, and even death.

• A study found that 40 percent of people who were already taking thyroid medications still had abnormally high TSH levels.

• A study in Denmark lasting three years showed that the anti-aging effects of growth hormone can be sustained with long-term therapy, without adverse effects.

• A study in Italy involving several hundred healthy seniors showed that acetyl-L-carnitine improves cognitive functioning and emotional well-being.

• A study found that acetyl-L-carnitine reduced age-related hearing loss by preserving the mitochondrial function in the inner ear and the auditory nerves.

• A study showed that seniors suffering from age-associated memory loss had improved performance on tests of memory and learning after taking phosphatidylserine for twelve weeks.

• A study of otherwise healthy elderly subjects suffering from age-related cognitive decline showed that hydergine treatment led to increased cognitive scores, memory, learning, and recall.

• A study found that subjects using modafinil had virtually no degradation of brain function after staying awake for sixty straight hours.

• Analysis of data from studies involving over 60,000 people showed that those with elevated levels of C-reactive protein or fibrinogen have several times the incidence of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke as those with lower levels.

• An analysis of twenty-two major clinical studies found that lowering cholesterol does not reduce mortality and is unlikely to prevent coronary heart disease.

• A study found that aminoguanidine increased walking distance by 50 percent in patients who were suffering from arterial blockages.