LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE, MARCH 2 2001
IN THIS ISSUE, MARCH 2 2001: LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE EXCLUSIVE: Higher
vitamin C levels associated with lower mortality from all causes;
PROTOCOL: Prevention; FEATURED PRODUCTS OF THE WEEK: Life Extension Mix,
Dual-C; Book: Disease Prevention and Treatment; LIFE EXTENSION MAGAZINE:
In the News - Vitamin supplements reduce cataract incidence by 60%
LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE EXCLUSIVE
Higher vitamin C levels related to lower mortality from all causes
By such processes as free radical scavenging, protecting lipid membranes,
and contributing to collagen and hormone production, vitamin C is involved
in the prevention of a number of chronic diseases, including heart disease
and cancer. In a study to appear in tomorrow's issue of the medical
journal The Lancet, researchers from Cambridge University in England
sought to confirm the association between serum vitamin C levels and
mortality from all causes as well as specifically from cardiovascular
disease, ischemic heart disease and cancer. They found an inverse
correlation between vitamin C levels and all cause mortality over a four
year period.
The study participants were part of a prospective population study of men
and women ages 45 to 79 in the United Kingdom, from whom the researchers
recruited 19,496 subjects. At the beginning of the study participants
were clinically examined and completed a health and lifestyle
questionnaire and food intake diaries. Serum ascorbic acid levels were
measured one year into the study. Causes of death were followed up and
validated for four years.
In the group having the highest serum vitamin C concentrations the risk of
all cause mortality in the four year period was half that of the group who
had the lowest vitamin C concentrations. This inverse relationship of
ascorbic acid levels to mortality was consistent throughout the different
levels of ascorbic acid concentration. Mortality from cardiovascular
disease and ischemic heart disease was also inversely correlated with
ascorbic acid levels, as was cancer in men. Ascorbic acid levels were not
correlated with a lower risk of cancer death for women during the four
year period, which the researchers speculated could be related to the
different types of cancer diagnosed in men and women.
The increase in serum vitamin C was correlated with an increase in dietary
consumption of fruits and vegetables. An increase in vitamin C equivalent
to consuming one extra serving of a fruit or vegetable per day was
determined to be associated with a 20% reduction in the risk of all-cause
mortality. The researchers conclude that small changes in intake of
vitamin C could have large effects.
PROTOCOL
Prevention
The Vitamin C Controversy
Does vitamin C cause kidney stones? That's what some doctors still say,
but a report from Harvard Medical School showed no increased risk of
kidney stones when evaluating 85,557 women over a 14 year study period.
This report, published in the April 1999 issue of the Journal of the
American Society of Nephrology, showed that women who consumed 1500 mg a
day or more of vitamin C were no more likely to develop kidney stones than
women who consumed less than 250 mg of vitamin C a day. The study did
reveal that women who consumed 40 mg or more of vitamin B6 were 34% less
likely to contract kidney stones compared to women taking fewer than 3 mg
a day of B6. So now that kidney stone risk has been ruled out, let's look
at some of the human studies showing positive benefits to vitamin C
supplementation.
In the early 1990s, several large population studies showed a reduction in
cardiovascular disease in those who consumed vitamin C. The media reported
on some of these findings and this favorable publicity helped push a bill
through Congress that prevented the FDA from banning high-potency vitamin
C and other supplements.
The most significant report emanated in 1992 from UCLA, where it was
announced that men who took 800 mg a day of vitamin C lived 6 years longer
than those who consumed the FDA's recommended daily allowance of 60 mg a
day. The study, which evaluated 11,348 participants over a 10 year period
of time, showed that high vitamin C intake extended average life span and
reduced mortality from cardiovascular disease by 42%. This study was
published in the journal Epidemiology (1992; 3 [3]:194-202).
The published research findings suggest that vitamin C may reduce
mortality in coronary artery disease patients, increase life span, and
possibly eliminate the effects of nitrate tolerance in those taking
nitrate drugs. While not recognized in the medical establishment as a
therapy for coronary artery disease, there now exists an accumulated
wealth of evidence that vitamin C has beneficial effects in the treatment
of heart-related illnesses.
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FEATURED PRODUCTS OF THE WEEK
Life Extension Mix
Since 1983, Life Extension Mix has been reformulated fourteen times to
reflect new scientific findings about preventing disease and slowing
premature aging. Foundation members use Life Extension Mix as the
cornerstone of an overall program to maintain an optimal state of health.
Life Extension Mix is an antioxidant formula that affords a considerable
degree of protection against free radicals. In addition, Life Extension
Mix includes nutrients that: enhance methylation (an essential process
that declines during aging); inhibit glycosylation (a significant cause of
aging damage); suppress apolipoprotein serum levels (a cause of
atherosclerosis); suppress homocysteine serum levels ( a cause of
cardiovascular disease); suppress mitochondrial oxidative stress (a cause
of premature aging); protect against thrombosis (abnormal blood clotting
inside arteries); maintain microcapillary perfusion; and protect against
DNA mutations that lead to certain cancers.
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Dual-C
Fat-soluble vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate) may be as important as
water-soluble vitamin C, yet most vitamin consumers have not even heard of
ascorbyl palmitate. If you take Life Extension Mix, you are receiving a
potent dose of fat-soluble ascorbyl palmitate. The only vitamin C
supplement in the world to combine water and fat soluble vitamin C is
Dual-C. Each capsule of Dual-C contains 609 mg of fully reacted calcium
ascorbate (gentle on the stomach and supplies calcium) and ascorbyl
palmitate (to protect fat tissues from autoxidation). Designed and used by
Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw.
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BOOK
Disease Prevention and Treatment
Disease Prevention and Treatment contains novel information that has never
before been revealed to the lay public. A few examples of the kind of
unique information contained in this book includes:
The missing link in depression therapy overlooked by psychiatrists
How to avoid liver damage when taking acetaminophen pain relievers.
A cholesterol-lowering drug that stops cancer cells from dividing
A new finding that 24-hour blood pressure drugs quit before the day's over
Two controllable heart attack factors neglected by cardiologists
Why conventional hepatitis C therapies fail 80% of the time
How to use hormone-blockade therapy in the long-term control of prostate
cancer
What Europeans are doing to stave off age-associated cognitive impairment
An FDA-approved drug to treat arthritis that interferes with prostate and
colon cancer cell propagation
Nutrients that reduce the risk of surgical complications
Alternatives to expensive arthritis drugs
A simple solution ignored by cardiologists to prevent nitrate drug
intolerance
A lethal misconception amongst vitamin supplement users about
cardiovascular disease
A European drug shown to reduce breast cancer mortality by 75% over a
three year time period.
Drugs that reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease
Nutrients that boost the cancer cell killing effects of chemotherapy drugs
Natural laxatives that safely alleviate irritable bowel syndrome
How to protect against cancer chemotherapy toxicity
A method of promoting fat and protein digestion that stops bloating
Safe estrogen replacement drug and nutrient therapies
A European drug that protects against glaucoma-induced optic nerve damage
A method of reducing iron absorption by 40%
A French drug that lowers infections associated with chronic bronchitis by
60%
A safe drug that can knock out some flu viruses in 24-48 hours
A German therapy available to treat liver cirrhosis
A prescription hormone that can reverse premature aging in men
A Japanese vitamin drug to treat osteoporosis
The most effective treatment for fibromyalgia
Precautions one should take when supplementing with the hormone DHEA
The published evidence about dietary supplements and disease prevention
A five-drug prostate cancer treatment regimen
Estrogen suppression therapy to treat diseases in the aging male
A natural alternative to tamoxifen in reducing breast cancer risk
A regimen for rehabilitating brain cells injured by stroke
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LIFE EXTENSION MAGAZINE
In the News: Vitamin Supplements Reduce Cataract Incidence by 60%
In a study just published in the Archives of Ophthalmology
[2000;118:1556-1563], researchers examined data from more than 3,000
people aged 43 to 86 years. Individuals who took a multivitamin or a
supplement that contained vitamin C or E for more than 10 years had a 60%
reduced risk of developing a cataract.
This study showed that the relationship between long-term supplement use
and lower cataract incidence remained regardless of other known risk
factors such as smoking, alcohol use, diabetes, age, weight and physical
activity. Taking multivitamins or supplements for less than 10 years,
however, did not appear to lower the risk of developing a cataract. The
fact that short term vitamin supplement use did not reduce cataracts is
not surprising since eye lens protein degradation develops over an
extended period.
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Please visit our website at www.lef.org
If you have questions or comments concerning this issue or past issues of
Life Extension Update, please contact ddye@lifeextension.com
For longer life,
Dayna Dye
Editor, Life Extension Update
ddye@lifeextension.com
Life Extension Foundation
www.lef.org
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