SUBJ: Multiple mailings
SUBtitle: How to restore muscles How to reduce arthritis
Happy holidays! Social and loving interactions reduce aging and dementia. So much going on with Holiday newsletter, and I hope to send a New Years letter soon. So here’s lots accumulated recently.
SHORT NOTES: How to restore muscles-exercise and leucine; Either too much or too little Mg is hazardous for rheumatoid arthritis, same is likely true for osteoarthritis; Mild exercise is also important to ease arthritis; Healthy microbiome stimulates exercise; only 12.5% of the patients who received pre-surgery anti-anxiety therapy developed cancer metastases, compared to 50% in the control group; 20% of some 7 million US patients with bipolar disorder commit suicide. NRx is currently undergoing a US trial of two anti-depression treatments that do not have hallucinogenic side effects; Most people in the United States get enough zinc unless you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet; Linus Pauling Institute’s Research Newsletter on vitamins C & E, zinc, and licorice; There is an association between senescence biomarkers and physical performance in older adults. SO KEEP EXERCISING; Growth hormone use may promote Alzheimers; Eating ultra-processed foods, can increase the risk of dementia; Hope that drugs to slow Alzheimer’s may be available soon.
LONG NOTES:
READER QUESTION: Muscle care: Looking for components less expensive that Abbotts product. Looking for this type of restorative product with leucine (HMB) & other amino acids. I spent 2 weeks in hosp. On total parenteral nutrition with extreme loss of lean muscle mass. Have any advice?
ROC RESPONDS: Beta-hydroxy-beta-methyl butyrate (HMB) is a metabolite derived from leucine. Under normal conditions ~5% of leucine is converted to HMB and there is experimental evidence supporting that supplementation of this metabolite plays a role in increased performance and muscle hypertrophy. It has been investigated as a potential supplement to improve muscle quality; Supplementation contributed to preservation of muscle mass in older adults. HMB supplementation may be useful in the prevention of muscle atrophy induced by bed rest or other factors. Leucine is less expensive and may give the same benefit. Read more about leucine and BCAAs (branched chain amino acids that stimulate muscle repair) at my website here.
Maintaining muscles as I age. I try to get 30+ minutes of moderate exercise daily. After a hard workout, I take Aleve to reduce muscle soreness (inflammation!) and rest for a day. Supplements I take to maintain muscles as I age: alpha-ketoglutarate, genistein, leucine, Mito-C, taurine, vitamin B3, and vitamin D. If you read the links, it explains how some aid muscle repair and prevent sarcopenia, some energize mitochondria, and some reduce inflammation that contributes to sarcopenia.
ADDED 21 DEC- I have not seen an article about this, but this is noteworthy: BGE-105 treatment resulted in statistically significant prevention of muscle atrophy relative to placebo in healthy volunteers aged 65 or older after 10 days of strict bed rest. BioAge Labs, a clinical-stage biotech developing therapeutics that target the molecular causes of aging to extend healthy human lifespan, today announced positive Phase 1b clinical data for BGE-105, a highly selective, potent, orally available small-molecule agonist of the apelin receptor APJ.
READER QUESTION: Arthritis: I’m 82, in good health except for osteoarthritis in my neck (very bad) and lower back. This has been ongoing for 20 years to varying degrees. I am very invested and knowledgeable about vitamins and supplements and am looking for a good suggestion for magnesium since I know this is good for my situation. I bought some tablets that were so huge I couldn’t swallow them. I’ve done some research and I know the issues with diarrhea and I want one with good absorption thus my question. The chiropractor sells gummies but didn’t want to buy until I had more info. I also take boswellia extract, Qunol Ultra COQ10 [CoQ10 is hazardous unless you are using a statin], flaxseed oil 1250 mg gelcaps for dry eyes, D3 25 mcg for low vit D, and 500 mg Ester C plus 3x/day [Ester C is a poor choice. Just take 500mg vitamin C BID] and by Rx amitriptyline 10 mg (lowest dose) at bedtime for the fibromyalgia, which I have had since I was 50 following a torn rotator cuff.
ROC RESPONDS: Either too much or too little Mg is hazardous for rheumatoid arthritis, and the same is likely true for osteoarthritis. “Relationship between dietary magnesium intake and rheumatoid arthritis in US women: a cross-sectional study” involving 13,324 women. There was a U-shaped relationship between dietary magnesium and RA in women, and our study highlights the importance of moderate dietary magnesium intake in https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/11/e039640possibly exerting a protective role in women with RA.
50% of people find that glucosamine and chondroitin supplements after a month of use provide some relief. Mito-C, which I designed, is to slow misfolding of proteins, which slows a major contributor to arthritis. Here is a great article Source of Chronic Inflammation in Aging Here is a paragraph on inflammation prevention. A variety of other supplements I take reduce inflammation, which contributes to and aggravates arthritis progression and pain. These include fish oil, olive oil, resveratrol, and vitamin D.
Mild exercise is also important to ease arthritis. Walking, stretching, yoga, swimming and Tai Chi are examples of activities that, though they may be painful, actually reduce arthritis progression because compression of joints allows circulation of fluid, clearance of waste, and health of cells that produce joint cells and lining.
Science Dec 16, pg 1157 – Healthy microbiome stimulates mice to exercise. Signal from bacteria in gut are proven to make mice exercise much more. Antibiotics killed the microbiome bacteria and the desire to exercise, and mice became sedentary. Certain brain genes declined along with dopamine produced from exercise.
Reducing stress pre-surgery reduces spread of cancer. Confirming a previous study (see here) Tel Aviv researchers revisited patients five years after cancer surgery and found only 12.5% of the patients who received pre-surgery anti-anxiety therapy developed cancer metastases, compared to 50% in the control group.
Depression treatment for bipolar disorder: 20% of some 7 million US patients with bipolar disorder commit suicide. US-Israeli company NRx is currently undergoing a US trial on 72 bipolar patients involving the simultaneous administering of two anti-depression treatments that do not have hallucinogenic side effects.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b1kv2lfwo https://www.nrxpharma.com/nrx-100-nrx-101/
From NIH: Most people in the United States get enough zinc. But if you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, you might fall short because most plant foods don’t have as much zinc as animal foods. Others who might have trouble getting enough zinc include people with digestive disorders or who have had gastrointestinal surgery, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, people who have alcohol use disorder, children with sickle cell disease, and some infants. Getting enough zinc is important for a healthy immune system.
From the Linus Pauling Institute: Galvanizing Your Health: Why You Need Zinc, is now on YouTube. Linus Pauling Institute’s Research Newsletter is now available online! This edition contains research updates from our labs, including more information on vitamins C & E, zinc, and licorice.
Associations between biomarkers of cellular senescence and physical function in humans: observations from the lifestyle interventions for elders (LIFE) study. These findings highlight an association between senescence biomarkers and physical performance in older adults. SO KEEP EXERCISING.
Growth hormone use may promote Alzheimers. Many experimental protocols advocated by some on GRG may be hazardous. Lots of support recently for use of growth hormone seems like treacherous advice based on this article that GH use may accelerate Alzheimers disease.
Eating ultra-processed foods, can increase the risk of dementia, while a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and maintaining optimal diabetes and blood pressure levels can decrease the risk.
Hope that drugs to slow Alzheimer’s may be available soon. Alzheimer’s Drug Studies – Lecanemab, developed by pharmaceutical companies Eisai and Biogen, is a type of antibody that targets sticky clumps of amyloid protein in the brain. These amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease; they are associated with the spread of another protein in the brain called tau, and thereby contribute to memory and thinking issues. Initial results from a phase 3 clinical trial of lecanemab, released in September 2022, sent ripples of excitement throughout the scientific community. We summarized these findings in our October 2022 newsletter. More recently, detailed results from the lecanemab trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and unveiled to a crowd of hundreds during CTAD.
