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How the world got lost on
the road to an anti-aging pill
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August 1, 2016
Denise Roland
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Longevinex® has had a 12 year ordeal in the resveratrol business.
Today there are 492 brands of resveratrol pills according to the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
Over 99% of those brands rely on borrowed science and have no idea about dosage, molecular synergism, etc., all issues that our product addresses. Longevinex® is the best-tested brand.
Yes, your article is correct, modest doses are shown to be advantageous. This is corroborated by wine studies, which reveal low mortality rates for coronary artery disease among those who consume 3-5 5-oz glasses of red wine. More than 5 glasses a day increases mortality rates.
This was confirmed by studies with plain resveratrol where the human equivalent of 175-350 mg in lab rats provided the most protection of heart muscle during experimentally induced heart attacks while ten times that dose (1750-3500 mg) actually induce greater damage to the heart. (Ref #12) Longevinex® at 100 mg was more effective than resveratrol at 175-350 mg. This was accomplished via molecular synergism – Longevinex’® formula includes other polyphenols found in wine like quercetin and chlorogenic acid and EGCG from apple peel and green tea.
This is called the U-shaped risk curve for wine and red wine pills. No consumption and risk of mortality is high. Modest consumption (higher than dietary intake) reduces mortal risks while mega-doses increase the risk.
Here is where Longevinex® broke the mold. Unlike plain resveratrol, researchers increased the dose of Longevinex® to the human equivalent of 2800 mg, which kills the excised rodent heart and no damage occurred. This effect was tested in two species (rabbits and rats) over short-term and long-term (6 months). It is the first L-shaped risk curve to be demonstrated, which means Longevinex® offers a margin of safety should the product be over-dosed that plain resveratrol does not offer. (Ref. #10)
Longevinex® underwent toxicity testing, under New Dietary Ingredient Regulations, and was found to be non-toxic in animals and humans. That study was published. (Ref. #5) It is the only resveratrol pill to undergo such testing.
To get back to dosage, while Longevinex® may exhibit an extra margin of safety, it like other brands of resveratrol is not entirely without side effects. Excessive resveratrol inhibits an enzyme (sulfotransferase) that keeps a lid on adrenal stress hormones. Inhibit that enzyme and mega-dose resveratrol may produce anxiety reactions, racing heart, etc. The effect is transient. We also do not recommend resveratrol pills be taken simultaneously with any drugs (2-4 hours apart) and not by pregnant females.
The idea of molecular synergism is now well founded with polyphenols. Wine provides an array of polyphenolic molecules such as catechin, quercetin, ferulic acid, gallic acid, kaempferol, resveratrol and many others. A 5-oz. glass of dark aged red wine provides ~60 mg polyphenols. 3-5 glasses of red wine provides 180-350 mg of polyphenols, about the same range that was found (175-350 mg) in rodents in the laboratory that protected their heart muscle from damage. (See the report on molecular synergism of polyphenols at Translational Oncology March 2008) Longevinex® was formulated to mimic the synergistic properties of wine.
Longevinex® was put to the test in 2008 when researchers examined how well resveratrol and Longevinex® mimics a calorie-restricted diet. Calorie restriction doubles the lifespan and healthspan of lab animals. Life-long (2-3 years) adherence to a calorie-restricted diet activates (significantly differentiates — silences or expresses— switch off or on) 831 genes in lab rats. Twelve weeks of resveratrol switched 198 genes and plain resveratrol 225 genes and Longevinex® a profound 1711 genes (9-fold more than CR or resveratrol); 677 of those 831 longevity genes were influenced by Longevinex® (81%), the closest thing to a calorie restriction mimic tested to date. However, researchers who conducted that study went on 60 MINUTES TV show and said nothing about Longevinex® and do not lecture about it. Recognize we cannot practically conduct conclusive human studies outside of a test that lasts many decades. (Ref. #4)
The next big test involving Longevinex® was conducted in Japan where researchers determined how well Longevinex® improved the first marker of blood vessel disease — a decline in the ability of blood vessels to dilate (widen) with increased heart rate (this is called flow-mediated dilatation). When a person rises from a chair and begins to walk and then run the heart beats faster and the arteries must dilate (widen) to control blood pressure. In arterial disease this doesn’t work as well. Longevinex® fared well in a published study and when compared with a similar study, worked twice as well as pure synthetic resveratrol in this regard. (Ref. #8)
Finally, the NIH repeated the experimentally-induced heart attack study in rodents that Dr. Das reported and measured how well resveratrol and Longevinex® altered microRNA, the most sophisticated measure of genetic influence. Longevinex® again protected the heart from damage 20-40% better than plain resveratrol and more demonstrably inhibited new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis), as measured by microRNA-20b (6-times better than plain resveratrol). While resveratrol is said to increase angiogenesis to help the damaged heart rebuild circulation, Longevinex® resulted in a heart that pumped blood more efficiently and still profoundly inhibited angiogenesis six fold better than plain resveratrol. (Ref. #11)
This anti-angiogenic aspect of Longevinex® caught the attention of eye researcher Stuart Richer OD PhD at the Veterans Hospital in North Chicago. He began to use Longevinex® among otherwise helpless patients with the fast-progressive wet macular degeneration where new blood vessels invade the visual center of the eye (the macula) and produce permanent vision damage. Fortunately, there are anti-angiogenic medicines (Avastin, Lucentis) that are injected into the eyes, but these drugs fail 15% of the time and an estimated 15,000 elderly Americans slip into permanent legal blindness. There is no effective treatment for these failed cases. Dr. Richer was able to show that Longevinex® rescued many of these patients from permanent vision loss. (Ref. # 3 and 6)
A woman who lives in Nevada, where Longevinex® shipping center is located, created a TV news story in Las Vegas about 2 years ago when she said she tried 18 different brands of resveratrol and they all failed. Longevinex restored her vision in 3 days (KLAS-TV, George Knapp, reporter; Las Vegas Now Nov 2, 2012])
We then filed a petition with the FDA to proceed with a real-time study of these macular degeneration patients who failed treatment. However, the FDA drug their heels and rejected the petition 3 years later. The FDA demands we conduct a 2-3 year $2 million drug-approval study. However, we do not believe we could get eye physicians to even recruit subjects for such a study as Longevinex® poses a threat to their business of injecting medicine into the eyes. So 15,000 elderly Americans go blind so eye physicians can keep generating their incomes.
Longevinex® has faced unprecedented adversity as a dietary supplement. The lead Longevinex® researcher, Dipak Das PhD, of the University of Connecticut, was accused of scientific fraud in 2011. A year later he died from the stress of the ordeal. Dr. Das’ studies were later corroborated by other researchers in Canada. But he is still the poster boy for scientific fraud by Retraction Watch. I have written a lengthier report about this elsewhere. [Resveratrol News]
Dr. Nate Lebowitz MD along with Jacqueline Hollywood MD, Ft. Lee, NJ, are the leading cardiologists with experience using Longevinex. Dr. Lebowitz recounts the story of undergoing a recent Medicare audit and the auditor said Dr. Lebowitz presented difficulties in understanding his practice of cardiology because he didn’t have a single heart attack among this patients over the review period. Dr. Lebowitz recommends Longevinex® to most of his patients.
Dr. Lebowitz had a 90-year old patient with a blocked coronary artery who was too frail to have a balloon catheter inserted to flush out a blood clot in one of his coronary arteries. The patient was taking Longevinex®. There was no damage to the patient’s heart in the area of the blockage.
This is a phenomenon demonstrated by Dr. Dipak Das and others called cardiac preconditioning. If the heart is subject to biological stress prior to a heart attack, its antioxidant defenses will be activated prior to the event and damage to heart muscle will be limited. This has been reported at least 5 other Longevinex® users.
Recently, researchers at Shiley Eye Institute/ Hamilton Eye Center in San Diego, reported that Longevinex® improves circulation to the back of the eyes of healthy adults. Robert Weinreb MD, distinguished professor of ophthalmology, conducted that study that took place overseas. (Ref. #1)
By the way I am a critic of the 2000 mg resveratrol/day study for Alzheimer’s disease that reduced the amount of beta amyloid in the blood circulation. The problem with beta amyloid in the brain is that it is not degraded and disposed of very well in cases of Alzheimer’s. This is called beta amyloid efflux. If resveratrol increased the degradation of beta amyloid, blood plasma levels would have been higher, not lower as reported. [Neurology Oct 20. 2015]
Among 179 patients there were 657 adverse events, 28 severe and 139 moderate. These side effects were likely induced by excessive dose; 42% of subjects developed diarrhea, with 14 hospitalizations. Side effects like these are very rare in our experience. The study employed synthetic resveratrol.
Longevinex® is uniquely micronized to enhance absorption and microencapsulated (enfolded in plant starches and dextrins) to protect it from UV light degradation.
The inclusion of supplemental nucleotides (the steps on the DNA ladder) in Longevinex® to facilitate DNA repair has been awarded a US patent (US 8,916,528 B2).
Also, we found that most consumers really don’t want to live longer and prefer to look younger. So we developed an advanced product, LONGEVINEX ADVANTAGE, that attempts to give adults thick dark hair, smooth wrinkle-free skin and flexible joints.
Longevinex® (Resveratrol Partners LLC) is a company doing business out of Las Vegas, NV.
I’ve written some epic articles about resveratrol:
THE CASE FOR RESVERATROL http://resveratrolcentral.com/ebook/The-Case-For-Resveratrol-by-Bill-Sardi.pdf
HOW THE WORLD GOT LOST ON THE ROAD TO AN ANTI-AGING PILL
http://www.resveratrolnews.com/pdf/howTheWorldGotLost.pdf
Bill Sardi, managing partner, RESVERATROL PARTNERS LLC
Las Vegas, NV www.longevinex.com
References