--- In morelife@yahoogroups.com, "Kitty Antonik Wakfer" <kitty@...> wrote:
>
> --- In morelife@yahoogroups.com, "Orhan Kulluoglu" <okulluoglu@> wrote:
> >
> > A strong Anti-oxidant Astaxanthin is mentioned on Morelife pages:
> >
> > http://morelife.org/references/pmid_12000000+.html
> > 132. Life Sci 2002 Apr 21;70(21):2509-20
> > Contribution of the antioxidative property of astaxanthin to its
> > protective effect on the promotion of cancer metastasis in mice
> > treated with restraint stress.
> >
> > http://morelife.org/references/pmid_lt12000000.html
> > 159. Nutr Cancer 2000;36(1):59-65
> > Antitumor activity of astaxanthin and its mode of action.
> >
> > [The reason these citations are included in the references files is
> > because they are cited by notes about changes to our supplement
> > regimen pages:
> > http://morelife.org/personal/health/his-regimen_changes.html
> > http://morelife.org/personal/health/her-regimen_changes.html
> > And astaxanthin is included on our current regimen pages:
> > http://morelife.org/personal/health/his-regimen.html
> > http://morelife.org/personal/health/her-regimen.html
> >
> > --Paul]
>
> [Rephrasing and correction to grammar in the above. --Paul]
>
> These links to References pages are from change notations related to
> our supplement regimen change from powder to capsule astaxanthin that
> were made well over 4 years ago, when at the same time we decided that
> we should included some reference both for the value of everything
> that we take and for any changes that we were noting as made. We
> have continued to take this carotenoid for its strong antioxidative
> and other properties and actually take considerably more than when we
> first started. (See regimen ingredients spreadsheet linked from either
> or our Regimen pages.) If we had sufficient time - or assistance from
> others - we would have more references or even a separate page for
> this carotenoid (particularly relating to why we increased our dosage)
> and all of the items that we take or of which of which we change
> dosage. Since attention has now been focused on this particular
> supplement, we will try to make the time to add references for our
> recently increased dosage decision.

I'd like to assist with this, even creating entire pages for
supplements such as astaxanthin, if I had more time on my hands.
Unfortunately I do not have enough time on my hands now to be able to
offer my assistance, except perhaps with minor tasks, unless I were
paid substantially for my service.

BTW, I also take astaxanthin. Just a few months ago I upped my dose
from 1mg to 2mg daily. I'd probably take more if it were cheaper. It
is categorized as a drug here in Iceland so I can't order it online.
Despite this it is available at a nearby health food store, but a
package containing 60 x 4mg capsules of astaxanthin costs around 45$.
This is a case where price becomes a big factor in determining the
dosage since I do not think it is worth it for me to take a higher
dosage, unless I either had more assets or if it were available to me
at a considerably lower price. I do not take astaxanthin on days I eat
salmon though since a serving of salmon will give me a couple of
milligrams of astaxanthin.

> > I read an old news about Astaxanthin on internet saying
> > "Research is showing astaxanthin increases the life span of lab
> > animals 37%"
> > I wanted to learn whether its mean or maximum life span and
> > also on which animal species the experiment was done.
> > However, I couldn't find any reference for this.
> >
> > The link for the news:
> > http://www.cyanotech.com/news/news_011800.html
>
> Entering the following search string yielded only 4 abstracts:
> astaxanthin AND (lifespan OR "life span" OR anti-aging OR
> life-extension OR "life extension" OR longevity OR mortality). All 4
> referred to mortality results among salmon when fed or injected with
> astaxanthin or fed vegetable oil instead of fish oil. When "mortality"
> was removed from the search, the yield was zero. While I have not done
> an exhaustive search of Google using the same string, I did not find
> any items within the first 4 search result pages that linked
> astaxanthin to any lifespan or mortality studies, beyond those found
> in the PubMed search. Several sites have lifespan references - even to
> animal studies of such - on a page containing the word astaxanthin,
> but the subjects are not related to each other.
>
> I have asked Olafur to see if he can find anything more. In the
> meantime, Orhan, please consider investigating that sentence in the
> report at cyanotech.com further by writing the website or the author
> (if you can identify hir) and ask for substantiation of that
> statement. If a writer wants to be seen as credible, s/he should only
> make such a statement with a cited reference.

I searched for but did not find any studies that tested the effect of
astaxanthin on lifespan. I did not expect to find any because Kitty
had already searched the literature, but also because I researched
astaxanthin quite extensively back in 2005 (after which I decided to
add it to my regimen) but do not remember coming across any lifespan
study on astaxanthin at that time. Since the news report at
cyanotech.com is from the year 2000 if any lifespan study had been
published at that time I would probably have found it during my
research in 2005. So I highly doubt such a study exists. Of course
there may have been some research conducted on the effects of
astaxanthin on lifespan that was never published (perhaps it was
poorly done and did not pass the peer review process?). In any case
the statements on astaxanthin from this news report should not be
taken seriously, particularly since the news report is found on the
website of a company that sells a proprietary astaxanthin supplement.

[Just a quick comment on Olafur's last point.
It is certainly not *automatically* the case that information about a product,
published by a company that sells that product, will be either bogus or not up
to the standards of scientific proof. However, unless and until a society is
attained where all forms of social preferencing are efficiently implemented and
constantly used, it is probably wise to require stronger proof concerning the
validity of product information provided by its seller than by someone with no
financial interest in the validity of the information. --Paul]

[I hope that someone, if not Orhan, has or will contact cyanotech.com regarding
substantiation for the statement, "Already research is showing astaxanthin
increases the life span of lab animals 37%," in the January 18, 2001 article.
Refer to this thread, if you wish, to show that interest exists in lifespan
study results and also concern about the lack of evidence for statements/claims
made. **Kitty]