From Memios
The Longevity Letter
Practical writing and video on living strong and active into your 90s. No hype, no supplements to sell. Just what the evidence supports and what it looks like on an ordinary Tuesday.
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SupplementsSilicon
Limited evidence. The human evidence is limited and mostly indirect.
2026-10-03 · 16 min read
MedicationsSitagliptin
The evidence is that sitagliptin lowers blood sugar modestly and does not change the risk of heart attack, stroke or death.
2026-10-03 · 29 min read
MedicationsSodium Fluoride
For preventing tooth decay the evidence is strong and quantified at the low end of exposure, and it gets contested as exposure rises.
2026-10-03 · 35 min read
SupplementsSodium
The state of the evidence: how much sodium people eat is one of the most heavily trialled questions in nutrition, and reducing it lowers blood pressure by a small but reproducible amount.
2026-10-03 · 14 min read
MedicationsSodium Salts
Disputed. What the evidence shows depends entirely on which salt and which use.
2026-10-03 · 41 min read
MedicationsSolifenacin succinate
Well established. The randomised evidence shows a real but modest effect.
2026-10-03 · 34 min read
SupplementsStrontium
Almost everything known about strontium and fractures comes from one prescription drug, strontium ranelate, at 2 g a day - not from the citrate salt sold as a supplement.
2026-10-03 · 20 min read
MedicationsSulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim
Well established. It kills bacteria by blocking two consecutive steps in folate synthesis.
2026-10-03 · 33 min read
MedicationsTacrolimus
For transplantation, the evidence is strong: a meta-analysis of 30 randomised trials in 4,102 kidney transplant recipients found tacrolimus better than ciclosporin at preventing graft loss and acute rejection.
2026-10-03 · 28 min read
MedicationsTadalafil
Tadalafil does not create arousal; it amplifies a signal that only appears when nitric oxide is already being released.
2026-10-03 · 23 min read
MedicationsTelmisartan
The evidence is strongest for what telmisartan does to blood pressure: placebo-controlled trials show falls of roughly 6 to 13 mmHg systolic depending on dose.
2026-10-03 · 29 min read
MedicationsTerazosin
For urinary symptoms of an enlarged prostate the evidence is solid and the effect is symptomatic, not disease-modifying.
2026-10-03 · 39 min read
MedicationsTerbinafine
For nail infection, Cochrane rates the evidence as high quality: oral terbinafine was six times more likely than placebo to achieve clinical cure, and it probably beats the azoles with the same risk of side effects.
2026-10-03 · 25 min read
MedicationsTicagrelor
Well established. The evidence for ticagrelor is unusually large and splits sharply by who is taking it.
2026-10-03 · 51 min read
MedicationsTimolol
For the eye, the evidence is strongest for what timolol measurably does - it lowers intraocular pressure - and much weaker for the outcome people care about, preserved sight.
2026-10-03 · 27 min read
MedicationsTiotropium
It opens the airways by blocking muscarinic receptors on airway smooth muscle, and the block lasts more than 24 hours, which is why it is a once-daily drug.
2026-10-03 · 36 min read
MedicationsTorsemide
The evidence is strongest for what torsemide does to the kidney and weakest for whether choosing it over the older loop diuretic furosemide changes how long people live.
2026-10-03 · 28 min read
MedicationsTretinoin
For topical use the evidence is good that tretinoin clears acne: a network meta-analysis of 35 trials in 33,472 people found every single topical agent except tazarotene beat placebo for lesion counts.
2026-10-03 · 30 min read
MedicationsUbrogepant
For the one thing it is approved for — stopping an individual migraine attack in adults — two large randomised placebo-controlled trials show a real but modest effect: roughly 7 extra people in 100 pain-free at two hours compared with placebo, and roughly 11 extra per 100 free of their most troublesome symptom.
2026-10-03 · 30 min read
MedicationsValproate
Well established. The evidence is good that it works and equally good that it is dangerous in pregnancy.
2026-10-03 · 27 min read
SupplementsVanadium
Not supported by the research. The evidence does not support vanadium supplements for blood sugar control.
2026-10-03 · 16 min read
MedicationsVerapamil
It lowers blood pressure, relieves angina and slows a fast heart rhythm; what the outcome trials add is how that compares with alternatives.
2026-10-03 · 25 min read
SupplementsAçaí
Lead with the evidence, not the marketing: NCCIH states there is not enough reliable evidence to say acai helps with any specific health condition.
2026-09-30 · 9 min read
SupplementsAcerola cherry
Almost everything acerola is claimed to do rests on its vitamin C. Human evidence on acerola itself is limited: a 2026 review calls it limited.
2026-09-30 · 9 min read