Creatine helps build the muscle of older adults and CLA helps them burn belly-fat

As we age we loose a significant amount of muscle (the medical term is sarcopenia) resulting in muscle weakness that limits the function of older adults. This muscle weakness is related to accumulated damage to the power plants within muscle cells known as mitochondria and to accumulated damage to the cells DNA. Resistance training can however, increase muscle strength and size even in the elderly while improving mitochondrial function and decreasing free radical production.
In this new study researchers at McMaster University in Canada completed two resistance-training studies in older adults; in one the participants took Creatine Monohydrate and in the second they took the Creatine plus CLA. Adding Creatine Monohydrate increased muscle mass and strength in older adults; more so than exercise alone. Additionally, Giving the Creatine with CLA for a six-month period not only improved muscle strength and size but also significantly reduced body fat compared to exercise only. The exercise with Creatine Monohydrate also shifted away from the higher rate of damaged mitochondria and DNA restoring the ratio of functioning cells to that of a younger adult. The study is published in the February 2008 issue of the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.

Adding L-Carnitine to statin therapy reduces Lp(a) levels in diabetics

Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a) is a kind of LDL-cholesterol with an abnormal protein attached to it, which is like fibrinogen (LDL damages blood vessel walls and fibrinogen thickens the blood). The LDL type particle causes cholesterol plaques in arteries. The fibrinogen-like protein increases blood clots. The result is that Lp(a) increases the risk of heart attacks and stroke by 400%, which makes it a very dangerous lipoprotein. Lp(a) also contributes to hardening of the arteries.
In this study scientists from the Department of Gerontology at the University of Bari in Italy enrolled 52 patients with type 2 diabetes with modestly high Lp (a) into their study. The patients received the statin drug simvastatin at a dosage of 20mg alone or they received the drug at 20mg plus 2000mg of L-Carnitine; both taken once a day for 60 days. In the simvastatin only group Lp(a) levels increased within 60 days but in the simvastatin plus L-Carnitine group the level of Lp(a) significantly decreased in the same timeframe. The study is published in the October 2006 issue of the journal Atherosclerosis.