Health and Medicine
Carilion Family practice Rev – Ian price photo
Carilion Clinic celebrated the opening of its newest Family and Community Medicine office at the corner of Route 419 and Starkey Road with a ribbon-cutting this morning. The new facility is adjacent to Carilion’s Velocity urgent care center, so some services can be shared. Patients are now being accepted; there are 8 exam rooms on site in what once the former location for Barrel Chest. They are now accepting new patients. Two physicians and a nurse practitioner will staff the new family medicine location for Carilion, which has office hours Monday through Friday from 8am until 5pm. Dr. Michael Jeremiah is a Carilion senior vice president; he spoke at the ribbon-cutting today:
Dr. Cynthia Morrow/VDH-VT photo
The nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases expected as Fall approaches – much as flu cases rise this time of year as well – has hit the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts. So says Dr. Cynthia Morrow, director of the local districts. Morrow also said today she doesn’t anticipate any public mask mandates to be put back in place but urges those who have a confirmed COVID case to wear one. She also suggests waiting until the updated vaccines that address the latest variants enter the market some time next month before getting another shot.
G Marrano photos
Six years after launching the walk-in, no questions asked Hope Initiative, which helps connect those addicted to opioids with recovery programs and treatment, a $500,000 grant from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield will help expand similar programs to six other clinics over the next three years. The Health Wagon program with 13 locations in Wise County and far southwest Virginia will be the first clinic to be trained on and adapt to the Hope Initiative model. The Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics will help expand the peer-based recovery program. The Hope Initiative has supported over 2000 participants; about 80 percent have gone on to enter their chosen treatment program or recovery resource. Christine Wright is the Behavorial Health program manager for the Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke – home to the Hope Initiative:
“Together we can realize the truth – that suicide is preventable,” says the CEO for Blue Ridge Behavorial Healthcare, which is helping to spearhead activities during Suicide Prevention Month in September. WFIR’s Gene Marrano has this report:
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How businesses can get involved during Suicide Prevention Week
Brandon Oaks opened its expanded memory care unit in 2022. Memory care facilities have to have a green space. And while they were renovating the memory care facility Brandon Oaks decided do something special. Director of Communications Nicole Bruch says the new sensory garden is the result of that effort. A ribbon cutting originally scheduled for tomorrow will now be held on September 6 from 4 to 6pm.
A local dental office is offering a first-of-its-kind treatment to patients in the region. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has details on the “Same Day Smile” technology:
A recent study named Virginia as one of 2023’s top ten best states to live in. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has details on where the state shined — AND where it fell flat:
If your mother told you to “Eat Your Vegetables” when you were growing up, a new study by a local medical school professor suggests it is advice that can help you at the other end of your life. Kathy Dorey is a mostly-retired professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine who authored a study recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s the result studies on brains donated to science after death, examining the levels in them of anti-oxidants found in certain key vegetables, and Dorey says those levels were “strikingly” lower in people who suffered significant cognitive loss than for those in people who did eat more of their veggies. She specifically lists green leafy vegetables, orange peppers, corn and tomatoes as most beneficial. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
Photo: VTC School of Medicine
NEWS RELEASE:
August 14, 2023 — Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease estimated to affect 6 million Americans and 33 million people worldwide. Large numbers of those affected have not yet been diagnosed.
A new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease by a Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine faculty member shows that brain levels of dietary lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, and vitamin E in those with Alzheimer’s disease are half those in normal brains. Higher dietary levels of lutein and zeaxanthin have been strongly linked to better cognitive functions and lower risk for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
“This study, for the first time, demonstrates deficits in important dietary antioxidants in Alzheimer’s brains. These results are consistent with large population studies that found risk for Alzheimer’s disease was significantly lower in those who ate diets rich in carotenoids, or had high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin in their blood, or accumulated in their retina as macular pigment,” said C. Kathleen Dorey, professor in the Department of Basic Science Education at the medical school. “Not only that, but we believe eating carotenoid-rich diets will help keep brains in top condition at all ages.”
Carotenoids and the healthy brain
Because normal brain functions and response to misfolded proteins constantly generate reactive oxidizing molecules, the brain is vulnerable to cumulative oxidative damage, which can be prevented by antioxidants supplied by a healthy diet. Carotenoids are powerful antioxidants that are commonly found in colorful plants. Lutein is especially abundant in kale and spinach, and zeaxanthin is highest in corn and orange peppers.
Dorey and Neal E. Craft, of Craft Technologies in Wilson, North Carolina, first reported that the brain selectively accumulated carotenoids such as lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin in 2004. Since then, researchers around the world have demonstrated better cognition in those with higher levels of lutein and zeaxanthin in their macular pigment and lower risk for dementia in those with highest levels of lutein and zeaxanthin in their diet or accumulated in their macular pigment.
The Rush University Memory and Aging Project followed the diet and cognitive performance of more than 1,000 participants living in Chicago for more than a decade, assessing their intake of carotenoids, and found that those following the MIND diet — consuming higher levels of antioxidant-rich fruits, nuts, vegetables, and fish, and lower levels of meat and sweets — had reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, higher cognitive performance before death, and less Alzheimer’s disease-related brain pathology. Moreover, those with the highest intake of total carotenoids or lutein/zeaxanthin over a decade had 50 percent lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
Correlation between carotenoids and brain protection
Although studies had strongly implicated the possibility that carotenoids may protect the brain against damage contributing to Alzheimer’s disease, there has been no evidence that brain carotenoids correlated with the disease. The Dorey-Craft report in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease has filled that gap.
In a study of carotenoids in brains with and without Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology, the Dorey-Craft team demonstrated that brains with Alzheimer’s neuropathology have significantly lower levels of lutein, zeaxanthin, and lycopene and tocopherols. Concentrations of lycopene, zeaxanthin, and retinol were half those found in age-matched brains with no Alzheimer’s disease pathology.
Diagnosing and limiting future Alzheimer’s disease
This new evidence of selective carotenoid and tocopherol deficiencies in the brains of subjects with Alzheimer’s disease adds further support to the growing evidence that a greater dietary intake of carotenoids may slow cognitive decline prior to — and possibly following — a diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease.
Research also has shown that the retina selectively accumulates lutein and zeaxanthin from the diet, forming visible yellow macular pigment that enhances vision and protects photoreceptors. By noninvasively measuring patients’ macular pigment optical density, researchers can estimate the concentration of lutein and zeaxanthin in the brain.
“Recent advances in new therapies for Alzheimer’s disease show exciting promise as an effective way to slow disease progression,” Dorey said. “I’d be thrilled if our data motivated people to keep their brains in optimum condition with a colorful diet with abundant carotenoids and regular exercise. Available studies suggest this may also reduce risk for dementia.”
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