Health
Ohio healthcare company recruiting people with autoimmune conditions for innovative study
For people with psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), finding comprehensive treatment that works can be a lifelong battle. Medications are often expensive and hard to access, appointments with specialists can take months to secure, and lifestyle factors that may contribute to the diseases tend to be left out of the clinician-patient conversation entirely.
Ohio-based healthcare company AndHealth believes it doesn’t have to be that way — and is inviting patients with the conditions to help prove it. Through its innovative study, called Project IMPACT, the company aims to demonstrate that addressing underlying causes (like nutrition, stress, or sleep) alongside conventional treatments (like biologic medications) has the potential to stop the progression of or even reverse autoimmune conditions including psoriasis and RA.
“Insurance doesn’t reimburse for a lot of time spent talking to patients about how they can participate in their own care and how they can incorporate lifestyle changes, even though the science is there,” says Dr. Myles Spar, AndHealth’s National Medical Director who’s certified in both internal and integrative medicine.
But Project IMPACT’s model is different. It’s whole-person specialty care approach views patients in the full context of their lives—including any social, physical, or financial barriers they face to care—and connects them with coordinated, culturally competent primary and specialty care.
More specifically, Project IMPACT patients first meet with a provider virtually for about an hour. Soon after, they receive a personalized care plan developed by experts that may include specialists, a dietitian, a pharmacist, and a health coach. Depending on their health status, goals, and readiness for change, patients may also receive medications, lab testing, meal delivery, supplements, and wearable health tracking devices — all at no cost to them.
Unlike a clinical trial, where subjects are blindly given either an intervention or a placebo, this study is observational, meaning everyone receives the support they want in the way they want it. “We’re analyzing the whole availability of those treatment paths, not testing each path,” Spar says. “So signing up for the study doesn’t mean you’re signing up to do steps A, B, and C—you’re signing up to have A, B, and C as options, and then choose your own path.”
For example, those who want to work with a health coach may learn about what lifestyle changes—be it reducing sugar intake or adding in an after-dinner walk each day—can make the biggest difference in their symptoms. Then, they can call on their coach via an app for support in implementing those new habits along the way.
“The number of touchpoints that we have with patients per week is extraordinary because even me, I’m not gonna bug my doctor with a little thing,” Spar says. “But if it’s a health coach who says, ‘I want you to bug me,’ patients are more likely to say, ’I did my two-minute meditation today’ or ‘I bought running shoes’ or ‘I noticed that I was able to not snack while I was watching the news.’ So they see the coach as a real buddy.”
Ultimately, the company is betting that, when patients are equipped with the right tools, team, and knowledge, they can help improve a condition that they’re often made to believe will only get worse.
“When you’re diagnosed with a condition that you didn’t pick, one that took control away from you throughout your life, and that makes your life more limited, to suddenly be told, ‘But there is something you can do to get some control back,’ that’s hugely empowering,” Spar says.
That was the case for Phyllis, a 60-year-old in Mansfield, Ohio whose RA had prevented her from doing what she loved, whether it was dropping by relatives’ homes to play cards or visiting a venue to dance two-step. “I lost interest in wanting to socialize with my friends and family because I just hurt most of the time,” she says. Outside of church, she says, “I literally stayed in bed all day.”
But through Project IMPACT, Phyllis worked with a physician who seemed “to truly care” and a health coach who helped her eat more fruits and vegetables and limit her sugar intake. Within weeks and even days, “I had more energy and less pain,” she says. “I felt rejuvenated.”
She also felt like she mattered. When Phyllis told her care team she didn’t have enough gas in the car to get to the clinic for lab work, for example, they swooped in to help. “Traditional healthcare, if you can’t make it there, then you reschedule. And if you don’t reschedule, who cares?” she says. “With this team, if you can’t make it, they try to figure out why. Once they figure out why, then they try to figure out how to fix it. And once they figure out how to fix it, they fix it.”
Interested in participating? Project IMPACT is currently enrolling adults 21 and older in Ohio and Indiana who are taking specialty medications (or have been advised by a physician to start one) for psoriasis or RA. For more information or to see if you qualify, visit andhealth.com/impact or email impact@andhealth.com.
“The exciting part,” Spar says, “is … you’re helping to move this field forward, and you’re helping to add to the data that this whole-person specialty care approach works.”
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Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27.
In a post on Substack titled “The Day I’ll Never Remember,” she detailed a sudden episode that left her unable to recall the current month, year and president.
“I thought it was 2024. And I believed Joe Biden was president,” she wrote.
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The event occurred while Couric was attending the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, during which she participated in two public panels — one on AI and one on journalism — both of which she cannot remember at all.
“I have no idea what we talked about, or of what occurred when the panels ended,” she said.
Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27. (Getty Images)
John Molner — Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels — also shared his account.
After the event, someone told Molner that Katie wasn’t feeling well. When he reached her, an EMT and a doctor were tending to her. “I could tell something was off,” he wrote. “It could have been altitude sickness, but Katie was definitely not all there.”
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At the hospital, when Couric struggled to recall the year, the president and her grandchildren’s names, doctors began checking for a stroke.
An MRI revealed no signs of stroke, which was a relief, but “Katie’s ‘fog’ became a lot more apparent,” Molner wrote.
John Molner, Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels, also shared his account. (Getty Images)
“She repeatedly asked me the same questions: ‘What was I doing before we got to the hospital?’ ‘Why am I at the hospital?’”
Couric was ultimately diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that prevents a person from forming new memories and may also erase some recent memories, according to Mayo Clinic.
“The cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself.”
It is not caused by a stroke, seizure or head injury, and it usually resolves completely within 24 hours.
“[It’s] just a very weird neural episode that’s pretty uncommon and, at least in most cases, is a ‘one and done’ experience,” Molner said.
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Couric said she finally began feeling “like herself” again around 9 p.m. and went to sleep at 2 a.m.
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.”
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.” (Getty Images)
Data shows that approximately three to eight people per 100,000 will have an episode of transient global amnesia, with people 50 years of age and older at higher risk.
The specific cause of TGA is not known, but some experts believe it stems from a “temporary dysfunction in the brain’s hippocampus — the area responsible for creating new memories,” Couric shared.
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“Doctors believe this is driven by brief interruptions in blood or oxygen flow, or microscopic spasm in the blood vessels.”
Episodes could potentially be triggered by intense physical exertion, emotional distress, extreme temperature changes or migraines, experts say.
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Approximately 15% of patients will have a recurrence 10 years later.
“Why did this happen to me? Was the altitude an issue? Was I dehydrated? Tired? Stressed? The literature doesn’t seem to indicate that these are contributing factors, but the cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself,” Couric wrote.
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise. (iStock)
“All I know is that those hours will be forever lost. Someone described it as my brain failing to hit the ‘record button.’”
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“While this was a freaky occurrence, it could have been much more serious. So ultimately, I’m relieved — even though several hours of a Saturday in June will always be missing for me.”
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise.
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Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers.
That’s according to a recent study led by Stony Brook Medicine in New York, which evaluated the cognitive function of 4,000 adults 80 and over who participated in multiple aging and longevity studies over several years.
Among this group, 6% to 10% were classified as super movers, which means they walk at a much faster pace than others of the same age and gender — at speeds comparable to people three decades younger.
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The super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology on June 16.
Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers. (iStock)
“The study reinforces that mobility and brain health are closely connected,” lead study author Dr. Joe Verghese, MD, neurologist at Stony Brook Medicine, told Fox News Digital. “This suggests that preserving mobility may be an important marker of healthy brain aging and resilience.”
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The most intriguing finding, according to Verghese, was that super movers maintained cognitive function despite having similar dementia-related brain changes as their peers.
In postmortem brain analysis, there was no difference in dementia-related pathologies between the super movers and the slower walkers, the study stated.
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“This suggests they may possess resilience mechanisms that help preserve brain function even in the presence of age-related changes,” he said. “Understanding these resilience factors could lead to new strategies for promoting healthy brain aging.”
As the study was observational, there were some limitations, and it does not prove that walking faster prevents dementia, the researchers noted.
Super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed. (iStock)
“Other factors, such as cardiovascular health, physical fitness or genetics, may also contribute to both faster walking and better cognitive outcomes,” Verghese said.
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This study adds to growing evidence that what’s good for the heart and muscles also benefits the brain, he noted, adding that “staying physically active remains one of the most effective, evidence-based ways to support healthy aging.”
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment.”
“The broader message is that physical activity is important at any age,” Verghese said. “Walking is an easy step-up point because you don’t need any special equipment. You can do it inside or outdoors, and you can do it on a regular basis. You can walk with a dog, you can walk with a friend.”
Any activity is beneficial if it’s done regularly and with the right intensity, he added.
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Rather than just trying to walk faster, the neurologist recommends that seniors focus on maintaining mobility through regular physical activity, strength training, balance exercises and good cardiovascular health.
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment,” Verghese noted.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking. (iStock)
This can be achieved by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or about 20 to 25 minutes most days. Another option is to engage in shorter sessions that add up over the day.
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“You have to do it within your health limitations and medical conditions,” Verghese advised. “So if there are any medical concerns, I would get your physician to clear you before starting exercise.” The good thing about walking, he added, is that you can start at a slow pace and then gradually build up to a brisker pace.
“And then adding on strength and balance training, whatever age you are, I think is also important.”
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