Study: Vitamin B use does not slow Alzheimer's

Vitamin B use for Alzheimer's

A study in the Oct. 15 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association found that B vitamins do not slow cognitive decline in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Scientists at the Sun Health Research Institute who participated in the JAMA study say prevention strategies are the way to ward off Alzheimer's.

The study involved 409 people with Alzheimer's disease at 40 sites throughout the United States, including Sun Health Research Institute, a part of Banner Health. The results of this study are disappointing to the millions of people affected by this neurodegenerative disease. Researchers had hoped that reducing homocysteine through vitamin B would reduce the toxicity of the destructive amyloid beta protein found in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Donald Connor, a neuropsychologist at Sun Health Research Institute, was a member of the national clinical study group.

Doctor joins Banner staff

Banner Arizona Medical Clinic welcomes Dr. Troy A. Dowers, a board-certified primary care physician, to the Sunrise Terrace medical office, 8510 W. Deer Valley Road, Suite 100, Peoria.

Dowers, a fellow with the American Academy of Family Physicians, received his medical degree from St. George's University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies. He completed his family practice residency at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, where he was chief resident.

Tour research institute

Sun Health Research Institute offers free public tours each month to give the community a peek into the exciting research in age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The next tour will be Tuesday, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The institute is at 10515 W. Santa Fe Drive in Sun City. Space is limited. To register, call 623-875-6565.

Visitors will be led on a 90-minute tour through the research institute, including laboratories that concentrate on discovering new treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and arthritis. Participants will:

• Tour the one of the largest brain banks in the world.

• Learn about adult stem cells and how they are being used to help cure Parkinson's disease and cardiovascular disease.

• Hear about current clinical research studies and the vital need for tissue donations in furthering research.

Tours are conducted regularly on the first Tuesday of each month unless otherwise indicated.