Health briefs for Jan. 22, 2013

Integris Hospice Services can help you get through it. Marla Mercer Cole, a certified grief specialist, is leading a grief support group that will meet on Thursday nights from Jan. 31 to March 7.

The sessions aim to provide “a step-by-step approach for those who wish to resolve their loss issues and move beyond their grief toward a richer quality of life,” according to a news release.

Sessions meet from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursdays in the Fireside Room outside the main sanctuary of Bethany First Church of the Nazarene, 6789 NW 39 Expressway.

To enroll, call 603-1708. The program is free, but space is limited.

The Lynn Health Science Institute in Oklahoma City will be conducting a clinical trial for Alzheimer's patients.

The institute was named by Merck Research Laboratories as a participating site for the 78-week trial, which will evaluate the safety and usefulness of a medication called MK-8931 versus a placebo in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Merck's MK-8931 is an investigational medicine that is being tested to see if it can modify disease progression and improve symptom control, the release notes.

“We're testing the medication's ability to reduce or reserve plaques and tangles in the brain — certain changes in the protein of the brain that we find in people with Alzheimer's,” said Dr. Carl Griffin, a certified physician investigator for the institute, in the release.

Griffin said he hopes the trial will help its development and test if it can reverse Alzheimer's, something that thus far has been impossible.

To see if you qualify for the trial, call the institute at 447-8839.

Participation is free. Those who are admitted into the study will be compensated for their time.

Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that has no known cure. The good news is there are things you can do to take control of diabetes and prevent its complications. If you're worried about getting diabetes, there are things you can do to lower your risk.

Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death in Oklahoma and can lead to permanent disability and poor health.

Diabetes affects an estimated 25.8 million people in the United States — 18.8 million have been diagnosed, but 7 million are unaware they have the disease, according to data cited by Integris Health from the American Diabetes Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those affected include 10.9 million adults older than age 65. In addition, 79 million people have prediabetic symptoms that may develop into diabetes if left unchecked.