OU -TU SCHOOL OF COMMUNIT Y MEDICINE
Casey Bakhsh, LCSW, director of programs for Tulsa CARES, places items in the agency’s food pantry. Tulsa CARES, which delivers social services to people with HIV/AIDS, is the community partner for a new OU Health Sciences Center grant.
Tulsa Researcher Receives Federal Grant to Study Food as Medicine Intervention for People With HIV In the healthcare profession, food is increasingly seen as medicine – a healthy diet can lessen the severity of disease and prevent additional chronic conditions from complicating a person’s health. A new federal grant awarded to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center will be used to study how food can best be used to improve the health of Oklahomans living with HIV.
long before you see elevations in blood glucose. That’s why we’re focusing on insulin resistance for this study – so that we can identify food as medicine strategies for intervening sooner. But the intervention we ultimately develop will benefit people regardless of where they are on that spectrum, from showing initial signs of insulin resistance to having Type 2 diabetes or other related conditions.”
Studying the effects of healthy diets in people with HIV is important for many reasons, said Marianna Wetherill, Ph.D., who is leading the grant for the OU Health Sciences Center on its Tulsa campus. About 21% of people with HIV may have insulin resistance, which contributes to numerous chronic conditions, including diabetes, renal insufficiency and liver disease; the prevalence is even higher among those with limited financial resources. In addition, some of the antiretroviral medications taken by people with HIV are associated with insulin resistance, she said. Another factor is that anywhere from 24% to 50% of people with HIV are considered food insecure, meaning they don’t have reliable access to affordable, nutritious food.
The study is being funded by a $2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The program created by the grant is called NOURISH-OK – Nutrition to Optimize, Understand, and Restore Insulin Sensitivity in Oklahoma. It is an example of community-based participatory research, meaning it is heavily driven by a community partner, in this case Tulsa CARES. For 30 years, the agency has delivered social services to people affected by HIV/AIDS and created opportunities for healthy living. The comprehensive approach addresses unmet needs under one roof, including care coordination, housing, mental health and nutrition.
“There are many risk factors with HIV that may contribute to insulin resistance,” Wetherill said. “Insulin resistance develops
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Licensed clinical social worker Casey Bakhsh, director of programs for Tulsa CARES, is leading the study for the agency, which has long-term relationships and strong rapport with its clients. Over the past three decades, medication has vastly
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