Old soldiers never die,
Never die, never die,
Old soldiers never die
They just fade away.

From an old Army ballad made famous in a speech by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
That song was sung proudly by troops at the turn of the last century; it was believed to have originated in Britain around 1900 and adapted into an American version during World War I.

When is a cancer patient too old to benefit from a surgical procedure? An answer to that question has been hard to find. Now, researchers from the Minneapolis VAMC are providing data and guidelines to help physicians and surgeons determine optimal treatments for colon and lung cancers.

Rosacea’s etiology remains a mystery, even as promising new treatments and interventions are employed. Now, new VA-led studies are providing clues to what causes rosacea and what can cure it.

Rural veterans with hepatitis C (HCV) could live hours from a medical center that provides specialty treatment for the disease. Through the VA Connecticut Healthcare System’s telemedicine initiative, however, specialists are training primary-care practitioners to deliver high quality HCV care close to home for patients.

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are safe, effective and convenient but remain underused in the United States. That also is true in the military, where storage limitations and difficulties with compliance argue for better birth-control options.