WASHINGTON — Only days before the opening game of the NFL season, the NFL and Army announced they were teaming up to raise awareness about TBI, an injury that plagues both organizations.

ROCHESTER, MN — With sweeping new initiatives from the White House and elsewhere in response to the burgeoning military suicide rate, little guidance has been offered to the clinicians in the trenches who are best positioned to recognize and prevent such drastic actions.

New York  — For veterans suffering from paralysis due to a spinal-cord injury (SCI), the inability to move a significant portion of their body is the obvious, immediate concern. Over the long-term, however, the extreme sedentary lifestyle caused by paralysis can lead to many secondary medical problems that can severely impact not only the quality of but also the length of their lives.

“There are two kinds of fools: those who can’t change their opinions and those who won’t.” – Josh Billings (1818-1885)

WASHINGTON — In response to an executive order signed by President Barack Obama, VA will increase the capacity of its VA Veterans Crisis Line by 50% by the end of the year. It’s one of several initiatives seeking to expand suicide prevention and mental-health resources for returning veterans and troops.

Retention Issues for Weight Loss Program
SEATTLE — When it comes to weight loss, you have to play to lose — or at least that’s the conclusion of a study of the MOVE! Weight Loss Management Program for Veterans recently published in Preventing Chronic Disease.

Please read this article and participate in this month's online opinion poll whether VA provided enough resources to make the MOVE! weight-loss initiative successful?

Participating in a home telerehabilitation program improves lower-body physical functioning after a stroke, as well as increasing the likelihood of maintaining a regular fitness routine, enhancing money-management skills and improving the capability to prepare meals and take care of personal needs such as bathing, according to a recent study.¹

CHICAGO — A government report shows that delays in integrating VA and DoD IT systems at the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) in Chicago have proven costly for the jointly-run facility. VA officials responded, however, that lessons learned during this process may prove helpful in the attempt to integrate systems on a national level.

ROCKVILLE, MD — Morphine has met its match — and then some. After 200 years as the gold standard in battlefield analgesia, morphine is increasingly giving way to ketamine, a phencyclidine (PCP) derivative initially used in veterinary medicine.

BETHESDA, MD — For patients with intractable complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), treatment with high doses of ketamine may offer a cure or dramatically reduce pain and improve functioning. Better still, this innovative treatment soon might be available on an outpatient basis.