Amputee Advocates: VA Prosthetics Treatment Not as State-of-Art as DoD WASHINGTON--Troops who have lost limbs are not only on the move with new prosthetics, but advances in technology are allowing some to achieve physical feats that once seemed impossible. Of the 1,453 troops with major limb loss, most have been seen at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center or the newly combined WRNMMC for at least a portion of their care. The problem, according to recent testimony to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health is when wounded warriors move from care at DoD to the VA. More
Jon Lindekugel, president, 3M Health Information Systems,
The deal could galvanize efforts to implement and integrate medical information and securely share patient data between physicians and facilities across the globe. More
VA Seeks to Gather More Information on Women Veterans to Improve Care WASHINGTON — With more women leaving the military and becoming healthcare-eligible veterans, VA is focusing more energy and funding than ever into women’s health research.. Despite spending more money on women’s healthcare research in the last few years than in the previous three decades combined, however, the agency still has substantial knowledge gaps it is anxious to fill in. Prior to the middle of the last decade, VA had little of its research portfolio directed at women veterans. More
Focus On: Women's Health
Ruth Hedlund, a member of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (Waves) Nationa.
Don’t Call Me 'Mister': Report Says VA Needs Cultural Change in Women's Care WASHINGTON — Female veterans experience more physical and mental health issues than male veterans, yet are 30% less likely to enroll in VA services than men. Part of the problem, according to a recently released report, is that the needs of women veterans differ substantially from those of their male counterparts and, historically, the VA has not offered gender-responsive services to meet those needs. More
VA Partners with Association to Educate Female Veterans about Heart Health WASHINGTON — The VA is adding another tool in its arsenal to fight heart disease and strokes. The American Heart Association and the VA recently announced a new collaboration that will bring a heart association initiative known as the ”Go Red for Women” into the VA. Geared toward women, the initiative raises awareness of heart disease risk factors in women and provides additional tools for women already diagnosed with cardiac issues. More
Focus On: TBI
Better Imaging Techniques Show Promise in Improving TBI Diagnosis & Treatment BETHESDA, MD — A number of drugs have been shown to have neuroprotective benefits in animal models of TBI. When studies have moved on to human subjects, however, most have had poor results. What is needed is not only a better understanding of the injury but better ways of imaging it and accurate biomarkers for researchers to use to predict outcome and help direct treatment, according to Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, MD, PhD, director of clinical research at the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, MD. More
Specialty Update: Breast Cancer
No Treatment for 20% of Patients with Late-Stage Cancer Tumors About 20% of patients presenting with Stage IV solid tumors never receive anticancer therapy, including more than 12% of those with breast cancer, according to a new study presented at the recent meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology. Authors noted that the prevalence and characteristics of this population previously have not been described and sought to do so. More
Specialty Update: Cardiology
Perceived Discrimination Linked to Black Veterans' Heart Issues A new study has found that perceived discrimination was associated with risk of severe coronary obstruction among black male veterans, and the researchers recommend that factor be considered in screening and treating patients at the VA.The research, conducted at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and VAMCs in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Boston, found that perceived discrimination was “positively related to risk of severe obstruction among blacks, but not among whites, after controlling for clinical and psychosocial variables.” Patients who underwent coronary angiography showed similar results, the authors wrote. More
Brenda L. Mooney Editorial Director, U.S. Medicine mooney@usmedicine.com 39 York Street Lambertville, NJ 08530
BETHESDA, MD — A number of drugs have been shown to have neuroprotective benefits in animal models of TBI. When studies have moved on to human subjects, however, most have had poor results. What is needed is not only a better understanding of the injury but better ways of imaging it and accurate biomarkers for researchers to use to predict outcome and help direct treatment, according to Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, MD, PhD, director of clinical research at the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, MD. 