Rural veterans with serious mental health issues face a disproportionate challenge when seeking mental healthcare services from VA, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Chronic Insomnia Plagues Active Duty Servicemembers, Affects Readiness
Sleep issues continue to torment military personnel, and the military is increasingly concerned, because insufficient sleep from chronic insomnia poses a direct threat to military operational readiness. Soldiers in the Army have been most effected. Still, a recent study pointed out that clinical guidelines on treating the issues aren’t always being followed.
Mental Health Disorders Identified in Deployed Soldiers, Higher Among Females
Active-duty servicemembers who have mental health disorders need continued support when they are deployed, according to a new study that underscored the need for in-theater healthcare providers. The Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences-led authors also found that women were more likely to report mental health issues, including serious types, such as bipolar disorder.
Social Determinants of Health Can Predict Schizophrenia in Veterans
Among the most complex patients treated in the VA healthcare system are those with serious mental illnesses, including the more than 120,000 diagnosed with schizophrenia. Those patients not only tend to have worse physical function as they age, but also are more likely to engage in suicidal behavior. To better understand what increases the risk of schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses, VA researchers are taking a close look at social determinants of health.
RSV in Older Adults Riskier Than Realized; Vaccine Could Help
A new model suggests that as many as 4.8 million symptomatic cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) occur in the United States among patients 65 and older. That burden is greater than previously recognized, according to another study, which looked at the U.S. and other high-income countries. Recently approved vaccines are likely to be game-changers.
What Increases Survival Rates in Older Veterans with DLBCL?
The most common non-Hodgkin lymphoma is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and its incidence steadily increases with age, according to recent research.
Better Understanding Leads to New Treatment Options for Follicular Lymphoma
Already a presumptive condition for Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange and military personnel who were at Camp Lejeune in the mid-20th century, follicular lymphoma is also one of the presumptive conditions associated with burn put for Gulf War era and post-9/11 veterans under the new PACT Act. Recent advances have provided a greater understanding of the biological changes that precede the development of FL, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and treatment options are improving.
VA Study Endorses Extended-Interval Dosing of Single-Agent Pembrolizumab
Even though extended-interval dosing of single-agent pembrolizumab isn’t often used, despite approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the practice has potential health system and public health benefits, according to a VA study.
NSAIDs Might Be Associated With Improved Survival in ICI-Treated NSCLC
Immune checkpoint inhibitors have played a major role in the increased survival of patients with NSCLC. Now, a new study looking at veterans has raised the possibility that common painkillers, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), could play a role in further lengthening survival rates in lung cancer patients being treated with ICIs.
Understanding Mechanisms Leading to B-Myeloid Lineage Switching in CLL
Lineage-switching is a mechanism that can lead to treatment resistance in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and, though it’s a rare occurrence, it can be fatal.
Racial Disparity Found in VA Care When Novel CLL Treatments Introduced
In a new study, researchers said they were surprised when a review of first-line chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment showed racial disparities within the VA healthcare system, which is known for providing equitable care. Black veterans were found to be less likely to receive early novel agents to treat CLL compared to white ones. The situation improved over time, however, and survival rates did not appear to be affected.
New Therapeutic Combinations Show Promise in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Unlike veterans with a variety of types of lymphoma, the expanded list of presumptive conditions for the PACT Act did not include acute myeloid leukemia or other types of leukemia. Because AML occurs primarily in older adults, with an average age at diagnosis of 68, it remains a challenge for clinicians treating veterans receiving care from the VHA. The good news, according to recent studies, is that new combinations of treatment have now come online for older patients.
2023 Compendium of Federal Medicine
The White House announced this month that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) has ended and that the United States is “well-prepared to manage the risks of COVID-19 going forward.”
Antifibrotic Medications Underused for IPF With Internal, External VA Care
SAN FRANCISCO — Medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are significantly under-used in the VA Healthcare System, according to a new study. The recent report in the journal Chest looked at the usage...
PACT Act Ensures VA IPF Care for Gulf War Era, Post-9/11 Veterans
For veterans diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis due to exposure to toxins during military service, the new PACT Act could literally be a lifesaver. The law assumes a service connection between the condition for certain military servicemembers. That is especially important because the prevalence of IPF more than doubled among veterans over the last decade or so.
Glaucoma Interventions Critical for Preserving Sight, Quality of Life
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness. Avoiding that often requires lifelong adherence to treatment. An intervention led by the Durham, NC, VAMC helped patients not only improve compliance with their treatment regimen but also was a cost-saver. Now, the goal is to roll out the intervention to more VA facilities across the country.
GLP-1 RAs, Other Agents, Underused in Patients Who Need Them the Most
While news reports focus on high demand for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA), the real story might be widespread under use of those agents and others that reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease progression in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
Weight Loss Similar in Older/Younger Veterans on Semaglutide
Concerns have been raised about GLP-1 receptor agonists causing unintended weight loss in older adults. A new VA study has put that worry to rest, finding no significant difference in weight loss with semaglutide use among veterans 65 or older compared to those who are younger. The authors concluded that age does not appear to be a “robust predictor” of semaglutide’s effect on weight.
Colorectal Cancer Detected Post Colonoscopy Measures Screening Quality
Colonoscopy might be one of the best tools for detecting colorectal cancer, but that doesn’t mean it’s foolproof. Some cases of CRC are missed, usually because they are too small to detect. The VHA’s 6% rate of post-colonoscopy CRCs is in line with other U.S. healthcare systems and is an indicator of a high-quality CRC screening program, according to a new study.
Sotorasib Results Promising; Targets NSCLC Mutation Linked to Heavy Smoking
HOUSTON—While declines have been noted in recent years, U.S. veterans use tobacco at considerably higher rates than those who have never served in the military. In recent decades that rate has been as high as 30%. The high smoking rate has increased the incidence of...
Epidemiology of Lung Carcinoids Differ Slightly Within VA Healthcare
ALBANY, NY—How does the epidemiology of lung cancer differ in the VHA compared to the general population? That was the question raised by a recent study that noted that lung carcinoids (LC) “continue to increase in prevalence and existing data shows a female...
Understanding the Drug-Drug Interactions of Erlotinib and Gefitinib
Two drugs used in the treatment of several cancers have poorly understood drug-drug interactions that could have significant implications for patients.
Immunotherapy Improves Outcomes for Veterans With Advanced NSCLC
DURHAM, NC—Not that long ago, chemotherapy (CT) using multi-agents was considered the standard of care for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. More recently, with the publication of clinical trials, immunotherapy (IO) has been shown to have benefits...
Does Age, Treatment Selection Drive Differences in ALL Outcomes?
Acute lymphoblastic (or lymphocytic) leukemia (ALL) occurs more often in children than in adults and has much better outcomes in youngsters.
Digging Deeper into Agent Orange, Genomic Alterations and Prostate Cancer
The defoliant known as Agent Orange has been linked to a wide range of malignancies since the conclusion of the Vietnam War, including prostate cancer.
Surprise! Short-term ADT Might Benefit Cognition in Prostate Cancer Patients
In an unexpected turn of events, a team including investigators with the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA., found that adding short-term androgen deprivation therapy (STADT) to prostate bed salvage radiotherapy not only reduced progression in advanced prostate cancer but also improved patients’ mental processing speed.
Real-World Study Shows Veterans with NSCLC Benefit from Durvalumab
The continuing conundrum of clinical trials is how to assess their applicability to the patients actually seen in practice.
Obesity/Weight Gain Associated with MGUS Progression to Multiple Myeloma
Obesity ranks high in the list of risk factors for the development of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and multiple myeloma (MM).
Walter Reed Researchers Tackle Issues with Real-World Data on Multiple Myeloma
Real-world data holds the promise of enabling a better understanding of how medications work in the type of patients typically seen in clinics and hospitals.
Combination Therapy Outperforms ADT Alone in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Studies have shown improved survival in patients who receive either docetaxel or androgen signaling agents (ASIs) such as abiraterone or enzalutamide in combination with androgen deprivation therapy.
