While it is well known that a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) signals higher risk for stroke in the future, a new guideline emphasizes that identifying the cause of the initial event can better guide specific prevention strategies to reduce the risk of additional strokes.
Too many women veterans remained undiagnosed with sleep apnea, even if they were at high risk of adverse outcomes, according to a new study.
While sleep problems are widespread in active-duty U.S. military servicemembers, Army personnel appear to have the most problems.
As a common childhood diagnosis, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also affects the pool of potential military applicants.
Laser trabeculoplasty (LTP) is the use of a laser beam to burn areas of the trabecular meshwork, located near the base of the iris, to increase fluid outflow.
Modern-day combat trauma results in complicated ocular injuries causing nearly a third of injured military personnel to be declared legally blind in the affected eye, according to a new study.
How common is ocular pain in patients with and without a history of refractive surgery, and what are its characteristics?
Explosive blasts account for a majority of the injuries among wounded servicemembers, but some of the most long-term and damaging effects of blast exposure might be slipping by undetected.
For veterans with epilepsy, quality of life is most negatively impacted by frequency of seizures, according to a new study. And that, plus some other factors, usually means that younger veterans have a tougher time with epilepsy than older ones.
Cognitive impairment can be a typical comorbidity in epilepsy, appearing in a significant number of older adults with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the most common form of focal epilepsy, according to a new study.
SALT LAKE CITY -- For veterans with epilepsy, quality of life is most negatively impacted by frequency of seizures, according to a new study. And that, plus some other factors, usually means that younger veterans have a tougher time with epilepsy than older ones. A...
SAN DIEGO -- Cognitive impairment can be a typical comorbidity in epilepsy, appearing in a significant number of older adults with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the most common form of focal epilepsy, according to a new study. A study team led by the University of...
HOUSTON – The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges for VA healthcare delivery, although access to care has always been difficult for veterans who either live in remote areas or have conditions that require specialist care. That is especially significant for...
Whether because of drug shortages or other challenges, many hospital intensive care units apparently reverted to older protocols in treating early COVID-19 patients.
The common image of Parkinson’s disease focuses on tremors and unstable movement, but for many patients with the disorder, the possibility of dementia worries them more. The concern is well justified—about 30% of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) suffer from dementia.
For years, the VA has tried to come up with ways to differentiate veterans who have epileptic seizures (ES) as opposed to psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), which are especially common in those who fought in recent wars.
Clinicians should be aware that underlying—and undiagnosed—neurological conditions could be involved in lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).
Selecting appropriate treatments for multiple sclerosis is complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.
Schizophrenia can be frightening and life-changing. Common symptoms such as disorganized thinking and speech, lack of expressive emotion, social withdrawal, neglect of self-care, hallucinations and delusions alienate individuals with schizophrenia from others and create barriers to day-to-day functioning in society.
Because VHA provides a continuum of care over the life course, the healthcare system has need to better understand what effect bipolar disorder and schizophrenia have on veterans’ risk of dementia.
MADISON, WI—While the association of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage with development of dementia and cognitive decline in older adults is not well known, a new study suggested that identifying risk factors for brain atrophy can help direct new approached to...
BOSTON—New research holds out promising for identifying and developing new therapies for veterans with Gulf War Illness. A report in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity discussed the discovery of widespread inflammation in the brains of patients diagnosed with...
PHILADELPHIA —Impulse control disorders, including compulsive gambling, buying, sexual and eating behaviors are thought to occur in as many as 20% of Parkinson’s disease patients over the course of their illness. A study in the European Journal of Neurology sought to...
PITTSBURGH —What precisely is the relationship between cognitive decline in patients with both diabetes and obesity? Researchers from the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and the University of Pittsburgh sought to investigate the potential mechanisms leading to those...
LONDON, UK – For years, common treatments -- levodopa and dopamine agonists (dopamine replacement therapy [DRT]) – have been implicated in Parkinson's disease psychosis. A report published in Movement Disorder Clinical Practice pointed out that the relationship...
SAN DIEGO — People who were diagnosed as having “objectively-defined subtle cognitive difficulties” appeared to accumulate amyloid more quickly than those deemed cognitively normal, according to a new study. That information could potentially improve early detection...
CLEVELAND — Aasef Shaikh, MD, PhD, grew up in India as the son of two ENT surgeons, which he credits for his early interest in understanding the system that helps humans keep their balance.
LOUIS—Improving post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, a laudable goal itself, has the added benefit of lowering patients’ risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a new report. A cohort study by Jeffrey Scherrer, PhD, professor of family and community...
Servicemembers, Veterans Take Their Own Lives at Higher Rates
WASHINGTON—In recent decades, suicide rates have soared in the United States, increasing 25% from 1999 to 2016.
The issue has been especially acute among military servicemembers and veterans.
GAINESVILLE, FL — When people want to describe themselves as uncoordinated, they might say they have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. However, the act of walking—one of the most basic human skills—is not nearly as simple as that phrase makes it sound.