Adopting eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can help substantially lengthen life, according to a new study of veterans.
Total Alcohol Abstinence Not Necessary to Benefit From CBT for Insomnia
Patients seeking treatment for insomnia are urged to abstain from alcohol, which is known to disrupt sleep. Sleep disturbances often continue, however, even in those who are abstinent, which decreases the likelihood of treatment completion and increases the risk of relapse.
Antibiotic Prescribing High for Respiratory Infection Patients; HIV Not a Factor
Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections, a major public health concern, is high in both patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and doesn’t appear to be affected by HIV status, according to a recent study.
Agent Orange Exposure Linked to Risk of Bladder Cancer in Vietnam Veterans
U.S. veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange have a modestly increased risk of bladder cancer, according to a recent study, which also found that younger Vietnam veterans appeared to be in the most peril.
Program Miles Helped Create Teaches Veterans How to Process Emotions
Psychotherapy is never easy, especially for a veteran being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Being asked to recall and dissect the most traumatic moments in your life can be an arduous task for anyone.
Better Gauging Breast Cancer Risk in Women Veterans of African Ancestry
Polygenic risk scoring (PRS) appeared to work well in predicting incident breast cancer for a prospective cohort of European (EUR) ancestry women veterans but not as well for those of African ancestry, according to a recent study.
Chemotherapy-Free Option Could Be Viable for Some Metastatic Breast Cancer
VA and MHS are treating far more breast cancer than ever before, especially since some recent studies suggest that women veterans are as much as 40% more likely to develop breast cancer than their civilian counterparts.
Military Health Mammography Lapses During Pandemic Spotlights Disparities
Breast cancer screening within the Military Health System (MHS) plummeted by 74% in the early COVID-19 pandemic period and 22% in the late pandemic period, compared with the pre-pandemic period.
Better Survival Rates for Lymphoma With Military vs. Civilian Healthcare
U.S. military servicemembers diagnosed with lymphoma have superior overall survival compared with their civilian counterparts, according to a recent study.
Ketamine Appears to Be as Effective as ECT for Treatment-Resistant Depression
Ketamine was found to be noninferior to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as therapy for treatment-resistant major depression without psychosis, according to a new study.
Impaired Mitochondrial Function, Not Inflammation, Appears to Be Cause of GWI
Future clinical interventions for Gulf War Illness should focus on impaired mitochondrial function, not inflammation, according to a new study.
Businesses, Nonprofits Join Forces to Help Reduce Veteran Suicide
“You are not in this fight alone.”
Dog Ownership Reduces Cardiovascular Risks in Many but Not All Veterans
Owning a dog reduces the rates of a range of cardiovascular and related diseases in veterans, according to a new study.
Alternative Measurement Finds Slightly Higher Veteran Suicide Rate Than General Population
By any measure, suicide rates for veterans are higher than the general U.S. population; how much higher, however, can vary greatly by how the comparison group is defined.
Statins Play a Role in Type 2 Diabetes Progression to Insulin Use
In patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index (BMI) play a role in statin-related progression to insulin therapy, according to a recent study.
Dermatology Group Seeks Better Stevens-Johnson Severity Tool
Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (EN) is a severe adverse mucocutaneous drug reaction with life-threatening implications, usually caused by drug reactions.
Not Enough Research on Pharmacological Treatments for Digital Ulcers
A recent review has found too little evidence on pharmacological treatments for systemic sclerosis (SSc) digital ulcers (DU) and was unable to promote the development of evidence-based treatment guidelines.
Surgical Excision Found More Cost-Effective Than Mohs Surgery
A retrospective study examined the cost differences between total surgical excision and Mohs surgery to treat skin cancer in the Miami VA Healthcare system.
Veterans Who Got COVID Shots More Likely to Accept Flu Vaccine
A new VA study sought to determine whether acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine might have influenced update of annual influenza vaccination.
Racial Disparity Common in Receipt of High-Dose Influenza Vaccines
Racial disparities in receipt of high-dose influenza vaccine (HDV) have been documented nationally, but a new study sought to determine if small-area geographic variation in such disparities also exists.
Veterans Less Likely to Attribute Suicide Experiences to COVID-19 Pandemic
Veterans were more likely to report past-year suicidal ideation, plans and suicide attempts compared to nonveterans, but they were less likely to attribute their suicide-related experiences to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent study.
Comparison of the Adjuvanted, High-Dose Influenza Vaccines for Older Adults
Which provides better protection for older adults: the adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine (aIIV) or high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine (HD-IIV)?
Changing How Cancer Immunotherapy Is Delivered Could Save VHA Millions
Changing modes of delivery could save the VHA millions annually on the cost of cancer immunotherapy treatments, according to a new analysis.
How Afghanistan Particulate Matter Affected Deployed Servicemembers
U.S. military personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan often present with deployment-related asthma-like symptoms, including distal airway obstruction.
How Lung Volumes Change During Progression of Spirometric COPD
Abnormal lung volumes representing air-trapping identify the subset of smokers with preserved spirometry who develop spirometric chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and adverse outcomes can be identified by abnormal lung volumes representing air-trapping.
Military Plans for Casualty Care After Future Large-Scale Combat Operations
In planning and preparing for the future possibility of large-scale combat operations, military medicine might have to decide which wounded warriors can have delayed evacuations.
Prazosin Reduces Frequency, Impact of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Headaches
The blood pressure medication prazosin might dramatically reduce the occurrence of headaches following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), according to a new study by researchers at VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle.
VA Doctor-Turned-Inventor Works to Prevent Infectious Disease Spread
Part of the inspiration for Chetan Jinadatha, MD, MPH, to specialize in treating infectious disease comes from going to medical school in his native India, which has a high burden of such diseases. However, he also likes to say it’s partly for selfish reasons.
Higher Risk Veterans Vs. Others Challenge Lung Cancer Risk Calculators
Comparing VA patients with higher lung cancer risk to a general population group with lower risk underscored the limitations of using risk calculators in a clinical setting.
Study Found That SBRT Works Well for Multiple Primary Lung Cancers
As survival grows for lung cancer patients, more are presenting with multiple primary lung cancers (MPLCs).
