Continuing to smoke after surgical treatment for lung cancer has a strong detrimental effect on overall survival, according to a new veterans’ study.
Aqueous Biomarkers Might Reveal Who Will Benefit from Long-Term Therapy for Neovascular AMD
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss in individuals over the age of 50 years, which is especially significant for U.S. veterans. Male veterans had a median age of 65 in 2017, with female veterans somewhat younger at 51.
New Treatment Options Offer Brighter Future for Veterans with AMD
Veterans who develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD) now have a variety of treatments available that can preserve and even improve vision—and more are on the way. In wet AMD, the options are exploding, while VA research has also identified a possible treatment for dry AMD.
Time Is Vision: Earlier Diagnosis Is Critical in Age-Related Macular Degeneration
The last 20 years have brought dramatic changes to the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and made early detection more important than ever.
Pandemic Increased Challenges for Veterans with AMD
For many veterans, receiving regular eye care poses a significant challenge even in ordinary years. COVID-19 made it more difficult still. While many veterans with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) missed some appointments and scheduled treatments early in the pandemic, the VA quickly adapted its clinic protocols and outreach to veterans who needed vision care.
VA Shows Commitment to Veterans with Age-Related Macular Degeneration
For nearly 80 years, the VA has supported veterans with low-vision or blindness. Today, the VA’s Office of Blind Rehabilitation estimates that about 130,000 veterans are legally blind and another million have vision impairments that interfere with their daily lives.
Conference Highlights Concerns About Increased CV Risk Factors in Veterans
New research is adding to the evidence that veterans are at increased risk for cardiometabolic conditions and poor cardiovascular outcomes.
Shingles Vaccination Rates Struggle to Improve at VA
Efforts to promote use of a vaccine against herpes zoster, commonly called shingles, have been fraught with difficulty.
How Deployed Military Personnel Viewed COVID-19 Vaccination
To better understand vaccine hesitancy related to COVID-19 shots, a study recently looked at how likely deployed military personnel is to be vaccinated.
Receipt of Multiple Vaccines Lessens Dementia Risk
Are older adults who receive both herpes zoster (HZ) and a tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap) vaccine less likely to experience cognitive issues than seniors who receive only one or the other vaccine?
Criticism Continues About VA’s Handling of Military Sexual Trauma Claims
Has the VA improved its process of dealing with military sexual trauma, or are errors resulting in veterans being denied the care they need?
Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Proves More Effective Than Similar Pfizer Product
While both of the messenger RNA vaccines used in the United States work very well, a new VA study found that, in a head-to-head comparison, the Moderna product is more effective than the Pfizer-BioNTech product.
VA Seeks to Change Initial Concerns About COVID-19 Vaccines Into Acceptance
Early in 2021, more than one-fourth of veterans responding to a survey said they were concerned about getting a COVID-19 vaccine. The VA has worked steadily since then to change their minds.
Clinical Implications of Risk Stratification in Prostate Cancer
Low-volume, nonlocalized prostate cancer that was occult on conventional imaging often can be detected with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT).
How PSA Testing Affects Prostate Cancer in Young African-American Men
Younger African-American men are at high risk of prostate cancer but tend to be underrepresented in clinical trials related to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, according to a new study.
How one VAMC Pharmacy Implemented Gravimetric IV Workflow Technology
For years, the Institute of Safe Medical Practices and other safety groups have been staunch advocates of technology solutions such as gravimetric verification of drug and diluent volumes and have strongly encouraged their implementation to augment manual processes and provide additional safeguards during sterile compounding.
Does Prostate Size Matter for Cancer Surgery Outcomes?
How does the size of prostates affect outcomes from prostate cancer surgery.
DoD Called to Task Over Efforts to Deal With Past Use of PFAS at Bases
DoD officials have been called to defend the military’s ongoing clean-up and exposure tracing efforts related to its use of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are contained in, among other things, fire-retardant foam.
Adding Lithium Doesn’t Reduce Suicide-Related Events in Veterans
For more than a decade, suicide rates have been consistently higher among veterans than non-veterans, and, since 2005, the suicide rate has risen faster among veterans than it has for nonveteran adults.
Military Begins Discharges of Servicemembers Refusing COVID-19 Vaccines
Most active-duty U.S. servicemembers had been vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-December, when the Army set its deadline.
Premature Cognitive Decline Found in Young Veterans with mTBI
Between 2000 and 2018, approximately 430,000 active-duty servicemembers suffered head injuries.
VA Study: TNF Inhibitors Have Potential Long-Term Effect on Dementia Risk
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a global health problem for which there are no disease-modifying therapies.
Military Researchers Strongly Urge Curbing Steroid Use in IBD Patients
Finding alternatives to steroids in treating inflammatory bowel disease has taken on new urgency with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Who Are Homeless Veterans and What Do They Really Need?
This city is home to the largest VAMC in the nation, as well the single largest population of U.S. veterans. Yet about 4,000 of the vets who call Los Angeles home actually have no home.
Which Cancer Patients Get Most Protection From COVID-19 Vaccines?
With new variants popping up and steady occurrence of breakthrough infections, the question of the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with cancer has not really been answered until now.
DoD Will Provide Medical Workers to Help Civilian Hospitals Fight Omicron
In response to the surge of COVID-19 cases related to the omicron variant, President Joe Biden said that an additional 1,000 military medical personnel would be available to aid civilian hospitals in the United States by early this year.
VA Demonstrates System’s Leadership in Blood Cancers at ASH
VA researchers provided a glimpse of the department’s commitment to addressing blood cancers in veterans and taking a lead in the battle nationally at the 63rd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in Atlanta.
ASH: Military Medicine Presents Research on Improving Blood Cancer Care
Scientists from multiple military facilities made significant contributions to the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting here.
At the VA, the Biggest Challenge to Treating Blood Cancers Is Age
As the nation’s largest healthcare system, the VA treats more individuals with hematological malignancies than any other organization in the United States.
VA Played Critical Role in Successful Roll-Out of COVID-19 Vaccines
When the COVID-19 vaccines rolled out last winter, a unique partnership between the VHA and other federal agencies provided the first real-world evidence—outside of clinical trials—of how well the vaccines were working.
