More Americans die from heart disease than any other cause, but many fail to take steps known to protect the heart,
Bariatric Surgery Linked to Increased Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Veterans
Concerns about long-term effects after bariatric surgery have been heightened by a new study suggesting that unhealthy alcohol use in veterans was much more common after undergoing a bariatric surgical procedure.
Veterans’ Advocates Fought to Add Agent Orange Presumptive Conditions
Having three new illnesses added to the list of conditions presumed related to Agent Orange exposure
VA, DoD Quickly Began Distributing, Administrating COVID-19 Vaccines
Both the VA and DoD began distributing COVID-19 vaccine to their beneficiaries soon after the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for two products in mid-December.
New Veterans Health Care Act Seeks to Improve Women’s Healthcare at VA
One of the last pieces of legislation to make it through the 116th Congress was the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, MD Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020.
OIG Questions Wilkie’s Response to DCVAMC Sexual Assault Allegation
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie and other high-ranking VA officials actively worked to discredit the complainant in a sexual assault investigation at the DC VA Medical Center, according to a recent VA Office of Inspector General report.
Biden Administration Expected to Focus More on Military Burn Pit Effects
Legislators in the past few years have been pushing VA and DoD to work together to better understand the toxic effects of burn pit exposure on servicemembers.
Prostate Cancer, Treatment Causes Financial Strain for Veterans
Not all of the damage caused by prostate cancer is to men’s bodies.
Enhanced Imaging Changes Prostate Cancer Treatment at VA
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ligands offer a strategy to develop prostate-specific positron emission tomography tracers, which can significantly heighten the accuracy of systemic prostate cancer imaging, according to a new study.
New Study Reviews Emerging Novel Therapies for mCRPC
Novel therapies are being investigated for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer, according to a new review.
Clinical Pharmacists Expand Treatment of Increasing Opioid Use Disorder
The good news: The VA reduced opioid prescribing by 64% from 2012 to 2020, from more than 679,000 veterans to 247,000 through its Opioid Safety Initiative and other efforts.
Chronic Pain Is Growing Issue for U.S. Military
The U.S. military has seen a steady rise in the annual incidence rates of any chronic pain diagnoses over the past decade.
Study Questions Assumptions About PTSD-Pain Links
Post-traumatic stress disorder often is comorbid with chronic pain and is associated with increased levels of pain severity and pain-related disability, according to a new study.
Insomnia Increases Depression Risk With Opioid Use
How does insomnia combined with chronic opioid analgesic use (OAU) affect veterans’ likelihood of having a new depression episode?
DoD Experience With Resistant Pathogens Could Help Overwhelmed Hospitals
Hospitals across the country have improvised intensive care units, converted garages into wards and increased the number of patients under each clinician’s care as a flood of COVID-19 patients washes away established protocols and practices.
Acute Kidney Disease Common, Dangerous for VA Inpatients With COVID-19
Nearly a third of veterans hospitalized with COVID-19 developed acute kidney injury, and half didn’t fully recover their kidney function by the time of hospital discharge, according to a new study.
Million+ Cases Suggest ACEIs, ARBs Don’t Increase COVID-19 Risk, Severity
In the chaotic days when the COVID-19 pandemic first began to affect the United States, healthcare professionals were barraged with questions about certain blood pressure medications and whether they increased infection risk for patients using them.
VA Was Excluded in Early Discussions of COVID-19 Strategic Response
VA was initially left out of strategic decisions made by the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force, the group ostensibly coordinating the nation’s response to the pandemic, the agency revealed in a recent report.
GERD Linked to Faster COPD Disease Progression
Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a common comorbidity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is linked to increased risk of acute exacerbations, hospitalization, emergency room visits, costs and quality-of-life impairment.
Factors Linked With Greater COVID-19 Severity in Veterans
Prognostication, resource utilization and treatment all could be improve by Identifying independent risk factors for adverse outcomes in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), according to a new study.
Recent Smoking Quitters Also Benefit Before Lung Cancer Surgery
Tobacco use can have a detrimental effect on postoperative outcomes, which is why patients are urged to quit smoking as long as possible before surgery.
Use of Psychotherapy for PTSD Varies Substantially by VA Region, Facility
For more than a decade, the VA has pushed evidence-based psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, and treatments nationally have slowly and steadily increased.
Legislators Push for VA, DoD to Preferentially Purchase U.S.-Made PPE
As the pandemic numbers rose last spring, the VA discovered what hospital systems across the country were learning—that the usual supply chains for personal protective equipment (PPE) could not handle the demand, and the gray market was rife with price-gouging and low-quality products.
From Curbside Delivery to Drive-Thru Pickup, Military Pharmacies Adapt
The coronavirus shook up prescription delivery in March, and military pharmacies might never be the same again.
Multiple Factors Interact to Predict Parkinson’s Disease Dementia
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 Servicemembers, the SMART Choice for Cognitive Recovery After Mild TBI
In the immediate aftermath of the Iranian missile attack on Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in January 2020, reports indicated no servicemembers sustained injuries. By late February, 110 of those in the area had received a diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injuries from the attack.
Acute Kidney Disease Common, Dangerous for VA Inpatients With COVID-19
Nearly a third of veterans hospitalized with COVID-19 developed acute kidney injury, and half didn’t fully recover their kidney function by the time of hospital discharge, according to a new study.
Six Potential Vaccines, 300 Million Doses, 50 States:
Operation Warp Speed already has achieved the nearly impossible by fostering the speedy development of COVID-19 vaccines. Now the real work begins.
Military COVID-19 Experiences Aid Understanding of Young Adult Transmission
What happened with 2,000 Marine recruits who went through supervised quarantine before starting basic training is providing critical insights into the effectiveness of public health measures to suppress transmission of COVID-19 among young adults, whether in military training, schools or other groups.
Court Settlement Will Ease Way for ‘Bad Paper’ Veterans to Get Benefits
Tens of thousands of less-than-honorably discharged veterans will have an easier avenue to have those discharges reconsidered and possibly adjusted, making it more straightforward for them to access VA services.
