For women serving in challenging environments with limited access to clean water, sanitation and medical facilities, knowing how to prevent, diagnose and treat urogenital infections is essential.
Air Force Women’s Health Initiative Takes Off
With women accounting for more than 15% of all active duty forces, the health needs of women are increasingly coming to the fore. Women represent nearly 21% of the Air Force, making addressing their unique needs particularly critical for mission readiness. In response, the service has introduced a growing number of health initiatives through the Women’s Initiative Team’s (WIT) Female-Specialized Health Care Programs.
VA Increases Focus on Needs of Younger Women Patients
The Deborah Sampson Act represented a major advance for women’s health care at the VA, an area long neglected despite the steady rise in the number of women serving in the U.S. military over the last several decades.
New Concerns, New Treatments for Vulvovaginal Candidiasis
Candida, a common yeast, frequently cohabitates on skin and inside the body and typically causes little trouble. When conditions enable it to multiply rapidly or when drug-resistant strains take hold, however, it can cause a range of problems, including vulvovaginal candidiasis, one of the most common infections in women.
New Focus Is on Taking Care of Victims of Military Sexual Assault
As DoD officials look to make good on President Joe Biden’s promise to address sexual assault and harassment in the military, they are framing a portion of that effort in terms of a pressing public health need.
Antimuscarinic Agents Up Diabetes Risk in Female MHS Patients
Are drugs used to treat overactive bladders a risk factor for development of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)?
Nationwide VA Study Shows Disparities in Cardiovascular Care for Female Veterans
Women veterans with early-onset coronary artery disease are significantly less likely than men to receive medications that can prevent stroke, heart attack or peripheral arterial disease progression, according to a new nationwide study.
Women Benefit From Both Lung, Breast Cancer Screening
Women are most likely to die from lung cancer—with mortality greater than breast, cervical and ovarian cancer combined—and increased screening has been shown to significantly reduce mortality.
Problems With DoD-to-VA Transition Program Intensified by Pandemic
Transitioning from active duty military service to civilian life is difficult at the best of times. The pandemic added a host of new challenges, highlighted existing problems with the transitioning process and widened the cracks through which those veterans who are most in need of support are in danger of falling.
Ovarian Cancer Deaths Don’t Vary by Race/Ethnicity in Military
HONOLULU, HI – In the general population, mortality rates from epithelial ovarian cancer show stark differences by race and ethnicity. Non-Hispanic Black women die at higher rates, despite age, from the cancer other cohorts. A study team
identified no such disparities in military healthcare, however.
SGLT2 Inhibitor Use Lower Among Women, Minorities
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors significantly reduce deaths from cardiovascular conditions, hospitalizations for heart failure and progression of kidney disease among patients with Type 2 diabetes
Few Women Veterans Receive Pre-Pregnancy Counseling
Women veterans aren’t routinely being queried about their intentions related to pregnancy, making it more difficult to optimize family planning care.
How Women Veterans’ Breast Cancer Compares to Male Version
Less than 1% of breast cancer occurs in men, although it continues to rise.
Sleep Disorders More Prevalent in Army Vs. Other Services
While sleep problems are widespread in active-duty U.S. military servicemembers, Army personnel appear to have the most problems.
Lawmakers Seek to Expand VA Coverage Related to Fertility Issues
Veterans who have service-connected infertility issues should have access to the full range of fertility services science now available, especially in vitro fertilization, without the constraints imposed by antiquated and sometimes nonsensical regulations, legislators and veterans’ advocates argued last month.
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.
How Uterine Cancer Manifests Differently in Black, White Women
Black women are more likely to die of uterine cancer than white women, even though the incidence rate is the same between the two groups.
Severe Mental Illness Tied to 50% Less Overall Mortality in Female Veterans
Exact Reasons Why Remain Mysterious MIAMI—Since 2008, approximately 6,000 veterans have died from suicide every year. In 2017, that averaged out to just under 17 suicides among previously activated former service members each day.* “Suicide is a national public health...
Once Used to Keep Women from Top Ranks, Menopause Now Managed Within VA, Military Health Systems
When President Harry Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act into law in 1948, it was touted as opening full military service and veterans’ benefits to women, but many restrictions remained in place. Women were not allowed to fly aircraft engaged in...
A Third of Women Treated in VA System Perceive Gender-Based Discrimination
PITTSBURGH—Almost 492,000 women veterans used the VA health care system in fiscal year 2017, a nearly 150% increase since fiscal year 2003, according to VA statistics. Those numbers are only expected to increase. While the Veteran Population Projection Model 2016, the...
VA Mental Healthcare Being Used by Depressed, Pregnant Vets
WORCESTER, MA—While depression screening is recommended for all pregnant veterans, it had remained unknown how often symptomatic women received care, how depression treatment presented in practice, and whether women veterans were utilizing treatment during the...
Hormone Therapy Appears to Affect Heart Fat Deposition
PITTSBURGH—While heart fat deposition has been linked to atherosclerosis—with both accelerating after menopause—hormone therapy might be able to change how that occurs. A study published in the journal Menopause examined how hormone therapy differentially slowed heart...
Survey of VHA Use of Chemoprevention for Breast Cancer
INDIANAPOLIS—Although clinicians now have tools to reduce the risk of breast cancer, most eligible women in the United States aren’t offered either personalized screening or chemoprevention. That is despite breast cancer being the most common cancer diagnosed among...
Processes to Evaluate, Care for Military Sexual Trauma Patients Improve
WASHINGTON—With an increase in the number of servicemembers coming forward to report their experience with sexual assault during active duty, VA is slowly making progress in implementing best practices for how to evaluate and care for survivors of military sexual...
TRICARE Covers 3D Mammograms Under Provisional Program
WASHINGTON — As of the beginning of the year, TRICARE is offering 3D mammograms to screen for breast cancer for eligible patients. Previously, Tricare only covered digital breast tomosynthesis in special case (i.e., after a physician order for at-risk patients or...
VA Opts Against Charges in Alleged DC VAMC Assault of Congressional Staffer
Wilkie’s Characterization of ‘Unsubstantiated’ Challenged by VA IG WASHINGTON — Following an investigation by the VA Office of the Inspector General, federal authorities have decided not to file any charges based on a reported assault at the DC VAMC this past fall. A...
Women Veterans With PTSD Have More Risk Factors for Heart Disease
LOS ANGELES—While post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans previously has been linked to heart disease, the cohorts used in those studies were overwhelmingly mail. Now, a new study took a close look at PTSD’s effect on heart health in women veterans—and the news...
Why Do Women Veterans Report More Symptoms Following Mild TBI?
WASHINGTON—Following a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion, female veterans report more neurobehavioral symptoms, use more outpatient services and are more often diagnosed with depression than their male counterparts, according to a recent VA study.1 But why?...
Menstrual Suppression Could Help Deployed Women Avoid Discomfort, Inconvenience
The role of women in the military is changing. Whereas they may have acted as support personnel in earlier conflicts, they now play an active part in combat support and counterinsurgency operations.1 As of September 2010, there were 208,271 women on active duty in the...
