More than a decade after deep brain stimulation (DBS), early-stage Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients appeared to have fewer motor complications than those treated only with medications, according to a new study.
Cognitive Impairment Can Affect Parkinson’s Gait Rehab
What is the effect of baseline cognition on gait outcomes after a treadmill training program for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients?
Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Linked to Stroke in T2D
What is the association between cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) with incident stroke among diabetes mellitus patients?
Time in Range Beneficial in Patients With Individualized A1c
Individualizing hemoglobin A1c treatment goals in older adults is important to balance risks in benefits, according to a new study.
Deployed Servicemembers Had Lower Cancer Risks Than Those Who Weren’t
Despite concerns about exposure to hazardous material, military personnel who deployed to Southwest Asia actually had a lower risk of dying from cancer than their colleagues who were never deployed, according to a new study.
VA Analysis Sought to Determine Best Approach for Treatment of Alcohol Misuse
A new study sought to determine that. Noting that psychosocial approaches are “the hallmark of treatment for harmful alcohol use,” the report in the journal Addiction added, “We aimed to compare the effectiveness of psychosocial therapy for harmful alcohol use using a network meta-analysis approach.”
Measuring Ability to Resist in Alcohol Abuse Treatment
While about half of patients with alcohol use disorder prefer non-abstinence based approaches to treatment, it is not clear when that approach is beneficial.
Vitamin D Supplementation Shows Promise for Reducing Suicide Risk
Supplementation with Vitamin D appeared to be associated with a reduced risk of suicide attempt and self-harm in veterans, especially those who are Black and have low blood serum levels, according to a VA-funded study.
Five-Year Survival Rate for Late-Stage Prostate Cancer Is Higher Among MHS Beneficiaries Than for the General Population
Prostate cancer is the third-most-common cancer in men in the U.S. military and the second-leading cause of cancer mortality in U.S. men overall.
Genetic Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Found for Those of African Ancestry
VA researchers have discovered several new genetic variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease—the most common form of dementia—in people of African ancestry.
Veterans With Parkinson’s Disease at Higher Risk of Suicide
A Parkinson’s Disease (PD) diagnosis has been shown to increase patients’ risk of suicide, according to a new study.
Psychiatric Conditions More Common With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy
It is not uncommon for epilepsy patients to also have psychiatric conditions, according to a new study which used VHA records to better understand the co-morbidity.
Risk Score Measures NSCLC Surgery Quality
The VALCAN-O score, which uses a data set from the VHA, was developed for patients diagnosed with resectable early-stage nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Novel Treatments Drive Down Lung Cancer Death Rates
The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), which began at the beginning of the 21st century, compared two ways of detecting lung cancer: low-dose helical computed tomography (CT)—often referred to as spiral CT—and standard chest X-ray.
VHA Data Supports Routine Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccination in Older Adults
As part of the continual evolution of pneumococcal vaccination recommendations, guidelines recently have been updated to urge more use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in older adults.
MGUS-MM Progression Differs Between African Americans, Caucasians
While it is widely known that African Americans (AA) are at higher risk for multiple myeloma (MM), precisely what factors create the disparity are not well understood.
Head and Neck Cancer Driven by HPV Has Distinct Genetic, Immune Variants
Most new diagnoses of oropharyngeal cancer, a type of head and neck cancer, are driven by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, with distinct genetic and immune differences in HPV-driven and non-HPV-driven head and neck cancer, according to a new study.
Factors Linked to Severe COVID-19 Among Vaccinated, Hospitalized Veterans
Although vaccination and boosting remain the best defense against COVID-19, breakthrough infections among those vaccinated and boosted are exceedingly common.
SCT-Related Deaths Might Be Underestimated in U.S. Military
Sickle cell trait (SCT), a condition in which a person has one abnormal allele of the hemoglobin beta gene, affects an estimated 5.02% of non-Hispanic blacks, 1.08% of Hispanics and 0.1% of whites in the U.S. military.
Veterans With Service-Linked Disabilities Fare Worse After TKA
Service connection (SC) status appears to worsen outcomes for veterans receiving total knee-arthroplasty, according to a new report.
Veterans With RA Face Higher Mortality Risks Than Those Without
Although lessening over time, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the VHA have higher risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality, according to a new study.
VA Study: Paxlovid Can Reduce Risk of ‘Long COVID’ by About 25%
New research from the VA determined that Paxlovid can reduce the risk of symptoms of long COVID by about 25%.
VA Frailty Index Associated With Survival in AML Patients
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a particularly aggressive blood cancer that is most successfully treated with intensive chemotherapy. As the average age at diagnosis is 68, patients diagnosed with the disease are often too frail to withstand potentially curative treatment with induction regimens.
New Models Might Better Predict Bleeding Risks in Cancer Patients With AF
Cancer patients have both an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF), and those with the condition have a higher risk of cardiovascular-related death at a year.
Survival Outcomes for High Risk Large B-Cell Lymphoma at the VHA
Even with the availability of monoclonal antibody medications, VA patients with primary refractory or relapsed large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) have poor outcomes.
COVID-19 Minimally Affected Prescriptions, Hospital Admissions for Veterans with MM
As COVID-19 burst upon the world stage, medical care rapidly shifted from in-person visits to telemedicine consultations with varying results among patients with chronic conditions, cancer and other diseases that required regular and ongoing interaction with medical personnel.
Does Metformin Reduce Cancer Risk? The VA Weighs In
Over the last decade, a number of studies have examined a possible association between metformin use and reduction in the risk of cancer, with contradictory results.
VA Research Finds No Link Between First-Line ICIs, Embolism Risk
Retrospective studies suggest that receipt of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may increase the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared to chemotherapy.
Overall Prescriptions Are Low at VHA for CVD, CKD Protective Diabetes Drugs
Even though novel therapies for type 2 diabetes have been proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease progression, VHA prescription rates remain low.
New Tool Estimates Age-Specific Prostate Cancer Risk
A multi-ancestry polygenic risk score (PRS) that stratifies prostate cancer risk across populations has been developed. In a recent study, the developers validated the performance of the PRS in the multi-ancestry Million Veteran Program and additional independent studies.
