Veterans Affairs News and Research

RSS

PTSD caseload strains military health care resources

USA Today reports that a rising number of combat veterans are flooding VA hospitals with this illness. Meanwhile, ProPublica/NPR report on a brain injury testing program for soldiers that has proven to be problematic.

1 Dec 2011

Three-way contest: Prize is $30 billion veterans drug contract

McKesson Corp. (MCK) is in a contest with Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) and AmerisourceBergen Corp. (ABC) for a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs drug distributor contract worth as much as $32 billion.

28 Nov 2011

Digital ArtForms introduces new imaging tool, iMedic3D

Digital ArtForms announces iMedic3D, the first in a new generation of imaging tools, as well as the addition of Dr Eliot Siegel and Dr David H Kim to its Advisory Board.

25 Nov 2011

Knocking out one copy of IGF1 receptor fails to increase life span of male mice

Scientists studying longevity thought it might be good to lack a copy of a gene, called IGF1 receptor, that is important in insulin signaling. Previous studies showed invertebrates that lacked the copy lived longer, even if their bodies were less responsive to insulin, the hormone that lowers blood sugar.

24 Nov 2011

Stress chemicals shut down and brain processes emotional experiences during REM sleep

They say time heals all wounds, and new research from the University of California, Berkeley, indicates that time spent in dream sleep can help. UC Berkeley researchers have found that during the dream phase of sleep, also known as REM sleep, our stress chemistry shuts down and the brain processes emotional experiences and takes the painful edge off difficult memories.

24 Nov 2011

TJU expands Jefferson Medical College

Thomas Jefferson University announces the expansion of Jefferson Medical College with the creation of its Delaware Branch Campus. The Campus includes three participating hospitals - Christiana Care Health System, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and the Wilmington Veterans Affairs Hospital.

23 Nov 2011

CWRU receives NHLBI grant to study sleep apnea as possible cause of AF

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has received a $3.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to study sleep apnea as a possible cause of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most commonly diagnosed type of arrhythmia, or irregular heart rhythm.

22 Nov 2011

New insights into immune-system changes that may trigger cartilage breakdown

Challenging long-held notions that osteoarthritis is a result mainly of wear and tear on the joints, researchers led by Dr. William H. Robinson of the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University have provided new insights into the immune-system changes that may trigger cartilage breakdown.

21 Nov 2011

Kiewit-Turner intensifies construction activities at medical center project for Colorado's veterans

Kiewit-Turner, a joint venture, has begun mobilizing additional workers and equipment as construction activities intensify on the Department of Veterans Affairs' medical center project.

21 Nov 2011

Wake Forest Baptist, VA partner to advance treatment of PTSD and TBI

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are teaming up for a research project aimed at advancing the treatment of military personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.

19 Nov 2011

VA implements spouse telephone support program

The Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing a telephone support program to help the spouses of returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, after a pilot telephone support program showed significant reduction in stress for spouses.

19 Nov 2011

VA to join National Family Caregivers Association

The Department of Veterans Affairs will join the National Family Caregivers Association to recognize and appreciate dedicated partners providing daily health care for Veterans during National Family Caregiver Month in November.

18 Nov 2011

Case challenging vets' mental health care goes back to appeals court

A federal appeals court on Wednesday put on hold its ruling that ordered a dramatic overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, because it wants to reconsider the earlier decision.

18 Nov 2011

Blocking CaM kinase may help prevent cardiac rupture

For people who initially survive a heart attack, a significant cause of death in the next few days is cardiac rupture -- literally, bursting of the heart wall. A new study by University of Iowa researchers pinpoints a single protein as the key player in the biochemical cascade that leads to cardiac rupture.

18 Nov 2011

First Edition: November 17, 2011

In today's headlines, reports that the Supreme Court's review of the health law shocks Medicaid advocates and more on the continuing struggles of the super committee.

17 Nov 2011

Genetic basis of human cortical regionalization similar to patterns found in other mammals, MRI study affirms

A new study using magnetic resonance imaging data of 406 adult human twins affirms the long-standing idea that the genetic basis of human cortical regionalization - the organization of the outer brain into specific functional areas - is similar to and consistent with patterns found in other mammals, indicating a common conservation mechanism in evolution.

17 Nov 2011

TNF inhibitors may minimally increase risk of serious infections

Biologic drugs have revolutionized treatment of autoimmune diseases during the past decade despite belief there is an increased risk for serious infections from using them. But new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics reveals that a class of biologics called tumor necrosis factor antagonists, or TNF inhibitors, may only minimally increase risk compared to more traditional therapies.

17 Nov 2011

CDCs can increase healthy heart muscle cells in patients with ischemic heart disease

Healthy, new heart cells have been generated by animals with chronic ischemic heart disease after receiving stem cells derived from cardiac biopsies or "cardiospheres," according to research conducted at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

16 Nov 2011

NPR: VA is creating medical data 'gold mine'

"Not only do we have all their clinical records -; laboratory, vital signs, pharmacy database -; we have annual assessments that we will do that we can track people, assessments of depression, PTSD, suicide screening, alcohol and substances, traumatic brain injury," says Dr. Jennifer Hoblyn, who specializes in mental illness at the VA of Palo Alto. The VA will remove the names, so the data are anonymous.

15 Nov 2011

Lentigen, UH Case Medical Center initiate LG631 Phase I trial in glioblastoma

University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Lentigen Corporation announced today the initiation of a novel Phase I clinical trial of LG631 gene therapy for the protection of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from the dose limiting toxicity of chemotherapy with Temodar.

15 Nov 2011