Veterans Affairs News and Research

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Researchers examine deintensification of diabetes treatment for older adults with limited life expectancy

One in four people aged 65 or older has diabetes. The disease is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and a major contributor to heart disease.

24 Jun 2020

Study identifies new gene variants tied to type-2 diabetes

After examining the genes of more than 200,000 people all over the world who have type-2 diabetes, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Veterans Health Administration's Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center found hundreds of genetic variants never before linked to the disease.

23 Jun 2020

Researchers show new way to help the body efficiently repair injuries

By softening a cell's nucleus so that it can squeeze its way through dense connective tissues, a group of researchers believe they've demonstrated a new way to help the body efficiently repair injuries.

22 Jun 2020

Electronic health information exchange increases disease reporting and completeness of information

Disease tracking is an important area of focus for health departments in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

15 Jun 2020

Researchers question the mechanism of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers who made a knock-in mouse-model of the genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa 59, or RP59, expected to see retinal degeneration and retinal thinning. As reported in the journal Cells, they surprisingly found none, calling into question the commonly accepted -- though never proved -- mechanism for RP59.

12 Jun 2020

Key recommendations on genetic testing of men for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death from cancer in the US and especially in the Philadelphia region. Consistently, Philadelphia has outpaced the state of PA and the nation in diagnoses and death from prostate cancer.

10 Jun 2020

Study provides data on hydroxychloroquine outcomes for COVID-19 patients

A study of electronic medical records from US Veterans Health Administration medical centers has found that hydroxychloroquine--with or without azithromycin--did not reduce the risk of ventilation or death and was associated with longer length of hospital stay.

5 Jun 2020

Nox4 protein can be used as a marker to predict untreatable kidney cancer

A team of researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio confirmed the role of a certain protein in the development of high-grade kidney cancer.

4 Jun 2020

New device allows rapid disease analysis in kidneys affected by diabetes

The amount of scarring in damaged kidneys as a result of diabetes or acute injury, is a key factor in determining treatment. But it has not been possible, using traditional techniques, to quickly and accurately assess how widespread this kind of wounding extends within the organ.

28 May 2020

Study highlights the benefits of palliative care for heart failure patients

Palliative care is valuable for heart failure patients, and, for those who are hospitalized, it can significantly lower the risk of repeated hospital admissions and the need for invasive procedures such as mechanical ventilation and defibrillator implantation, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access journal of the American Heart Association.

27 May 2020

CU researchers identify new way that nerve cells regenerate and repair after damage

Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified a new way that cells in the central nervous system regenerate and repair following damage.

18 May 2020

UCLA-led clinical trial to assess if hormone suppresser will reduce COVID-19 severity in men

UCLA researchers have launched a new clinical trial that uses a hormone suppresser commonly used to treat men with prostate cancer to help improve clinical outcomes for men infected with COVID-19.

15 May 2020

Keeping the COVID plague at bay: How California is protecting older veterans

Dr. Vito Imbasciani has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn't walk for two months. In medical school in Vermont 30 years later, he witnessed AIDS steal the lives of otherwise healthy gay men.

11 May 2020

Study: Scant proportion of hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder receive treatment

Despite a national opioid-related overdose epidemic that continues to claim tens of thousands of lives annually, a new nationwide study shows that a scant proportion of hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder receive proven life-saving medications both during and after they're discharged.

8 May 2020

Veterans experience delayed homelessness long after discharge, shows study

According to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, homelessness among US military veterans rarely occurs immediately after military discharge, but instead takes years to manifest with risk increasing over subsquent years.

6 May 2020

UC San Diego receives $55 NIH grant to advance clinical and translational research

The Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute at University of California San Diego has received a five-year, $54.7 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, part of the National Institutes of Health.

4 May 2020

Study: Chronic exposure to inhaled nicotine alone leads to pulmonary hypertension

A study conducted by a team of researchers at LSU Health New Orleans has shown for the first time that chronic exposure to inhaled nicotine alone increases blood pressure (hypertension), in both the body's general circulation and in the lungs that can lead to pulmonary hypertension.

4 May 2020

Indiana Network for Population Health aims to address the social determinants of health

The Indiana Network for Population Health has been launched by the Regenstrief Institute and collaborators, including the State of Indiana, Indiana University and the Indiana Health Information Exchange, to provide the secure exchange of comprehensive data -- especially information on social determinants of health such as housing stability and access to nutritious food -- to researchers, policy makers, healthcare providers and others on the front lines fighting opioid and other addictions.

23 Apr 2020

Jails and prisons spring thousands to prevent coronavirus outbreaks

Terry Smith, a 65-year-old Vietnam veteran with PTSD, multiple health issues and a history of homelessness, spent nearly three years in San Francisco County Jail awaiting trial on a burglary charge. The final several weeks were served in the full flush of a burgeoning viral pandemic.

16 Apr 2020

COVID-19 brings overhaul of military health care to a halt

The agencies that oversee the health of U.S. military personnel and veterans were pushing ahead this spring with the biggest overhaul of their health systems in three decades.

15 Apr 2020