Veterans Affairs News and Research

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VA evaluates the effect of opioids, sedatives on veterans

Veterans who simultaneously take opioids for chronic pain and benzodiazepines for anxiety and insomnia are at an increased risk of unintentional overdose and death as well as suicide.

6 Nov 2019

Adding weight loss counseling to group visits provides extra health benefits to diabetics

For people with difficult-to-control diabetes, adding intensive weight management counseling to group medical visits provided extra health benefits beyond improved blood-sugar control, according to a study led by researchers at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

4 Nov 2019

Genetic mutation of APOE gene may provide protection against Alzheimer's disease

A team of researchers has identified that a genetic mutation of the APOE gene, the major susceptibility gene for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, may provide protection against the devastating neurological illness.

4 Nov 2019

Traumatic brain injury patient lives to tell the tale

John Kaczmarczyk's wife, Noelle, and their son, Dylan, were at home when they heard a thud. They went to investigate the sound and found the alarming cause. John, 58, was unconscious on the floor at the bottom of a flight of stairs with shattered glass around him.

31 Oct 2019

Talk therapy and drugs hold the same value for people with depression in the long run

Spending an hour in talk therapy with a trained counselor costs much more, and takes more time, than swallowing an inexpensive antidepressant pill. But for people with a new diagnosis of major depression, the costs and benefits of the two approaches end up being equal after five years, a new study shows.

29 Oct 2019

NIA-funded study to examine overall benefits and risks of statins in older adults

The National Institute on Aging has funded a major study to examine the overall benefits and risks of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins in adults age 75 or older without cardiovascular disease.

23 Oct 2019

Young adults with PTSD more likely to experience a stroke event by middle age

Young adults who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder may be more likely to experience a transient ischemic attack or major stroke event by middle age, raising the risk as much as other better-known risk factors, according to new research published in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

17 Oct 2019

Syphilis rates in patients with kidney failure found to be greater than general population

Syphilis rates, like other sexually transmitted disease rates in the United States, are soaring, and the first known study to examine syphilis rates in patients with kidney failure found an incidence greater than three times that of the general population.

16 Oct 2019

BU receives grant to prevent and treat intimate partner violence in veteran populations

For the fourth consecutive year, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has made a grant to Boston University School of Medicine for Strength at Home, a nationwide program to prevent and treat intimate partner violence in veteran populations.

15 Oct 2019

Changes to state law reduce new opioid prescriptions by 22% in Penn Medicine’s New Jersey practices

The total amount of opioids dispensed per new opioid prescription decreased by 22 percent in Penn Medicine outpatient practices in New Jersey after the state passed a law limiting prescriptions to a five-day supply for new opioid prescriptions.

14 Oct 2019

Military veterans with PTSD suffer from rare sleep disorder

Military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or concussion suffer from a thrashing form of sleep behavior at a rate that is far higher than the general population, according to a new study by researchers at the VA Portland Health Care System and Oregon Health & Science University.

11 Oct 2019

Sex-specific verbal memory test cut-offs may improve amnestic MCI diagnoses

Women make up two-thirds of patients with Alzheimer's disease - so why is it that women are less likely than men to be diagnosed with its precursor, amnestic mild cognitive impairment?

9 Oct 2019

Study shows relationship between duration of football played and CTE risk, severity

The risk and severity of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy increases with the number of years playing American football according to a new study that appears online in Annals of Neurology.

7 Oct 2019

Penn researchers propose ethical framework that defines brain organoid transplantation

As research involving the transplantation of human "mini-brains"--known as brain organoids--into animals to study disease continues to expand, so do the ethical debates around the practice.

4 Oct 2019

Aspirin may reduce adverse effects of air pollution exposure on lung function

A new study is the first to report evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin may lessen the adverse effects of air pollution exposure on lung function.

3 Oct 2019

VCU awarded federal grant to lead study of traumatic brain injuries in military personnel

Virginia Commonwealth University has been awarded a $50 million federal grant to oversee a national research consortium of universities, hospitals and clinics that will study the long-term impacts of mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions on service members and veterans.

30 Sep 2019

Pre-existing mental health or substance abuse issues linked to fewer complications in diabetes

A new study has found that people with mental health or substance abuse disorders who are diagnosed with diabetes may experience less severe health complications.

25 Sep 2019

Study shows metformin is safe for patients with mild-to- moderate kidney disease

Over the years, there has been uncertainty over which drugs are best for patients with Type 2 diabetes and one of its common complications, kidney disease.

25 Sep 2019

Veterans with mental health disorders have increased risk of heart attack, stroke

Veterans with specific mental health disorders - depression , psychosis and bipolar disorder - had an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular disease, according to new research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

24 Sep 2019

$Deep brain stimulation found to be safe, effective in the treatment of refractory severe tinnitus$

Deep brain stimulation found to be safe, effective in the treatment of refractory severe tinnitus

Researchers from the University of California San Francisco and Veterans Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco investigated the safety and efficacy of deep brain stimulation in the treatment of refractory severe tinnitus in a small group of patients.