Veterans Affairs News and Research

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SGB procedure holds potential promise for PTSD treatment

Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, has published case reports detailing the successful treatment of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder with a stellate ganglion block.

3 May 2010

Mass. report on insurers' financial health provides mixed portrait

"A long-awaited state report to be released today will probably add fuel to the debate about surging health costs by portraying a mixed financial picture of Massachusetts health insurers. The state's eight health insurers finished 2008 with a total surplus of $2.5 billion, a more than four-fold increase from 1999 when the study period began, according to a 17-page executive summary of the report from the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy that was obtained by the Globe."

3 May 2010

Health care reform in Massachusetts improves minority access for inpatient procedures: Researchers

Researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University School of Medicine have found that health care reform in Massachusetts has improved minority access for some inpatient procedures. These findings are being presented today at the annual Society of General Internal Medicine annual meetings in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

30 Apr 2010

Bristol-Myers Squibb reports 11% increase in first-quarter 2010 revenue

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today reported strong sales and earnings growth for the first quarter of 2010.

30 Apr 2010

Health Net provides option to keep adult dependents on their parents' policies

Health Net, Inc. is providing the option of continuing coverage for adult dependents up to age 26 who are currently enrolled on their parents' health care policies.

28 Apr 2010

Researchers find Alzheimer's pathology to originate from Amyloid-Beta oligomers in the brain

Using a new mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that Alzheimer's pathology originates in Amyloid-Beta (Abeta) oligomers in the brain, rather than the amyloid plaques previously thought by many researchers to cause the disease.

28 Apr 2010

New blood test to determine patients at low risk for rejection of transplanted hearts

After his heart transplant in 2005, Ramon Llenado underwent a biopsy every week, then every month, then every three months. Most heart transplant patients face a lifetime of these invasive tests, which involve snipping out tiny pieces of heart to check for possible organ rejection.

23 Apr 2010

Research associates diabetes with atrial fibrillation

As the U.S. population keeps aging and gaining weight, diabetes is becoming increasingly common. Some research has associated diabetes with the most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat, called atrial fibrillation, which can raise the risk for stroke and death. But results of past studies of diabetes and atrial fibrillation have conflicted.

23 Apr 2010

Omnibus bill aims to improve women's services at VA health care facilities, support caregivers

Several of The American Legion's top legislative priorities are wrapped up in S. 1963 – an omnibus bill passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives – that aims to improve women's services at VA health care facilities, provide better support for caregivers of disabled veterans, expand mental health services, reduce homelessness and commit the U.S. government to a number of other initiatives to better serve veterans and their families.

23 Apr 2010

House passes measure to boost veterans medical benefits

The Los Angeles Times: "The House voted 419 to 0 on Wednesday to approve new benefits and financial support for the primary live-in caregivers of seriously wounded veterans who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure, which would cost about $1.7 billion over five years, is part of comprehensive legislation that would permit the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand its assistance to family members of veterans generally." The bill calls for rates on a par with "commercial rates for home caregivers" (Tan, 4/21).

23 Apr 2010

Basal ganglia and cerebellum linked together to form integrated functional network: Researchers

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have found new evidence that the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, two important areas in the central nervous system, are linked together to form an integrated functional network. The findings are available online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

20 Apr 2010

Screening rates for skin cancer low among middle-aged and older Caucasian adults: CINJ study

Among people over 50, those who did not finish high school or have not recently had common cancer screenings such as a mammogram, prostate-specific antigen test or colorectal cancer screening, are also less likely to be screened for skin cancer.

20 Apr 2010

Intensive rehabilitation therapy with robotic aids can help stroke patients regain limb movement

Patients show modest yet meaningful gains in limb movement and an improved outlook on life years after suffering a stroke, a major clinical study has found. The paper, published online this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides the best evidence yet that stroke sufferers in a controlled study can regain limb movement long after an injury, through intensive therapy with specially trained personnel and newly created robotic aids.

17 Apr 2010

States continue budget struggles; Oklahoma nursing homes brace for funding cuts

Three Minnesota Democratic legislators are proposing that the state spend $1 billion from the state's special health care fund in an effort to get $1 billion in federal money. "A spokesman for Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty says the plan won't work because the special fund is already scheduled to run a deficit" (4/14).

16 Apr 2010

CWRU School of Medicine becomes OHIP's REC for Ohio

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine has received $7,942,500 million in federal stimulus funds from the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP), the state designated entity for health information exchange development. The funding will position CWRU School of Medicine as a regional extension center (REC) which allows it to help 1,765 health care providers in Lorain, Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties advance the use of health information technology (HIT) in their practices.

15 Apr 2010

Researchers invent zinc-stapled insulin to reduce insulin-related cancer risk

For millions of Americans with Type-2 diabetes and inject insulin to control diabetes (with onset typically in adulthood) the associated risk of cancer is of increasing concern. Studies have demonstrated that obesity and excess insulin - whether naturally produced by the body or injected in synthetic form - are associated with an increased incidence of some common cancers.

13 Apr 2010

Lockheed Martin pledges $4M to aid UCLA Health System's Operation Mend program

The Lockheed Martin Corp. announced today a pledge of $4 million to benefit the UCLA Health System's Operation Mend program, which provides reconstructive surgeries and other health care needs to U.S. military personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

13 Apr 2010

Today's opinions and editorials

In its most frightening version to date, the new Big Lie about health care reform is that it will require the Internal Revenue Service to hire "16,500 armed bureaucrats" to enforce the coming requirement that those who can afford it must purchase insurance (Eric Zorn, 4/8).

9 Apr 2010

Researchers identify major indicator of heart failure and aortic aneurysms

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have identified a major indicator of two deadly diseases of the heart and blood vessels: heart failure and aortic aneurysm. The absence of the Kruppel-like Factor 15, when combined with stress, leads to both heart failure and aortic aneurysms.

8 Apr 2010

Results of M118 EMINENCE clinical trial published in Circulation

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex mixture drugs, today announced that the results of the M118 EMINENCE clinical trial have published in Circulation.

8 Apr 2010

Veterans Affairs News and Research

SGB procedure holds potential promise for PTSD treatment

Mass. report on insurers' financial health provides mixed portrait

Health care reform in Massachusetts improves minority access for inpatient procedures: Researchers

Bristol-Myers Squibb reports 11% increase in first-quarter 2010 revenue

Health Net provides option to keep adult dependents on their parents' policies

Researchers find Alzheimer's pathology to originate from Amyloid-Beta oligomers in the brain

New blood test to determine patients at low risk for rejection of transplanted hearts

Research associates diabetes with atrial fibrillation

Omnibus bill aims to improve women's services at VA health care facilities, support caregivers

House passes measure to boost veterans medical benefits

Basal ganglia and cerebellum linked together to form integrated functional network: Researchers

Screening rates for skin cancer low among middle-aged and older Caucasian adults: CINJ study

Intensive rehabilitation therapy with robotic aids can help stroke patients regain limb movement

States continue budget struggles; Oklahoma nursing homes brace for funding cuts

CWRU School of Medicine becomes OHIP's REC for Ohio

Researchers invent zinc-stapled insulin to reduce insulin-related cancer risk

Lockheed Martin pledges $4M to aid UCLA Health System's Operation Mend program

Today's opinions and editorials

Researchers identify major indicator of heart failure and aortic aneurysms

Results of M118 EMINENCE clinical trial published in Circulation

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

How microplastics and bacteria interact to drive antibiotic resistance

Single-cell proteomics: Revealing proteome diversity from cellular heterogeneity to non-canonical biology

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