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New analysis raises concerns over Medicare Advantage spending for veterans

From 2011 to 2020, the Veterans Health Administration spent $78 billion to care for U.S. military veterans enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, raising questions about federal overpayments to those private plans.

4 Oct 2024

Accelerating tobacco decline could boost global life expectancy

Accelerating the decline in tobacco smoking globally, by decreasing smoking prevalence from current levels to 5% everywhere, could increase life expectancy and prevent millions of premature deaths by 2050, according to a study from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors (GBD) Tobacco Forecasting Collaborators published in The Lancet Public Health journal.

3 Oct 2024

Neurostimulation target identified for treating PTSD in veterans

A new study led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, suggests that using neurostimulation therapies on a specific brain network could treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans.

24 Sep 2024

Researchers seek to revolutionize rectal cancer treatment with AI

With a new four-year, $1.14 million grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, will use artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the best personalized treatment for Veterans with rectal cancer.

19 Sep 2024

Study highlights disparities in stroke burden across regions

Although stroke is highly preventable and treatable, there has been a rapid rise in the global stroke burden between 1990 and 2021, due to both population growth and the rise of aging populations worldwide, as well as a substantial increase in people's exposure to environmental and behavioral risk factors.

19 Sep 2024

New system improves blood thinner safety

Doctors and pharmacists treating people with blood thinners can reduce the rate of inappropriate dosing - as well as blood clots and strokes that can result from it - using an electronic patient management system, a study suggests.

17 Sep 2024

Addressing anxiety in patients undergoing active surveillance for low-risk cancers

Patients with low-risk cancers undergoing active surveillance face a favorable long-term prognosis. David Haggstrom, M.D., MAS, makes the case that it's time for the medical field to help manage the anxiety caused by waiting.

16 Sep 2024

New method accelerates drug discovery from years to months

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital have found a new method to increase both speed and success rates in drug discovery.

30 Aug 2024

IU researchers secure $4 million for veterans' health research

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have cumulatively been awarded nearly $4 million in grant funding through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Merit Review Award and Career Development programs to support research on diabetes, skin inflammation, cancer and aging.

23 Aug 2024

Exploring opioid prescription trends in chronic cough treatment

Chronic cough, with symptoms lasting more than eight weeks, affects approximately one in 10 adults. Cough is among the most common reasons for seeking medical care in the United States, yet chronic cough is difficult to treat. One of the largest studies of chronic cough and one of the first to explore the use of opioids, which are known to suppress cough, to treat these patients, has found that 20 percent of patients with chronic cough received a prescription for a cough suppressant containing an opioid.

23 Aug 2024

Study reveals gaps in Alzheimer's knowledge

A new study examining older Black Americans' perceptions of Alzheimer's disease has found a lack of awareness of the devastating condition. The authors propose strategies for supporting brain health in this population.

21 Aug 2024

Understanding the benefits and risks of dialysis in older patients with kidney failure

Whether dialysis is the best option for kidney failure and, if so, when to start, may deserve more careful consideration, according to a new study.

19 Aug 2024

Research highlights the evolution of chief resident role in academic internal medicine over two decades

New research shows how the chief resident position in academic internal medicine residency programs has evolved over the past 20 years, revealing how the position has changed, the types of careers these individuals pursue, and improvement in gender representation.

9 Aug 2024

New review highlights advances in diabetes research and treatment

A new paper surveying advances in diabetes pathogenesis and treatment explores the complex factors contributing to the onset and progression of the disease, suggesting that an understanding of these dynamics is key to developing targeted interventions to reduce the risk of developing diabetes and managing its complications.

25 Jul 2024

Stanford's muscle chips reveal microgravity's impact on muscle regeneration

A gentle rumble ran under Ngan Huang's feet as a rocket carrying her research - live, human muscle cells grown on scaffolds fixed on tiny chips - lifted off, climbed, and disappeared into the sky to the International Space Station National Laboratory.

25 Jul 2024

Long-term high systolic blood pressure linked to increased stroke risk, study finds

High blood pressure is known to increase a person's chances of having a stroke.

23 Jul 2024

Genetic and molecular risk factors discovered for subsequent stroke and MACE

People who experience an arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic stroke (TIA) are at an increased risk of suffering a second stroke or other major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), making it critically important to identify risk factors and treatments to prevent these subsequent occurrences.

22 Jul 2024

Study finds limited evidence for massage therapy's effectiveness in pain relief

A study in JAMA Network Open reviews evidence on massage therapy's effectiveness in relieving pain, finding moderate certainty for some conditions but overall low certainty for most.

21 Jul 2024

Expanding genetic Horizons: GWAS insights from the VA Million Veterans Program

A large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) using data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Million Veterans Program (MVP) – one of the largest US-based biobanks – fills crucial gaps in our knowledge of the relationships between genes, traits, and disease across diverse populations, according to a new study.

19 Jul 2024

Diverse genetic data illuminates health disparities across populations

The majority of genetic studies focus on people of European descent, which limits the understanding of how genes influence health in other populations.

18 Jul 2024